While wireless trends emphasize the movement to data, the use of voice as an enabler tends to tail off to the background in carriers’ marketing schemes.
But as the new announcement by IBM Corp. on real estate indicates, voice keeps forcing itself back to premier status. Leveraging both Voice XML technology with XHTML, IBM rolled out what it describes as its multimodal tool kit, which combines both voice and visual applications.
With this solution, the user can enjoy this experience with Sharp’s Zarus personal digital assistant. IBM said it expects to offer the tool kit on other devices too.
The solution enables real-estate agents to access property listings and information on the go.
IBM leverages the solution built by Irvine, Calif.-based NewportWorks for the service, which lets real-estate agents in Southern California use speech to access information in local Multiple Listings Service databases, the repository of properties on the market.
The software giant said the solution also alerts agents when new listings that match specific search descriptions become available, giving them current and accurate information on newly available property.
The toolkit works for voice-only, visual-only as well as in both voice-and-visual applications, according to Gene Cox, mobile solutions executive for IBM. He said it can be deployed on a variety of mobile devices and smart phones, describing the solution as the first in the market. A similar solution from Microsoft Corp. it still in the Beta stage.
Cox explained that the bundling of both Voice XML and XHTML is a boon to developers on both sides of the aisle as they can enjoy the applications of both voice and data.
“It leverages both standards and communities of people,” said Cox, explaining that this opens the window to a large variety of applications.
Cox said the solution is part of IBM’s WebSphere platform.
