Speech Technology eWeekly - September 01, 2002

Features

Scientists Mimic Human Ear to Improve Speech Recognition

Through extensive study of how speech is perceived by people with normal hearing, University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers have now created a method for making speech more intelligible to listeners with hearing-impairments.

Q & A

Steve Chambers, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales, SpeechWorks

Steve Chambers recently assumed the position of senior vice president of worldwide sales, in addition to his position as chief marketing officer for SpeechWorks. In a Q&A with the editors of NewsBlast, Steve, discusses this move, as well as more general issues related to the speech technology industry.

Eric Doggett, CEO, Glenayre

Eric Doggett is the CEO of Glenayre. In a Q&A with the editors of NewsBlast, Eric gives us his thoughts on speech technology and its place in the service provider arena.

Leon Garza, President and CEO, NetByTel

Leon Garza is the CEO and president of NetByTel. Mr. garza joined the NetByTel team ealier this year, and in a Q&A with NewsBlast, gives his insight into the state of the speech technology as well as provides some forward looking thoughts on the industry as a whole.

Talking Tech

The Value of Usability Testing for Speech-Enabled Applications

In an increasingly automated world, speech-enabled applications and services are often touted as a way for companies to provide a human touch in customer service without employing live agents. However, to be successful, automated speech applications must evolve quickly to meet the needs of consumers who expect highly effective, efficient solutions that are likable and quickly learned.

Speech Technology News

Sensory Releases FluentSpeech SDK

Sensory announced the release of the Fluent Speech Software Development Kit (SDK).

Ectaco Releases New localization Software Language Support localizers

NEW YORK, NY - Ectaco Inc. presents Ectaco Language Support localizers for Pocket PC.

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Uses Fast-Talk

ATLANTA, GA - Fast-Talk announced that Aspen Systems Corporation, an information management company, joined the Fast-Talk value-added reseller program.

SRC Launches Data Capture Services for Call Centers

SRC unveiled two new hosted speech recognition based services to the call center environment - SRC ContactCapture and SRC PaymentCapture.

Kirusa and Telisma Announce the Use of Their Solutions by France Telecom

BERKELY HEIGHTS, NJ and PARIS, FRANCE - Kirusa, together with Telisma announced that they had entered into an agreement with France Telecom to perform multimodal trials using the Orange GPRS network in France.

ART Announces New Cooperation With Motorola

ATLANTA, GA - ART Advanced Recognition Technologies Inc. announced the porting of its smARTspeak XG speech recognition solution to processors from Motorola Inc.

Genesys Chooses Elix to Extend Their Training Offering

MONTREAL, QUEBEC - Elix announcesthatGenesys Telecommunications Laboratories Inc. has chosen Elix to offer collaborative and unified trainingservices to Genesys customers and partners.

General Magic to Cease Operations

General Magic announced that its efforts to obtain additional financing or to complete a strategic merger or acquisition have been unsuccessful.

VoiceGenie and Vesta Announce Progressive Call Management Voice Solution

TORONTO, CANADA and PORTLAND, OR - VoiceGenie Technologies Inc. and Vesta Corporation are working together to provide progressive CRM services in the prepaid wireless industry.

Sakrament Company Introduces Sakrament SpeechBOX for its TTS Engine

MINSK, BELARUS - Sakrament company introduced Sakrament SpeechBOX for Sakrament TTS Engine, an evaluation board that designed for demonstration purposes of an embedded TTS engine.

SyberNet Launches Speech Driven Telephony Solution

GALWAY, IRELAND - SyberNet Ltd. has announced the launch of SyberVOX, a next-generation speech recognition solution.

Clarity Partners With UK-Based N-Teq

TROY, MI - Clarity LLC announced that it has engaged N-Teq Ltd., a UK-based sales and marketing organization, to extend and further support Clarity's selling and marketing efforts throughout Europe.

Ectaco Introduces New Line of Customized Products

New York, NY - Ectaco Inc. will be exhibiting several latest developments including OEM Platform (series 400) for Handheld Talking Dictionaries and Multilingual Speech-to-Speech Universal Translator (series 103) at the Frankfurt Book Fair October 9-14, 2002.

U.S. Army Uses Nuance Speech Recognition Software

Soldiers at 29 U.S. Army bases will soon be able to call fellow military personnel at home and abroad as well as friends and family members via a voice-activated dialing solution powered by Nuance.

TuVox Adds Jeff Crowe to Its Board of Directors

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA - TuVox, a developer ofConversational Voice Response (CVR) technology for call centers, announced the appointment of Jeff Crowe, co-founder and former CEO of EdifyCorporation, to its board of directors.

Thomas Schalk Joins ATX's Telematics Team

DALLAS, TX - A widely recognized pioneer in the speech recognition industry, Dr. Thomas Schalk, was named to lead the interactive speech recognition program for telematics service provider, ATX Technologies.

