InformationWeek

January 5, 1998

Voice Recognition Goes Mainstream

Talking to a computer will become more common, on the phone or at your PC

oving us a step closer to the world of HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey , talking to a computer in 1998 will be almost as commonplace as speaking into the intercom in a fast-food drive-through. Thanks to improvements in voice-recognition software, as well as greater processing power, vendors have developed systems that translate the spoken word into language a computer can understand more than 95% of the time. In 1998, you're likely to find yourself talking to a computer either at your desk or at the other end of a telephone line. And you're more likely than last year to speak in a natural voice, instead of pausing between words.

"Speech recognition is hot," says William Meisel, president of TMA Associates, publisher of a speech-recognition newsletter in Encino, Calif. "Nobody can say any longer that it doesn't work." Meisel predicts the market will surge from tens of thousands of speech-recognition-enabled telephone lines today to hundreds of thousands of lines by the end of 1998.

Voice Information Associates in Lexington, Mass., projects that the market for speech-recognition products will grow from $245 million last year to $335 million in 1998, and soar to $810 million by 2001.

"This technology has migrated from a science project to a business solution," says Bruce Dougherty, VP of sales for Nuance Communications Inc. in Menlo Park, Calif. "We've seen a real change in the way people are treating it in the last six months."

This year , expect more corporate users to join early adopters such as American Express and United Parcel Service in deploying critical applications that rely on voice recognition. Meanwhile, on the desktop, more users will take advantage of newly affordable dictation software that understands natural language. Prices for some of these products will drop below $100. Also, expect to see the appearance of software that lets people control applications, including E-mail, with their voices.

Microsoft will spend 1998 working to add voice recognition to its operating systems. The technology is likely to appear first in Windows CE, the operating system used in palmtop computers. Also of interest to people on the road will be the appearance of products that challenge Wildfire's Wildfire Electronic Assistant, a service that provides a virtual secretary that answers and forwards calls, checks voice mail, and returns calls. Wildfire will respond with an enterprise edition of its software that companies can deploy to help thei r employees communicate.

As voice recognition shows up this year in many corporate settings, a likely destination will be the call center, where early adopters hope to demonstrate the value of the technology. Charles Schwab & Co. was one of the first companies to deploy speech recognition in 1996, using technology from Nuance that lets users access stock prices and other information by dialing a number and saying the name or trading symbol of a company, mutual fund, or market indicator. The system now also lets investors buy and sell mutual funds.

E*Trade Group Inc., a rival electronic brokerage in Palo Alto, Calif., last year deployed a voice system that lets customers manage their accounts, including making trades, 24 hours a day. "We're moving money," says Michael Welton, manager of international and interactive voice-response products at E*Trade. "We can now market to anyone who is comfortable using a phone." The system is based on technology from Applied Language Technologies Inc. and InterVoice Inc.

In November, UPS deployed a Nuance system that lets callers say their shipping ID number to check on package routing. The system immediately started handling over 100,000 calls a day. Because fewer customers actually speak to live agents, the system cut down on the amount of extra help UPS needs to hire over the holidays.

Other companies are deploying voice recognition for simpler uses, such as routing calls to employees. The Boston Globe uses an automated attendant developed by Parlance Corp. in Wakefield, Mass., that lets employees call a colleague by simply speaking his or her name. "Unlike paper directories, this is always at your fingertips," says Dave Pearson, manager of new technology at the Globe.

Several vendors, including Access Line Technologies, Applied Language Technologies, Nuance, and Registry Magic are working on similar products.

Companies may also look to deploy sophisticated voice-recognition technology that will help employees manage their own communications. Wild fire's enterprise version will integrate with E-mail and let users see a voice-mail message on a screen or have Wildfire read E-mail aloud.

Many telecommunications carriers, including Pacific Bell Mobile Services, are rolling out voice-mail or voice-dialing services that rely on technology from Wildfire and others. In 1998, General Magic Inc. in Sunnyvale, Calif., will release its own virtual assistant, Serengeti, which analysts say uses more-natural voice commands than Wildfire. In the months ahead, expect to see Wildfire-like services in the $50-a-month range, compared with Wildfire's current average price of about $200 a month.

Prices for desktop voice-recognition software are likely to drop, as well. Currently, prices range from $159 to $695 for products from Dragon Systems Inc., IBM, and Kurzweil Applied Intelligence Inc.

Independent software vendors, in the meantime, are voice-enabling existing software such as E-mail and groupware. Typhoon Software in Santa Barbara, Calif., is shipping a p rogram that integrates Novell's GroupWise and IBM's ViaVoice. In the first quarter, Voice Pilot Technologies Inc. in Miami Lakes, Fla., will roll out SkyeMail, an application that runs on top of IBM's ViaVoice and lets users use voice to control their desktop E-mail.

"By the end of 1998, computer inputs will be the keyboard, the mouse, and the voice," says Rolf Rudestam, CEO of Voice Pilot. "The days of Star Trek are coming."

Back to Hot In '98