I wish there were two of me. No, seriously — except not in that creepy way portrayed in the venerable film Mulitiplicity. Because, seriously, there is way too much news on which to report for this issue of Round Up & Release. So sit back and relax, unless you live in California, because, according to scientists, you will be hit with a catastrophic earthquake within the next 30 years. No! Google! Apple! I’m already sad.

* Aspect just sent me an email one minute ago announcing the launch of the Web site they built in conjunction with Microsoft. As you may remember, Microsoft gave Aspect a ton o’ money to increase OCS presence in Aspect Unified Contact Center. The site features more info about the alliance, as well as best practices for UC in the contact center. Check it out here. So, Nokia…where’s your Microsoft-funded UC Web site, eh? [Speech Tech Blog, Aspect Plus Microsoft]

* UC Strategies blogger Art Rosenberg posted an interesting piece on whether or not human transcription is needed for voicemail. His vote: no. At least not for consumer voicemail. My thoughts: if you’re paying for voice-to-text, you deserve top-quality transcriptions. If you’re not, as was my experience with YouMail, you don’t have too much room to gripe. [UC Stratgies]

* There’s a big article at CIO about analytics – it’s well written, and even mentions something I find super-creepy. Analyzing TEXT messages. OK, I understand the importance of analytics, but seriously? Let’s not get too data-mining-crazy. [CIO]

* Jingle Networks, purveyor of 1-800-FREE411, announced that Barack Obama is ahead 14% with 23,000 Pennsylvanians polled about their voting intentions in the state’s upcoming primary. [Business Wire]

* Start-up mobile director assistance company V-ENABLE gives callers the option of accessing a live operator during their transactions. This one is just begging for a Lab Rat feature on the blog. [Killer Startups]

* We met with our buddies at SpeechCycle recently — I haven’t yet fully transcribed my interview, but head to Computer World for a nice summary of the company’s plans. Well, it’s more theory. I have a lot of respect for SC – they understand the possibilities, but also the very real limitations, of speech technology. [Computer World]

* And Nuance bought another company! The company’s Dictaphone medical transcription service, ponied up the cash for Massachusetts-based company eScription. [Speech Tech Mag]