last updated:   5/5/2007

 

 

SALT Forum Companies Back VoiceXML

 

Note [April 2007]: I stopped updating this page in 2005 as VoiceXML made huge gains and news of SALT began to dry up.  Microsoft has since added VoiceXML 2.0/2.1 support to Microsoft Speech Server, joined the VoiceXML Forum, and has successfully completed the Forum's VoiceXML 2.0 platform certification process. And now with its acquisition of TellMe Networks about to be completed, Microsoft stands poised to become the largest VoiceXML company in the world!

 

We used to hear a great deal from the press about a standards battle between SALT and VoiceXML.  It made for good copy, but the marketplace reality is that W3C's VoiceXML 2.0 standard predominates.  This is most evident when you look at how SALT Forum member companies are behaving -- most are making huge commercial bets on VoiceXML 2.0.  The average SALT Forum company is more fervently behind VoiceXML 2.0 than the average VoiceXML Forum member company!

Here is a sampling of recent pro-VoiceXML press releases and public statements from SALT Forum companies (www.saltforum.org/members/members.asp).  An "n/a" entry means I haven't yet found any publically-available information on the company's usage of VoiceXML or SALT.  If you have any corrections or additions, please drop me a line at ferrans at yahoo.com.  While I don't explicitly track SALT-only news here, SALT Forum companies make three times as many announcements relating to VoiceXML as they do regarding SALT.

Members

Founders

 

Members

 

Accenture

 

Aculab PLC 

 

Advanced Technology & Research, Inc.

 

Aliant Telecom

 

Alliance Infotech Pte. Ltd.

 

Association of Electronic Technology for Auto Traffic and Driving

 

Bevocal

"BeVocal views VoiceXML 2.0 as the standard that provides a complete solution for developing sophisticated voice applications. VoiceXML's embrace of the web model, and XML ensures that the same expertise and technology used to build Web applications applies directly to building voice applications. Our hosting customers and our developers on BeVocal Café have seen the benefits of VoiceXML through faster time to market, cost reductions, and improved customer experience compared to existing IVR-based solutions." - Steve Tran, VP of Marketing and Business Development (9/2003)
http://www.voicexml.org/testimonials.pdf

 

Brooktrout Technology

 

Call Interactive (Subsidiary of First Data)

 

CallWare Technologies, Inc.

 

Cambridge VoiceTech

 

Carnegie Mellon University

 

Convedia Corporation

"Convedia strongly believes in the value of VoiceXML in simplifying development and rollout of voice services, and is proud to offer VoiceXML support in its award winning line of IP media servers. By allowing the separation of services from generic media processing, VoiceXML lets developers easily create new services without needing to be experts in network technologies. Convedia salutes the VoiceXML Forum for its pivotal role in promoting the revolutionary technology that is VoiceXML." - Mr. Garland Sharratt, VP of Business Development and Chief Architect, Convedia Corporation (9/2003)
http://www.voicexml.org/testimonials.pdf

 

CosmoCom Inc.

 

d-Ear Technologies

 

Digital Globalsoft

 

Digital Voice Technologies, Inc.

 

Edify Corporation

 

enCue Communications

 

Envox

 

Fonix Corporation

 

Genesys Telecom --> Alcatel (along with Telera)

"Genesys is a long time supporter of VoiceXML, and is delighted that VoiceXML 2.0 has reached W3C recommendation status. As the world leader in open standards-based voice platforms, Genesys is committed to support VoiceXML and believes that open standards are the future for telephony and speech applications. This milestone is a key measurement in continuing the industry's evolution toward open standards-based technologies. Genesys looks forward to continuing its support of future advances in VoiceXML." -- Paul Segre, Chief Technology Officer, Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. (3/2004)
http://www.w3.org/2004/03/voicexml2-testimonial#three

 

Glenayre

 

Gold Systems

 

Hewlett Packard Compaq

"Open standards such as VoiceXML are critical to the widespread adoption of interactive media solutions, especially speech technology. The VoiceXML Forum effectively promotes awareness of VoiceXML both as a technology and as a business enabler, is an authoritative source for VoiceXML information and is now driving innovative education and certification programs for both application developers and platform vendors. HP fully supports VoiceXML in its telecom products: our OpenCall Media Platform product is the most complete and mature VoiceXML platform for service provider." -- Dr. Scott McGlashan, Chief Technologist, Interactive Media Products, Hewlett-Packard (9/2003).
http://www.voicexml.org/testimonials.html

