Navigating Turbulent Change in Communications and Voice User Interfaces

1. Turbulent change drives Communications and the Voice User Interface Bill Meisel President, TMA Associates Editor, Speech Strategy News wmeisel@tmaa.com

2. Classical speech market segments • Telephony / Server • Enterprise • Workforce (field service, unified communications) • Customers (contact centers) • Services • PC / Desktop • Consumer (e.g., accessibility) • Specialized (e.g., healthcare) • Embedded / Mobile • Consumer electronics (e.g., wireless phones, automobile, games) • Industrial (e.g., warehouses)

3. A different view • Classical view driven by technology differences and limitations • The new drivers -- Utility and convergence

4. Trends impacting the use of speech technology • Wireless phones • Mobility services (including voice search) • Ad-supported telephone services • Call centers become true customer service centers • Unified Communications • VoIP • PCs with telephone service and easily available speech recognition • Speech and text become more interchangeable • Technology evolution • Technology validation

5. Wireless phones • Multi-functional • Portable, connected PCs + cameras + music players + …? • Less specialized • Better support for Web browsing and applications • A “micro-PC”?

6. The user interface on wireless phones • Current menu- and button-oriented user interface layers on features in a hierarchical model • Not unlike touch-tone menus • The iPhone • Text-input a limitation • Speech a natural interface on a small, portable device • Required for automobile use? • Flattening control and information access • Text input by speech

7. Mobility applications • Voice dialing and other communications features • Location-based services • Voice search • Ultimately, an indispensable “personal assistant” • The power of dialog

8. Voice search • Easier and less-expensive telephone access to information and services, including customer service • “Speak-through” voice ads • Easier search of the Web for audio/video

9. The customer as king - Contact centers change focus • Serve customers while containing costs • New volume from voice search and speak-thru ads • Speech technology can help • More complex applications-- • Attempt to avoid frustrating customers • Move away from touch-tone call flow model • More marketing calls • Multimodal solutions • Business-process driven? • Burden on application design (time, cost, and delivery)

10. Integrating customer contact points • Customers want Web applications and telephone applications to use similar resources and be more easily managed together rather than as silos • Speech applications driven by databases and web services • Integrated analytics

11. Business intelligence from speech communications • Speech analytics in call centers • Integration with Web and email analytics

12. Unified Communications • Unifying communication modes • Unifying the infrastructure for internal and external communications (including contact center) • A speech interface can help deal with the complexity of options

13. Too much communications? • Problem is not getting in touch, but being touched too much • Too available? • Communications clutter • Multiple channels to manage • Spam in all communications channels • Unified communications --> Unified communications management • Speech-enabled communications assistant • Auto-replies, sorting of messages, conversion of message types

14. IP Telephony • Enterprises: A more flexible application platform • PCs (and wireless phones?)--VoIP telephony • Web--Click to call • Need for automation • And IP telephony makes it easier to automate

15. Speech technology easily available on PCs • Delivered with Microsoft Vista • Dictation for rough drafts -- idea capture • VoIP telephony-- the PC as telephone • Services in the network-- no per-minute charges • Familiarity with the Voice User Interface on telephones may make it more popular on PCs

16. Speech and text become more interchangeable • Voicemail to text • Searchable voice files

17. PCs • Well-established GUI • Incremental innovation • Potential for speech recognition • Microphone a more common peripheral • The “noisy office” argument

18. Speech technology boundaries get fuzzy • More use of Statistical Language Models • Sometimes integrated with directed dialog and specific grammars • Backed up by hidden agents in some cases • Mobile devices get more computing power and connectivity • Software in device can negotiate with network-based speech technology

19. Growing importance of large-list recognition • Directory assistance, song lists, voice search • Often one-step process rather than dialog

20. Empirical techniques in VUI design and delivery • Statistical Language Models followed by natural language processing provide more dialog flexibility • Directed dialogs can be enhanced by empirical techniques

21. Standards becoming standard • Success of VoiceXML and related standards • Watch State Chart XML (SCXML) • Managing dialogs and multimodal solutions • Increased flexibility in dialog flow • Parallel operations • Continuity between sessions

22. Validation: Less need for an evangelical sale • Vertical markets • Healthcare • Manufacturing • Larger companies incorporate speech technology • Microsoft in Office Communications Server and Vista • Google tests Google Voice Local Search • Telephone service providers roll out speech-enabled services

23. A unifying Voice User Interface? • Can be mostly the same on multiple devices • Doesn’t obviate multimodality • Deliver results as text • SCXML & VoiceXML 3.0 as unifying standards?

24. Message differs by constituency • Contact centers • Service providers (including independents) • “Web” companies • Platform providers • Application developers • Voice hosting companies • Entrepreneurs and investors • Content providers • Ad agencies and marketing departments

25. The future isn’t here yet • But it keeps getting closer every day

26. Uncertainty confuses markets • Too much change --> Wait and see • the FUD factor-- Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt

27. Keep it simple? • Things don’t change as fast as technology companies would like (or pundits predict) • Doing what we’re doing now with improvements • Improve core technology steadily • Hosted telephone services solve some FUD and application development problems • Implement standard improvements • Make the user experience a paramount consideration • Don’t wait for clarity • Uncertainty is the human condition • Not doing something IS a decision

28. Take a chance? • Making the future • Speech as a Service • “Voice search” • Marketing and entertainment over the telephone • Communications management • Portable personal aide • Voice tone (Dialtone 2.0)

29. Contact info • Bill Meisel, TMA Associates • wmeisel@tmaa.com • (818)708-0962