Speech Technology eWeekly - January 01, 2004

Q & A

Lawrence P. Mark, Chief Technology Officer, SER

As chief technology officer, Larry Mark leads SER's strategic planning and technology direction initiatives. Mark shares SER's strategy behind the Aspect/SER partnership announced last week.

Michael Cohen, Co-Founder, Nuance Communications

Nuance co-founder Dr. Michael Cohen along with James Giangola and Dr. Jennifer Balogh have written a book titled "Voice User Interface Design." Dr. Cohen shares his thoughts on speech, personas and VUI design.

Vincent Fontaine, Executive Committee Chairman, Babel Technologies

Last week, Babel Technologies and Elan Speech announced the merger of their companies in an effort to dedicate themselves as a European creator of innovative dialogue solutions. Vincent Fontaine shares his expectations of the merger and how it could impact the speech industry.

Mark Plakias and Bryan Mekechuk, analysts, Zelos Group

Zelos Group has released two reports that are of particular interest to the speech technology markets. One covers outsourced call centers in the U.S. - "Teleservices Databook: 2004 Edition." The other covers contact centers in India - "Business Process Outsourcing: Focus on India - 2004 Edition." STM NewsBlast visited with the authors of both reports, Mark Plakias and Bryan Mekechuk.

Philippe Roy, Conceptual Speech

Philippe Roy says that conceptual speech recognition technology could soon replace grammar based speech recognition systems. Roy, who was a popular exhibitor at SpeechTEK 2003, visits with NewsBlast to discuss the soon-to-be-released Conceptual Speech Commander and their conceptual speech recognition technology.

Speech Technology News

Zelos Group Report Finds High Growth Areas Within Teleservices Industry

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - The Teleservices Databook identifies three areas of the industry that Zelos Group believes will experience significant growth: Interactive Notifications, outsourced directory assistance and hosted speech recognition.

NMS Communications Studio Sound Available from Commnet Supply

Commnet will provide full line of NMS echo cancellation and voice quality systems to mobile operators across the United States and South America.

Integration Associates Announces Partnership With Sensory

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA - Strategic agreement developed to co-market EZRadio™ wireless chipset with Recognition Synthesis and Control (RSC) chipset.

VocalData and Convedia Partner

RICHARDSON, TX and VANCOUVER, CANADA - Companies join to deliver scalable IP centrex solutions.

Vocollect Signs South American Reseller

PITTSBURGH, PA - Seal Technologia targets warehouse solutions by partnering with Vocollect.

NetByTel Appoints John Amein President and CEO

BOCA RATON, FL - Amein joins NetByTel following $8 million in financing for marketing and technology development.

Voice Signal and Sendo Partner on Mobile Phone Solution

BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND and WOBURN, MA - European release Sendo X features Voice-Activated Phonebook.

IVOICE Deploys IVR in South Carolina

MATAWAN, NJ - System is designed to allow clients to make tax payments to their accounts using a credit card.

Comverse Products Deployed by Greek Operator Cosmote

WOODBURY, NY - Voicemail platform, 'Who Called,' and SMS Notifications services integrated by Cosmote replacing legacy voicemail system.

Vocollect Introduces Model SR-10 Headset

PITTSBURGH, PA - New model designed to be worn behind the headand connects to Talkman® T2 wearable computer.

Rosinski Appointed VP of Professional Services at VoiceGenie

TORONTO, CANADA - Rosinski will be tasked with building a global professional services practice.

IVoice Releases IVR Application Generator 2.0

MATAWAN, NJ - The Speech Enabled Application Generator developed to route calls based on specified rules, monitor application performance and log calls and events.

Telelogue Secures Directory Assistance Patent

ISELIN, NJ - Patent granted relating to its method to preprocess database listings used by a voice automated system.

ScanSoft Aquires LocusDialog

PEABODY, MA - Richard Martel, previously CEO of LocusDialog, will lead ScanSoft's auto-attendant strategy within ScanSoft's Network Speech Solutions group.

Aspect and SER Partner on Outbound Solution

SAN JOSE, CA - SER's Call Processing System to be marketed by Aspect along with quality assurance products.

Nexidia Partners with NEC

ATLANTA, GA - NEC to serve as partner and distributor of NEXminer product line and secures first sale in Japan.