Sparks Medical Center Uses Nuance Speech Recognition

MENLO PARK, CA - Nuance and Amcom recently implemented a Nuance-powered voice activated directory assistance system, Smart Speech, at the Fort Smith, Arkansas-based hospital, Sparks Medical Center.

Loquendo Technology Chosen for the Telecom Italia Future Centre

TORINO, ITALY - Loquendo Technology has been chosen for the Telecom Italia Future Centre, which was inaugurated on the 12th of September in Venice, Italy.

Loquendo Technology Chosen by the Credit Mutuel Group

TORINO, ITALY - Loquendo Technology has been chosen by the Crédit Mutuel Group to power their new Telsanté health insurance offering.

SpeechWorks and Lucent Deliver Voice-Driven Messaging to Service Providers

BOSTON, MA - SpeechWorks International Inc. announced that Lucent Technologies has selected SpeechWorks' TTS software for the company's unified communications platform, Lucent's AnyPath Messaging System.

ASA Solutions and SandCherry Sign VAR Agreement

BOULDER, CO and SCOTTSDALE, AZ - Call center solutions provider ASA joined forces with communications software company SandCherry Inc. through a Value Added Reseller (VAR) agreement for its SoftServer platform.

SpeechCo Internationalizes Products

STUTTGART, GERMANY - SpeechCo enlarges its range of products in the area of automatic directory assistants BigInfo with an English version.

Voice Web Solutions Introduces VoiceXML Studio 1.0

Voice Web Solutions announced VoiceXML Studio 1.0, a product that enables developers to both visually design and code voice-enabled solutions using the VoiceXML language.

IBM Brings Translation to Handhelds

LA JOLLA, CA - IBM announced the new ViaVoice Translator - machine translation software that enables translation on handheld computers.

NetByTel-Vicinity Team on Business Locator

BOCA RATON, FL and SUNNYVALE, CA - The Vicinity Speech Locator uses proprietary geo-coding and voice recognition that can pinpoint a site using the physical address spoken by the caller.

SandCherry and Vicorp Sign OEM Agreement

BOULDER, CO - SandCherry Inc. and Vicorp announced the signing of a three year OEM agreement for SandCherry's SoftServer platform.

Clarity Partners With Innovision Design

TROY, MI - Clarity LLC announced its strategic marketing partnership with Texas-based engineering services company Innovision Design Inc.

NMS Communications and ICR Group Increase Call Center Efficiency

FRAMINGHAM, MA - NMS Communications and ICR Group have forged a relationship to assist the delivery of ICR Group's new generation of automated customer interaction solutions, PCid.

US Cellular and Glenayre Partner on Messaging Solution Platform

ATLANTA, GA and CHICAGO, IL - Glenayre Technologies Inc. sold its 1500th MVP(R) (Modular Voice Processor) messaging platform to U.S. Cellular (Amex: USM), the nation's eighth largest wireless service provider.

Telephonetics Appoints Convergent Systems as a Reseller

Telephonetics has appointed Convergent Systems as an approved reseller. Convergent Systems will initially focus on selling Telephonetics' new virtual operator system, the ContactPortal, into the SME and contact center markets.

Aumtech and Philips Collaborate to Provide JetBlue Airways with Speech-Activated Flight Information System

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ, DALLAS, TX and NEW YORK CITY - Aumtech Inc. and Philips Electronics' speech processing business unit have partnered to provide JetBlue Airways' clientele with a voice-enabled option to its flight information system.

Acclaim Telecom Added as Syntellect Reseller

PHOENIX, AZ - Syntellect Inc. announced that it has entered into a distribution agreement with AcclaimTelecom Services Inc.

Pannone & Partners Moves to SRC for Digital Dictation Solution

Pannone & Partners has become the latest law firm to implement a digital dictation workflow and speech recognition solution from SRC. In the initial phase, the technology is being rolled out to 96 staff in the firm's Personal Injury department.

Parlance Announces the Availability of NameConnector Service Status Reports

Parlance announced the availability of up-to-date NameConnector Service status reports to all customers.

Ascent Computing Group Expands Sales Team

WHITE PLAINS, NY - Ascent Computing Group announced Ross DiBella as Director of Sales.

iVoice Offers Monthly Payment Plans for Speech Recognition Solutions

MATAWAN, NJ - iVoice Inc. announced the availability of speech recognition at monthly payment prices.

Net Mobile Deploys PipeBeach VoiceXML Platform for Mobile Entertainment Services

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN and DUSSELDORF, GERMANY - PipeBeach announced that net mobile AG has deployed the PipeBeach speechWebplatform to provide a suite of mobile entertainment services includingKaraoke Mailbox, Mailbox Messages and Mobile Greeting to German mobile operators.

E*TRADE Uses InfoTalk's Technologies to Build Voice Platform

HONG KONG - InfoTalk Corporation announced that E*TRADE has deployed InfoTalk's VoiceXML and speech technologies as the foundation of the newly launched Stock Information and Trading Platform.

