Hey Speech-Heads:

Here’s some more SpeechTEK Europe News:

European opportunities for the global speech technology marketplace are the focus for the launch of SpeechTEK Europe in London on 26 & 27 May.

Produced by the publishers of the industry’s best-read magazine, Speech Technology, SpeechTEK Europe is the sister of the highly successful New York annual event series and aims to capitalise on the wealth of speech innovators based here in Europe.

The conference has been developed by a Steering Committee which comprises some of the industry’s most respected thought leaders. Here they share their insights into the future for speech technologies, how they are developing, and where they will be used.

Loquendo’s Vice President of International Sales, Rosanna Duce, predicts that voice control will be a major growth area in the next five years: “One important emerging speech technology is undoubtedly the voice control of all kinds of devices, for example, PDAs, mobile phones, DVD players.” She comments, “These technologies are currently being expanded and upgraded to allow all functions to be accessed using voice, thus eliminating the need to use a keyboard. Consumer demand seems to suggest that the option to dictate text messages will be a major source of growth in this area, as will be the reading of incoming messages by a TTS application bundled with the phone/PDA.”

Nava Shaked, CEO of Business Technologies, agrees: “The combination of voice search engines, internet and mobile is a real opportunity for speech technology growth and influence. This includes the introduction of previously unseen applications for voice user interface and transcription. The combination of voice and video is also promising and will be inevitable in our interaction with multimedia.”

James Larson, the Conference Chair, supports these views: “Multimodal applications on mobile devices will enable customers to not only speak and listen, but to also read and type and use additional modes in interaction. These apps will be easy to learn, easy to use, and much more natural than current voice-only apps or GUI-only apps. They will always be available, and customers can use them wherever they are, not just at their desktop or in their car.” He concludes, “Multimodal applications on mobile devices will dramatically change how we interact with appliances – TV, radio, environmental control – with the internet, and with other people.”

The SpeechTEK Europe conference programme explores these trends and the implications for the industry as a whole. Real world applications and case studies are a particular feature of the event, so delegates can see for themselves how speech is working in a variety of different environments, how to select and implement the technology, and how to evaluate its performance.

The full SpeechTEK Europe programme is available HERE, along with registration information, details of registration savings, and free entry exhibition tickets.

Hey Speech-Heads:

This SpeechTEK Europe Press Release is straight from the Horse’s Mouth:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Leading speech synthesis developer, CereProc–recently the subject of global media attention, including coverage on the Oprah Winfrey Show, for their development of a synthetic voice for film critic Roger Ebert–will reveal the latest innovations in speech synthesis at London’s SpeechTEK Europe Conference.

Paul Welham, Cereproc’s Chairman & Chief Executive Officer comments, “There is something special about speech. A person’s voice is not just a means of communicating; it also gives a deep impression of who we are. Humans use their voices to show emotion, persuade, and convince, to calm and to excite. So, what can we do if a person loses the power of speech? The answer lies now with advanced speech synthesis technology.

“Roger Ebert, arguably America’s most famous film critic, lost the ability to speak after a thyroid cancer operation. Although he used speech synthesis available on his PC to communicate, he was deeply frustrated because the voice did not sound like him. Using Roger’s commentaries from DVDs, CereProc created a voice that mimics his original speaking style, including emotional qualities. Roger can now manipulate his own voice again, to alter pronunciation, pitch, intonation, and reflect his personal voice qualities.”

Cereproc are just one of the participants in a Panel Session on New Uses of Text-to-Speech Synthesis on the second day of SpeechTEK Europe.

Other Conference highlights include:

• Transport for London on using automated voice technology to help customers make over 24 million trips a day, and how to minimise the impact of technology failures.

• Reducing fraud and replacing out-dated methods of authentication with the latest in voice biometric systems.

• Will it work in Swahili? Understanding how to design, implement and test multilingual speech applications to work across multiple languages and cultures.

• Real world applications: a major UK bank on successful design documentation; and how the ‘phone is being used to report diabetic readings and feedback patients’ conditions.

• Cutting edge advances in high definition voice, spontaneous speech, avatars – and how they are improving business performance and competitiveness.

