Speech Technology
Chorus grows for voice

Speech Technology

IBM, Microsoft and partners are pushing speech technologies into the
mainstream, with new systems to operate Linux, web browsers and other
software.

At the Avios SpeechTek 2004 conference in San Francisco
last week, IBM said it would support Linux alongside Windows and AIX in
an imminent release of its WebSphere Voice Server that hosts speech
recognition and text-to-speech software. The release will also add
support for a proposed standard called Media Resource Control Protocol
(MRCP), allowing multiple vendors speech-recognition and text-to-speech
engines to be integrated. IBM also upgraded its speech development
toolkit.

Among IBMs supporters is Opera Software, whose browser
is popular with technical users. A future version will incorporate IBMs
ViaVoice technology to enable users to ask questions and then receive
audio responses from their computers.

Also at the US show,
Microsoft showed off its new Speech Server 2004, offering speech
recognition, text-to-speech and developer tools that tie into Visual
Studio .Net. Microsoft is relying on partners to build applications,
including ScanSoft and Pronexus, which announced VeoBill, a bill-payment
application. Pronexus is also launching a tool for Speech Server called
VBSalt to help Visual Studio developers use the Salt speech
specification that Microsoft supports.

Some observers fear that
divided support between Salt and rival VoiceXML, which IBM backs, could
fork development but others are more optimistic. “Two years ago there
were no standards so although there are two now, they are helping to
drive applications and taking cost out of the process,” said Mark
Erwich, ScanSoft international marketing manager.

More Info:

www.speechtek.com