Vocera Communications Unveils Wearable, Instant Voice Communications Application

LA JOLLA, CA - Vocera Communications Inc. announced availability of its new wireless application, the Vocera Communications System, that enables instant voice communication for in-building mobile personnel.

Clarity Engages Tokyo Company; Clarity Deploys Clarity Labs For Customers

TROY, MI - Clarity LLC announced that it has engaged AMSC in Tokyo to extend its selling and marketing efforts in Japan, where many of the top consumer electronics companies in the world are based.

Poly Information and NSC Declare Partnership

RISHON LE-ZION, ISRAEL - Poly Information and NSC today announced an engineering and marketing partnership. The combined solution allows for a mass-market, voice-only communication solution.

Nuance Unveils Vocalizer 2.0 for U.K. English

MENLO PARK, CA - Nuance introduced Nuance Vocalizer 2.0 text-to-speech (TTS) software for U.K. English, designed to simplify the development of voice-enabled applications.

ABN AMRO Services Company To Enhance Its CashPro Web Information Delivery Platform

CHICAGO, IL - ABN AMRO Services Company Inc. announced that it will use Centerpost Corporation's SmartDeliverySMsolution to develop a multi-channel notification service.

Navigation Technologies Powers VisuAide's Navigation Tools for Visually Impaired

CHICAGO, IL - Navigation Technologies announced that VisuAide will develop avoice-enabled navigation application using NAVTECH digital map data.

Elan Sayso Gets the Part for Lucy's Voice; Elan Speech Gets Elix's Platform IVS Talking

TOULOUSE, FRANCE - Davi Interactive has chosen Elan Sayso TTS to speech-enable Lucy, one of their virtual hostesses.

Conversay and Global Keystone Announce Strategic Alliance

REDMOND, WA - Conversay announced that it has formed a strategic alliance with Global Keystone to jointly develop a PDA/Smart Phone voice-enabled Conversation Forms Automation (CFA) for hands-free use by doctors and nurses.

GL Communications Incorporates NMS Communications' Latest Platforms

FRAMINGHAM, MA - GL Communications Inc. has selected platforms from NMS Communications as the basis for its new network test equipment used by global carriers and network equipment providers worldwide including Cisco, Nortel Networks and AT&T.

Babel's Embedded Technology Helps the Disabled to Read; Babel and Ezos Sign Agreement

Babel Technologies announced that PocketBabil, its Text-To-Speech (TTS) synthesizer technology, has been implemented in the new Dutch-language version of WizCom Technologies' Reading Pen II.

Nuance Names Rod Hamlin Senior Vice President of Sales

MENLO PARK, CA - Nuance announced the appointment of Rod Hamlin to the position of senior vice president of sales. Hamlin will be responsible for managing the company's worldwide sales and professional services organizations.

PIKA Technologies and SpeechWorks Deliver Speech Technology to Telephony Developers

OTTAWA, CANADA - PIKA Technologies Inc. announced a marketing agreement with SpeechWorks to help telephony developers bring speech-driven solutions to market.

IBM Releases New Version of ViaVoice for Windows 10

IBM launched its newest voice recognition software for Microsoft Windows: ViaVoice for Windows Release 10 Pro USB Edition.

AllVoice and IBM Enter into a License Agreement

NEWTON ABBOT, England - AllVoice Computing PLC and IBM Corporation have entered into a licence agreement with regard to certain voice recognition software.

InfoTalk and Temasek Polytechnic, Singapore to Jointly Establish Speech Technology Laboratory

SINGAPORE and HONG KONG - InfoTalk Corporation and Temasek Polytechnic signed a memorandum of understanding that both parties will jointly develop a speech technology laboratory in Temasek Polytechnic.

WAMU in Washington D.C. Highlights Voice Recognition

The difference between "ice cream" and "I scream" is just one challenge for voice recognition technology. A Tech Tuesday look at capturing the spoken word, and its effect on everything from worker productivity to homeland defense.

Corporate Express Plans to Install Automated Order Fulfillment Systems

GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Corporate Express announced plans to rollout automated order fulfillment systems featuring voice picking technology in 22 distribution centers by the end of 2002.

Chesterton Completes Digital Dictation Pilot

LONDON, UK - Property firm Chesterton's Glasgow office has completed a six month pilot and is investigating further roll out of a digital dictation workflow solution from SRC.

InterVoice-Brite Shareholders Approve Company Name Change to Intervoice

DALLAS, TX - InterVoice-Brite Inc. announced it received shareholders' approval to change its corporate name to Intervoice Inc.

LocusDialog Parnters with NACR; LocusDialog Teams Up With NEC Business Network Solutions

MONTREAL, CANADA - LocusDialog announces anagreement with North American Communications Resources (NACR) to marketand distribute its LocusDialogSTS suite of speech telephony solutions.