This first-ever SpeechTEK Europe offers a global perspective on speech technology and its future, discussing and showcasing innovations, applications, services and solutions for those considering or already using this powerful range of technologies to improve customer service, increase business performance, and boost the bottom line.

But, whilst development and adoption of speech technology has been rapid, barriers and challenges still remain for the speech industry, and these are also addressed at SpeechTEK Europe.

Caroline Leathem, Interaction Specialist at Verizon comments, “Overcoming the negativity associated with speech automation in contact centre solutions is a major challenge. There are still too many poor designs out there and if we, who understand the limitation of automated voice solutions, are frustrated by an IVR then you can bet your bottom dollar most other people will be. By recognising the importance of interaction design skills, planning regular usability test cycles, and making the technology do the work rather than the caller, we can increase people’s confidence in speech technology as a whole.”

Loquendo’s Rosanna Duce believes more work is needed on usability: “The barriers are that choosing speech technology to solve a business issue – be it entrusting users to a voice-enabled IVR, adopting TTS as the voice of your device, or choosing a voice-dialling application–is still a difficult task and the reason for this is that the ‘usability’ of these applications is not often as ‘user friendly’ as they ought to be.”

Conference Chair, Jim Larson, believes that standards remain an area of concern for the industry–and this will also be on the agenda at SpeechTEK Europe: “Development language standards [are needed] so that applications developed for a mobile device from one manufacturer can be used on devices from other manufacturers. VoiceXML 2.0 achieved this for voice-only applications. VoiceXML 3.0 and related W3C standards will hopefully do this for multimodal applications.”

The full SpeechTEK Europe programme is available HERE, along with registration information, details of registration savings, and free entry exhibition tickets.

Hey Speech-Heads:

It’s time, once again, for Speech Technology’s annual Speech Industry Awards.  That’s right: Our yearly shout-out to the best-of-the-best in the World of Speech.  And as of RIGHT NOW, the Nomination Forms are online and ready to go.

So, get to is Speech-Heads.  Nominate those Speech Luminary and Star Performer?  Let us know about those Great Implementations.  Grab The Crown as a Market Leader.

It’s like my Speech Brother Eric B. says: “This year’s awards are going to be an all out CAGE MATCH.”

The deadline is April 30th this year, so GET CRACKIN’!

Speech-Heads,

If there’s one thing my Speech Brother Eric B. loves it is Testing & Tuning.  He’s a fiend for it.  And that is why he just about lost his mind, when he learned about the Speech Technology Webinar on April 8th:  Putting Your IVR System To The Test!  The Importance of Testing, Tuning and Tools.

This one is NOT to be missed, so Register Today!

THURSDAY APRIL 8TH, 2010 • 11:00am PT / 2:00pm ET
	Customer contact is crucial in today’s business world – even more so than in the past, when it comes to customer retention and cost savings.  Too many times we wait to test our systems until after they have been implemented which can be costly not only from a budget spend but in regards to customer dissatisfaction! Learn why it is imperative to test your systems upfront and why this process must be continued throughout its lifecycle in order to reach optimum results. Join Ovum, Avaya, and Angel.com as they discuss “Putting your IVR to the test!  The importance of testing, tuning and tools” on April 8, 2010 What you will learn: What to do before declaring your application ready How to keep a watchful eye on your new system How to iteratively prototype your IVR application for fine tuning How to tune your IVR by using qualitative data from call recordings Register now for this informational one-hour Web seminar. Reserve quickly—space is limited. Audio is streamed over the Internet, so turn up your computer speakers!		MODERATOR ANALYST David Myron Editorial Director Speech Technology magazine Daniel Hong Lead Analyst Customer Interaction Ovum (formerly Datamonitor) PRESENTERS Charles Galles Senior Consultant - Self Service Solutions Avaya Vidhi Bhansali Senior VUI Analyst Angel.com

Hey Speech-Heads,

You know what time it is?  That’s right: Webinar Time.  My Speech Brother Eric B. and I are totally stoked for March 25th: How Verifying Your Customer’s Identity Can Save You Money.