Intervoice Enters Into New Credit Agreement with Wells Fargo

DALLAS, TX - Credit agreement in place to refinance indebtedness outstanding under a prior term loan and revolving credit facility.

Voxware Solution Implemented by French Retailer Intermarché

PRINCETON, NJ - VoiceLogistics system is being used at Intermarché's distibution center with plans for installation at other facilities.

Datria Releases New Ticket Management 2.0 Edition

Datria Ticket Management& 2.0 Outage Management Edition is designed for companies that who need to assemble large workforces during emergency situations.

ZyDoc Solutions Extending to PACS/RIS

CHICAGO, IL - Speech recognition, transcription and automated Internet communications combined for radiology reporting and communications.

Vocomo and GM Voices Enable Smart Prompt Option

CUPERTINO, CA and ALPHARETTA, GA - Smart Prompt option installed on Vocomo IVR to speak date, time of day, dollar amounts and numbers.

STEP Communications Unveils Bluetooth Compatible Headset

Addition to HumanLink products incorporates STEP's Acoustic Bubble technology intended to provide clear communication.

SRC Becomes WinScribe's Exclusive UK Platinum Partner

LONDON, ENGLAND - SRC extends existing partnership with WinScribe's international product development team.

TARGUS and Voice Partners Application Awarded Top Rating

Vocal Laboratories awards voice capture application highest certification in call completion and call consistency.

Babel Technologies and Elan Speech Merge

BELGIUM, FRANCE - New initiative will cover 23 languages and focus on the creation of dialogue solutions.

VoiceGenie and MultiVision Partner on Speechezy

Interactive notification application created to allow the design and launch of speech-enabled, personalized outbound notification campaigns.

Phonetic Systems and XTEND Communications Partner

Voice Search Engine to be integrated into into XTEND's suite of telecommunications and contact center solutions.

Intervoice Announces Suite of Packaged Applications

DALLAS, TX - Omvia Voice Express supports SALT, VXML and classic environments.

SRC Provides Speech Recognition for Archers Direct

LONDON, ENGLAND - British independent tour operator using speech recognition to handle response to its 2004 DRTV advertising campaign.

Wizzard Software Attracts 21 New Customers

PITTSBURGH, PA - Twenty-one new companies signed agreements to include one or more of Wizzard's speech products in their own product offerings in the fourth quarter of 2003.

Loquendo Releases German Female Voice Katrin

TURIN, ITALY - Katrin is Loquendo's third German persona.

MacSpeech Announces Adobe Creative Suite ScriptPaks

SALEM, NH - iListen 1.6 to be exhibited at the Macworld Expo January 6-9 in San Francisco; iListen upgrade needed for ScriptPaks.

Personica Intelligence and SimpleDevices Launch Platform

LAS VEGAS, NV - SimpleDevices™'s UPnP-Enabled iClock Integrated With Personica Intelligence'sTM PI intelligent interface technology.

SAFLINK Acquires BioMetric Solutions Group

Subject to limited closing conditions, acquisition expected to be accretive impact on SAVLINK's operating cash results beginning with first quarter of 2004.

NeoSpeech Introduces VoiceNotify Platform

FREMONT, CA - Platform designed to allow automotive dealers to send personalized, voice-automated phone messages to customers via phone.

Fonix Proceeds with Acquisition of LecStar Telecom

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - Fonix management anticipates close of acquisition by Jan. 30, 2004.

Syntellect's Vista Technology Selected by East Coast Bank

PHOENIX, AZ - Bank chooses Syntellect to consolidate existing IVR systems and replace its aging proprietary systems.

Elix, Nu Echo and CONCEPT S2i Announce Results of Holiday Voice Application

MONTREAL, CANADA - talktosantaclaus application encountered more than 72,000 chats with voice-automated Santa Claus.

ScanSoft Solution Deployed by Cofiroute

PEABODY, MA and GHENT, BELGIUM - SpeechPearl® selected as core technology for Traffic-One, a real-time traffic information service offered in French.

Alex Choy Appointed Edify Vice President of Engineering

SANTA CLARA, CA - Edify also names co-founder Ken Waln chief technology officer.

Clarity Technologies and Texas Instruments Release HFK Platform

HOUSTON, TX - Hands-Free Kit Development Platform includes (Clear Voice Capture) noise and echo suppression software, CVC™.