Hey Speech-Heads,

If you haven’t already taken a look at the Speech Technology News Feature from yesterday about TweetCall, then now is the time!

TweetCall is a new way to use Twitter–via the power of speech technology.  For all the speechy details about this new offering from Quicktate that let’s you “Twitter By Voice” check out this link.

As you can probably guess, my Speech Brother Eric B. and I were naturally very excited to try out TweetCall for ourselves.  We huddled around my computer, logged onto Twitter, registered at TweetCall, dialed 1-877-TWEET-CALL and got down to business.

And let me just say this:  TweetCall worked like a charm.

My spoken tweet was correctly converted to text and appeared in my Twitter feed almost immediately.

So if you haven’t already, check out TweetCall.  You can also find them on Twitter: @TweetCall.  And don’t forget to follow @SpeechTech on Twitter while you’re at it.

Just last week, British Speech-To-Text provider SpinVox issued a press release listing its “Top Ten Worst Moments In Public Speaking.”

The list–which includes everyone from George W. Bush to Kate Winslet–features links to news stories about and YouTube clips of the Terrible Moments in Public Speaking.

Also in the release are public speaking tips and a list of the Top 5 Worst Public Speakers: 1. Gordon Brown; 2. David Beckham; 3. Kate Winslet; 4. Chris Moyles; 5. Prince Charles.

Well, Speech-Heads, you like my Speech Brother Eric B., maybe be wondering what this release has to do with Speech Technology, STT, or SpinVox.  All I can say is this: I have no idea.

So,without further ado, here is SpinVox’s Top 10 Worst Moments In Public Speaking:

1. George W.  Bush; “Fool me once”; 2002.

2. Delia Smith; “Lets be ‘avin’ you!”; 2005.

3. Kate Winslet; “Oh, God, who was the other one again?”; 2009 at Golden Globes.

4. Judy Finnigan; “An unfortunate wardrobe malfunction“; 2000 at National TV Awards.

5. Gwyneth Paltrow, “Sobs”; 2005 at Academy Awards.

6. Halle Berry; “Tears and screams”‘; 2002 at Academy Awards.

7. Boris Johnson; “Olympic handover speech“; 2008.

8. Gerald Ratner, “Total crap speech”; 2001.

9. Keven Keegan; “I will love it if we beat them”; 1996.

10. Donald Rumsfeld; “Known unknowns”; 2002 .

1. Creepy Santa

You may have seen the recent Speech Technology news feature about GetABBY’s new website that uses speech technology to provide a way for parents to create “personalized” voice messages/calls for their kids from none other than Santa Claus.

The Site offers a variety of Santa Phone Call options, all of them equally creepy.  Sure, the whole thing is for charity.  But nonetheless: Creepy.

2. Top 10 Telephone Tricks

Check out this link to Lifehacker’s Top 10 Telephone Tricks.  The list provides all sorts of useful information about deceiving IVRs and tricking automated telephone marketers.

3. Speech Tech Frozen Pole Holiday Greeting Contest Update

Last week, I invited you–the gentle reader–to submit entries to the Speech Tech Frozen Pole Holiday Greeting Contest.  The contest makes use of Nuance’s Frozen Pole Site and the company’s TSS and will bestow fame and fortune upon the winner.  Well, thus far, the submissions have been less then overwhelming.  In fact, I have received only one submission.  One?!!  Come on people.  Let’s do this thing!  Send those Holiday Cards to me: aboretz@infotoday.com.

Last week I announced that I would be testing out the new STT service provided by custom, online community-driven voicemail services provider YouMail. I was a guinea pig for one week, and had some interesting experiences with the program. After a frustrating set-up process and initial confusion, I have formulated my opinion about YouMail’s transcriptions (which are performed by YapMe.com). For the full run-down of my experience, click “More.”

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Well, I would, if it hadn’t already passed, and I was Catholic. You may remember my announcement last week that I’m testing a new product and will post my reviews on the ST blog. So, which vendor am I reviewing? Hints: it’s related to mobile, free [I <3 beta], and integrates Web 2.0 into its business plan. The full scoop after the jump!

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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: Speech Technology in the Mobile Market
Why We’re Loving It: After a few days of uncertainty regarding Nuance and Android, we got a definitive answer yesterday from Mike Thompson at Nuance (see yesterday’s post). The verdict: “We’re actively participating,” Thompson says. Cha-ching! In other Nuance news, the company announced it had signed a multiyear deal with Samsung to incorporate its speech recognition technologies into Samsung mobile phones. But one of the biggest news items was SpinVox’s $200 million-announcement: the company received that much in fundraising rounds with investors like Goldman Sachs. After an impressive showing at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona, SpinVox has really been hitting it big-time, and with the $200 million, they’ll be doubling the number of mobile providers carrying its voicemail-to-text technology, as well as investing in an Advanced Speech Group in Cambridge.

Hex: Vishing – Giving VoIP and Contact Centers a Bad Name
Why We’re Hating: Following VoiceCon, I kept in touch with Krishna Kurapati, president of voice and information security company Sipera Systems. He sent me a brief email yesterday about “vishing,” or the use of VoIP/Internet phones to trick callers into thinking they’re getting in touch with a call center, when in fact their personal information is being poached by fraudsters. I’m too young to remember, but my mom tells me that people were hesitant to use ATMs when they first hit the scene — I worry that, because VoIP is still relatively new to the call center, that this will make people not afraid of speaking with their company, but also help them learn more about identity protection. In a February 2008 article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, writer Teresa Mcusic put it this way:

These so-called “vishing” attempts are on the increase because costs are going down for international phone calls, thanks to Internet phones, and identity-theft call centers are popping up all around the world targeting the U.S.

[Photos courtesy Wikipedia & SecureComputing.com]