It’s like Eric B. always says: REGISTER TODAY! Also: “Don’t that take the rag off of the bush.”

Thursday March 25th, 2010 • 11:00am PT / 2:00pm ET
	Biometric speaker verificationis one of the hot technologies for user authentication. Speaker-verification solutions are being used by governments and private industry from North America to Australia and from Switzerland to Turkey and the Philippines. This roundtable highlights the practical issues involved in crafting a speaker-verification solution that is good for security, user satisfaction and the bottom line. Those issues include How can you manage user expectations and concerns while keeping costs low? What are good business metrics for assessing the performance of a solution? How do you make sure that the solution meets corporate and other security and privacy requirements? Can good security also be easy to use? Learn the answers to these and other questions about speaker verification solutions by joining us at our roundtable on March 25, 2010. This roundtable is presented in partnership with Dr. Judith Markowitz, of J. Markowitz and Consultants, who is a leading analyst in the field of speaker verification and other voice biometrics. Joining Judith in this roundtable discussion will be Chuck Buffum from Nuance and William E. Morrow from CSIdentity Corporation. Reserve quickly—space is limited. Audio is streamed over the Internet, so turn up your computer speakers!		MODERATOR ANALYST David Myron Editorial Director Speech Technology magazine Dr. Judith Markowitz President J. Markowitz, consultants PRESENTERS Chuck Buffum VP, Authentication Solutions Mobile & Enterprise Division Nuance William E. Morrow Chairman and CEO CSIdentity Corporation

Hey Speech-Heads,

By now, everybody knows about Google expanding its robo-transcription function to include every video on YouTube.  In fact, you may have read about it in a recent story in Speech Technology.

Well, that’s all fine and good.  We here at SpeechTech Blog love transcription as much as the next guy.  But every video?  I mean there are some pretty insane/marginal/terrible videos on YouTube.  Take for example Mannequin Dance Party.  Do we really need this video transcribed?  Do we really want it transcribed?  Well, maybe.  Who am I to judge?  And, I suppose I shouldn’t be so negative.  This next video, titled Talking Carrots definitely deserves transcription.

But my Speech Brother Eric. B and I still have doubts about Google’s ability to transcribe every video.  So, that is why we are issuing the following Transcription Challenge to YouTube and Google.

Says Eric B., Transcribe This:

Hey Speech-Heads,

My Speech-Brother Eric B. and I were enjoying a leisurely brunch here at The Home Office–reading the newspaper, sipping mimosas and eating our traditional Speech Tech Breakfast of poached eggs, kippers, rashers, fried bread and Jell-O–when we came across a story on the cover of The New York Times about speech technology.

Needless to say, Eric B. spilled a cup of hot tea on his trousers and shrieked like a small child.  But there it was: A New York Times Story about Google Translate!

Check out the above link, to read all the news that’s fit to print about Google Translate.  We haven’t seen anything this high profile since The New Yorker Episode of 08.

Hey Speech-Heads,

Check out this great use of TTS:

Movie Critic Roger Ebert–who is recovering from a serious bout with thyroid cancer that rendered him speechless–has been using TTS to communicate.  However, Ebert’s TTS recently got a new voice–his own.  His new voice by CereProc is programmed from collected audio clips and snippets from the movie critic’s many television appearances and DVD commentaries.

Check out this Esquire Article for more information.

And check out Ebert’s appearance on Oprah for his 2010 Oscar Picks.

Well Speech-Heads,

It’s like my Speech Brother Eric B. always says: “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.” And with that in mind, we here at SpeechTech Blog bring you the GM Voices Asterisk Song and Music Video.

According to an official press release, “GM Voices, the world’s largest producer of professionally-recorded voice for telephony applications, hit the recording studio (down the hall) and turned Asterisk open source inspiration into a rocking tribute to IVR, complete with jamming guitars, bangin’ drums, a white-hot harmonica solo and the angelic vocals of the “Call Center Girls,” customer service AND singing professionals.”

Eric B.–who listens exclusively to hardcore death metal–even loved it, saying: “Well, slap me thrice and hand me to me mama!”

So, here, for your consideration is “Asterisk Song:”