A lot of vendors have been hawking their UC solutions in recent months. Perhaps Microsoft’s solution released last year is indeed sparking the market.

But whenever I ask a vendor what UC entails, the response is never clear to me. Generally, I’ll get a long silence followed by the business benefits of deploying a UC solution.

Microsoft describes the concept (question: is it a concept or a solution?) as “bridg(ing) the gap between telephony and computing to deliver real-time messaging, voice, and conferencing to the desktop environment.”

But what about presence? For a while, that was considered the hot item in a UC suite, though is it particularly common?

So far, everyone agrees that UC consists of unified messaging - email, SMS, and voicemail all retrievable from a common location. But what role should web conferencing and audio conferencing play in a UC suite?

As UC is relatively new, I understand that there aren’t a lot of standards around it. At the same time, it seems that some vendors bandy a UC solution that is, in fact, merely an aspect of Unified Communications.

Holy crap. Big news from Cupertino today! Resident Speech Tech heartthrob Steve Jobs announced that the long-awaited iPhone SDK will be published. You know what this means: let the app games wars begin. Since the iPhone debuted without speech, Apple opening up the floodgates to developers could come as a means for big-name vendors like Nuance to pounce.

For anyone who attended Conversations ‘07, you’ll remember [aside from the 90-degree Boca weather] the short video aired at one of the mobile session opening speeches. In the video, a guy using an iPhone performs various Web searches using his voice — he navigates pages, writes reviews, and gets directions. So while a lot of people in my generation [30-and-under] still aren’t entirely sold on the idea of TTS and STT (I know I’m going to get flack for saying that, but you’re hearing it from a REAL 23-year-old with tons of iPhone-using friends), I’d be interested in seeing how speech heavyweights might take part in the app-building process. And if anyone would use it.

Don’t think I’m too cynical, though — OK, I am. I also enjoy playing devil’s advocate. What do you think about speech + the iPhone? I’m still curious as to the possible implications of that little speech patent Apple released in December ‘07, and how speech recognition could play a part in the next iPhone, or in its SDK.

Related Stories:
- Apple Prepares iPhone SDK [eFM]

[Image: SiliconValleySleuth] 

It’s time for another edition of the Speech Tech blog’s regular feature, “Crushes & Hexes.” Appearing every Wednesday, we highlight companies, places, technologies, or people we deem praise-worthy, or cringe-inducing within the speech/tech/IT world. As always, your feedback is appreciated! Email us at blog@speechtechblog.com if you have a crush or hex item you’d like to see online.

Crush: MTA’s Long Island Railroad
Why We’re Loving It: I had to call the LIRR help number today to figure out how to pick up a roundtrip ticket I bought online. First, the IVR only gives you about four options, all of which are very simple (schedules, fares, tickets, etc), and makes it super-easy to transfer to an operator. I only had to wait a few minutes to talk to someone, and they immediately answered my question. No pranks today, unfortunately. I’m not letting the LIRR off the hook without a big diss, though. They’re losing MAJOR points for making their contact information insanely difficult for their customers to find (I had to Google “lirr + phone + customer service” to find the page). I’m willing to look over this fact, however, if it means I get the answer to my question in just one-and-a-half minutes. Grade: B-

Hex: Zipcar
Why We’re Hating It: In a few days, I’m moving five blocks away from my current pad, and bought a Zipcar membership to help me transfer the goods. All I wanted to do was figure out why I couldn’t reserve a car on the Web site - that’s it! First, I called their NYC office’s number. Immediately, I was told that if I was a member, I had to call a different number. Then, I called the 800-number, only to be bombarded with one of the lamest personas ever. Let’s just say that “press” sounded like “prezzzzzzzzzz.” There were only three options in the first menu, none of which related at all to what I was trying to do. I touched “3″ to “learn more about Zipcar,” but instead got bombarded with a super-long message about how to make sure my credit card payments wouldn’t be rejected. I finally heard a “press zero for an operator” and clicked away. While the operator was helpful, Zipcar MUST do something about their phone service - I had to turn my volume up full-blast to hear half of what the operator said. Grade: D

Ryan Joe
Editorial Assistant - Speech Tech Magazine

I graduated from UCLA with a BA in English and have completed coursework for my MFA from Columbia. Like Lauren, I write features and case studies for the print edition of the magazine. I contribute heavily to the FYI and author the new Overheard/Underheard column, which premiered in the March issue. I enjoy comics, novels, creepy country music, and pints of Stella. I also enjoy speech technology. I can be reached at rjoe@infotoday.com

We got copies of the March ‘08 issue of Speech Tech on our doorsteps today. Look for it in your mailbox soon. And, if you don’t subscribe, do so now! It’s free if you’re in a field related to speech technology. Sign up here.

In the March issue, I check out the market for contact centers and IVRs in China and India with some help from Paul Greenberg and Sunny Rao; Ryan takes a look at the progress and hangups with voice search; and Len talks with speech industry professionals about Bill Gates’ proclamation that speech would be part of the next “Digital Decade.” And, bonus, David and I (Ed — Mostly David.) finally convinced Ryan to write his own column — “Overheard, Underheard.” It’s written in Ryan’s voice, and, let’s just say the phrase “gangsta flava” manages to make it in.

The features section dives into: budgeting for speech projects, the pluses and minuses of agent-assisted IVRs, and why usability testing is always a good idea.

We’ll also be introducing some new columnists in the March issue: Moshe Yudkowsky, Alex Halikias, Melanie Polkosky, and Adam Elman.

