If there were ever any doubts that voice-recognition technology would become a big business, New York state swiftly put those questions to bed when it passed a state law two weeks ago banning the use of mobile phones while driving.
Such a well-publicized legislative move, and the threat of similar legislation materializing in other states, not only puts wireless carriers in the sticky position of finding alternative ways for people to use their mobile phones, but it heightens the awareness of these alternative methods among general consumers. Consequently, consumers are now expecting the industry to provide them safe choices, and voice technology providers are more than happy to oblige.
“A lot of customers are requesting that kind of functionality. This is perfect timing. It (the New York legislation) is making some of the wireless providers provide it pretty quickly,” said Mike Guillory, vice president of marketing for Philips Speech Processing.
Philips, Nuance Communications Inc. and SpeechWorks International Inc. are among the largest providers of voice technologies such as speech recognition, speech-to-text and the highly coveted voice-activated dialing. Speech recognition has been used for years in call centers and other places where the information exchange was voluminous and simple, but only in the past two years or so has the wireless industry been actively integrating such capabilities in to consumer offerings.
“We think we have a perfect solution for a real life problem. This is not a luxury application, but an application that is really required,” said Frank Caris, president and general manager of Philips Speech Processing’s telephony division, Americas, of the company’s speech-recognition software.
After much talk and months of testing, a few big-name carriers, including AT&T Wireless Services Inc. and Sprint PCS, have introduced voice-recognition technologies. AT&T Wireless launched in June its “#121” service powered by Tellme, which allows customers to use their voice to access Internet-based information such as driving directions, news and stock quotes.
Sprint PCS offers Voice Command, a voice-activated dialing service. Subscribers are given a personalized Web page they can use to create and modify their own address book. The address book can hold up to 500 names, with up to five numbers for each name. The user dials “*Talk” and speaks the number or name of the person they wish to reach, and the system dials it for them.
However, smaller carriers were some of the first to implement speech technology. In April, Dobson Cellular Systems deployed Preferred Voice Inc.’s “Safety Talk” voice-activated dialing service in several markets in Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York.
Mark Plakias, vice president of voice and wireless commerce for The Kelsey Group, confirmed a lot of voice technology activity is occurring in second-tier markets where software integration is not as large an undertaking given the smaller customer base. Plakias also confirmed that recent legislative efforts, as well as advances in the Internet and the struggles of WAP, are speeding up the deployment of voice technology.
A recent report from The Kelsey Group found voice-recognition services already are bigger than WAP. Year-end 2000 figures show there are approximately 4 million voice app users vs. 2 million wireless Internet users, according to the firm. The report also projects that worldwide spending and revenues from voice applications will reach $41 billion by 2005.
And the potential is not just in voice portals, the most visible voice technology during the past year.
“Voice portals are yesterday’s news,” said Plakias. “The consumer portal model is just one of many opportunities we identified among the more than 100 companies working with speech technology across a spectrum of applications and markets.”
Among those companies are more big names like Microsoft Corp. and Lucent Technologies Inc. Last year Microsoft launched its Speech.Net initiative, which calls on developers to create new voice applications using the increasingly popular VoiceXML standard-applications Microsoft plans to integrate into its computers and wireless devices in the future. Lucent now offers network-based software similar to that of Nuance, Philips and others.
Smaller players such as BeVocal and HeyAnita continue to provide voice portal and other voice-recognition technologies.
Once thought of as an “extra,” it seems voice technologies will be required of all carriers in the future.
“This is now about carriers getting the consumers complying with local statutes,” Plakias said. “On one level it’s a differentiator, but the bigger issue is will voice-activated dialing become a must-have? We think it has the potential to become a must-have rather than a differentiator,” said Plakias.
He said whoever can best smooth the transition for consumers from current Web access and dialing methods to voice-activated dialing methods will stand out among carriers.
In addition to the safety benefits of voice technologies on the consumer side, there also is the potential for significant cost savings on the enterprise side.
According to Steve Kinstler, vice president and national practice leader of speech recognition for Ciber Inc., an Internet technology and systems integration consulting firm, a speech-automated call costs about 40 cents, while an agent-monitored call costs around $4. Kinstler said speech recognition is a very cost-effective solution for any business that has more than about 25 agents.
The opportunities for voice-recognition solutions also are plentiful in the telematics arena. Telematics companies are increasingly embedding voice-recognition software in to their systems. The Kelsey Group predicts revenues for in-car voice and wireless services in the United States and Europe will reach $6.4 billion by 2006.
