Telephone Speech Recognition Technology Will Impact E-commerce
TARZANA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 22, 1999--"Speech recognition over the telephone is part of e-commerce," noted several experts at the recent "Telephony Voice User Interface Summit Conference" in Scottsdale, Ariz.
"There are hundreds of millions of telephones that can be used to get information or perform transactions through automated systems," noted Dr. William Meisel, president of TMA Associates and organizer of the Conference, but the touch-tone interface has been a barrier.
"We had most of the leading experts in telephone speech recognition at the Conference. They did battle over the best ways to use speech recognition for e-commerce. However, they agreed that telephone speech recognition will be an important supplement to the Internet."
Stuart Patterson, CEO of SpeechWorks International, summed it up best when he said: "Speech recognition is part of e-commerce. E-commerce is not Web-commerce. E-commerce is getting something done without talking to a person -- going in and getting information or conducting a transaction."
Ron Croen, CEO of Nuance Communications, pointed out: "We think that Internet investment and development activities can be leveraged into the telephony space. We call that V-commerce and consider it a major opportunity."
John Davey, director of sales, Telephony Products, Dragon Systems, said that it is not a question of if, but merely when. "Telephone speech recognition is a jumbo jet on the runway, but it hasn't taken off yet. We're still seeing early adopters and innovators. It's like a marathon. We're in the last five miles. All the runners are still in the race, but the sprint has yet to happen."
Jim Burton, founder of CT Link, summed up the reality of the situation when he pointed out: "People have a long history of fondness for self-service in commerce. Speech recognition provides the tool that makes self-service in e-commerce an everyday event that is within the reach of everyone."
For further information, contact Dr. William Meisel at TMA Associates, 818/708-0962 or e-mail: tmainfo@tmaa.com.
Note to Editors: Direct editorial inquiries or requests for interviews with Meisel to David Kaye at KPR Inc., 818/368-8212 or e-mail: dave@kprinc.com.
CONTACT:
TMA Associates
Bill Meisel, 818/708-0962
or
KPR Inc.
David Kaye, 818/368-8212
KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA ARIZONA
BW0004 FEB 22,1999
3:15 PACIFIC
06:15 EASTERN
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