And, just because I’m in a weird mood today, here’s a video that was recently uploaded to YouTube, which demonstrates the worst TTS ever:

- Marilyn Monroe Speaking [YouTube]

I promised a few weeks ago that I’d post some sort of info about Ryan and myself. So, I’m pulling some photos from the Interwebs to give you more info about us. Ryan’s post will come later today or tomorrow.

Lauren Shopp
Assistant Editor - Speech Tech Magazine

I graduated from Syracuse University with a bachelor’s degree in magazine journalism this past May. Somehow, I ended up in New York by June, and got a job with Speech Tech a few days later. I’ve been at the magazine since mid-June, and am in charge of editing the magazine’s “FYI” section, writing a feature, news stories, and case studies each month, in addition to Web news and this here blog. I’m also our go-to for SpeechTechMag.com’s new TTS project, powered by Loquendo. More on that later! I’m 23, live in Brooklyn, and spend my downtime hanging out with my foster cats, reading like crazy, and impersonating characters from the musical Fiddler on the Roof. Fun fact: I can play the electric harp with a whammy board. I can be contacted at lshopp@infotoday.com.

I got a phone call last week from Gilad Odinak over at Spoken Communications, in response to the blog post I wrote about the guided IVR used by Spiegel Brands and powered by Spoken. My gripe was that, when I called Spiegel to check out the IVR, all I got was a DTMF interface. Boo! I wanted to experience some guided self-service with natural language, but came up short.

Gilad told me that, at times, the Spiegel contact center and its hardware can get a bit funky — blame the network and the equipment. He said that I should try calling again, when the system wasn’t all wonky. Well, I did today and am happy to say I got to chat with “Lindsay,” the virtual agent who guided me through a few ridiculous requests I made. Here’s a transcript: (more…)

This is Speech Tech senior editor Len Klie’s first post on our blog. Be nice to him. Welcome to the interwebs, Len.

New Jersey-based speech technology vendor iVoice only a few months ago received a U.S. patent for a methodology to make “Talking Consumer Products with Voice Instructions via Wireless Technology.” The company is moving quickly, as today it announced that it has already contracted with a DVD production company to assist with the marketing of the technology.

Jerry Mahoney, CEO of iVoice, says that the company’s invention lets users of new products to activate a speaking package that will take the place of a manual when putting together products. No more mangled hands and bruised ego (or is that bruised hands and mangled ego?) as I simultaneously struggle with trying to hold a half-assembled wooden “guillotine” together with one hand and thumbing through the mini-tome to find out what wrench I’ll need to more permanently connect the pieces with the other. Invariably, that one sentence will appear on page 39 of the 160-page instructions booklet buried deep at the bottom of the box.

The hands-free, eyes-free instructions will make product assembly safer and quicker, but still might not fix my damaged psyche. It will also be a welcome endeavor if it means I no longer have to download and print hundreds of pages of PDF files to learn how to sync my new digital camera to my laptop.

[What we would like to see: A speech recognition component that translates our yelling, anger, and frustration with assembling furniture, and says, "Next time, pay someone else to put this together." -- Ed.]

I’ve been writing a lot of features on IVR prompts. How to write them so the customer doesn’t get pissy and hang up, etc. But it’s all related to inbound calls, usually regarding customer care.

Yesterday, I spoke with Dial Directions CEO Amit Desai about his company’s partnership with Jingle Networks, operator of 1-800-FREE411. Towards the end, he spoke briefly about designing prompts for a frequent-use system.

“Personalization is very important for frequent-usage systems,” he said. “People call Directions or FREE411 a lot. That’s unlike a call center application. You’re not calling the airlines that often, right?”

The caller history in a frequent-usage system should know when a user dials in for the umpteenth time. That way the system automatically knows to can the introductory prompts in favor of terser, more to-the-point prompts.

Outbound calls have unique problems as well. Money collection applications or automated sales applications need to be carefully-worded in order to keep the caller - who of course doesn’t actively want or need to take the call - from ending the transaction.

Interesting.

It’s time for another edition of the Speech Tech blog’s regular feature, “Crushes & Hexes.” Appearing every Wednesday, we highlight companies, places, technologies, or people we deem praise-worthy, or cringe-inducing within the speech/tech/IT world. As always, your feedback is appreciated! Email us at blog@speechtechblog.com if you have a crush or hex item you’d like to see online.

Crush: Voice Search - The Cool Kid on the Block
Why We Love It: According to everyone, voice search is the coolest, prettiest, funniest, most awesome new kid on the block. He will change the way we search on mobile phones, interact with multimedia content, and he’s so all-encompassing that he has his own conference! This March, we’re sending our own Ryan Joe to check out the Voice Search conference in San Diego. OK, it used to be SpeechTEK West, but we’re willing to overlook the name change. Make sure to look for Ryan at the conference, or contact him (rjoe@infotoday.com) if you’re interested in speaking with him during the show.

Hex: Bill Gates
Why We’re Hating: Last month, Bill Gates was heralding speech as part of the Digital Decade (a little bit late, eh?), and this week, he’s causing all kinds of eye-rolling among human rights activists. Why? Because B.G., during a speech at Stanford University yesterday, was quoted as saying:

“I don’t see any risk in the world at large that someone will restrict free content flow on the Internet. You cannot control the Internet.”

Oh, really? If that’s so, one blogger wondered, why was Microsoft complicit with the Chinese when the country enforced Internet censorship? Bill, we’re waiting for an answer…

James Dean image [eb.com] & Bill Gates image [tla.ch]