"HP congratulates the W3C Voice Browser Working Group and the interactive media industry on reaching the VoiceXML 2.0 Recommendation. The completion of the very first open standard for voice services is a significant milestone in the telecommunications as well as Internet industries. Network and service providers are moving away from cumbersome, proprietary technologies and relying more on modular, standards-based solutions for the speed and flexibility they need to serve customer demand. Through our OpenCall Media Platform, HP enables customers to reduce cost and simplify change using VoiceXML in a carrier-grade environment."  -- Ed Verney, Director of Interactive Media Platforms, HP (3/2004)
http://www.w3.org/2004/03/voicexml2-testimonial#four

 

Hey Anita

"VoiceXML 2.0 provides an open standard for writing speech gateways and applications in a truly ubiquitous manner. It also promotes speech as the viable access mechanism for web-based content. HeyAnita’s FreeSpeech Platform Version 4.0 allows companies to develop voice applications in the programming language of their choice while taking advantage of the VoiceXML 2.0 standard to achieve interoperability with leading gateway servers." -- Sanjeev Kuwadekar, CEO, HeyAnita Inc (3/2004).
http://www.voicexml.org/testimonials.html

 

Hitachi, Ltd.

-- Dr. Eiji Takeda, General Manager, Central Research Labs., Hitachi Ltd.  (1/2003)

http://www.w3.org/2001/10/voicexml-testimonial#six

 

iBasis

 

Infospace

 

InfoTalk Corporation Ltd

 

Intervoice

 

IP Unity

 

Ivoice, Inc.

 

Kirusa

Korea Telecom

 

Lobby 7 --> Scansoft

 

Loquendo (a Telecom Italia company)

"As a leading player in speech technologies and voice platforms, Loquendo believes that VoiceXML 2.0 and SRGS 1.0 Recommendations are an essential step forward in promoting the speech application market. Indeed, it will boost the speech market, by enabling service providers, content creators, operators and voice portals to deliver a much richer user experience.Loquendo high-quality, high-performance technologies and platforms power over 2,000,000 calls every day in the telecommunications and enterprise markets throughout the world and guarantee solutions in 15 languages. Loquendo is very pleased to contribute to the development of this specification, and will continue to give a strong support to W3C and VoiceXML Forum activities." -- Daniele Sereno, Vice President Product Engineering, Loquendo (3/2004).
http://www.w3.org/2004/03/voicexml2-testimonial#seven

 

Mediaford

"Mediaford is making pioneering advances in communication solutions for everyone to access the Internet at anytime, anywhere with voice." - syJung, senior engineer, Mediaford Inc. (9/2003)
http://www.voicexml.org/testimonials.pdf

 

Multi-Modal Technologies, Inc.

 

Natural Microsystems (NMS)

 

NeoSpeech, Inc.

 

One Voice Technologies, Inc.

 

Orange Imagineering

 

Phonologies Pvt. Ltd.

"Phonologies is committed to help businesses take advantage of the voice technologies to better serve their customers. We provide customized voice browsers for easy migration from legacy systems. Our VoiceXML and SIP based self service platforms can serve from a small travel agency to a distributed call center. Our innovative licensing schemes make these technologies affordable for even SME markets." - Rajkiran Talusani, CEO, Phonologies (India) Pvt. Ltd. (9/2003)
http://www.voicexml.org/testimonials.pdf

 

Picatel Systems

 

PipeBeach AB --> HP

 

Samsung

 

Sandcherry

 

Sapient

 

Satyam

 

ScanSoft

 

Siemens

 

SnowShore --> Brooktrout

 

Softel Communications, Inc.

 

Svox 

 

T-Systems

 

Telera --> Alcatel (See Genesys)

"As a member of the Voice Browser Working Group, Telera has been instrumental in the evolution of the standard. Telera is excited to see the general release of the VoiceXML 2.0 Working Draft, enabling the proliferation of the standard and accelerating the adoption of VoiceXML. Telera continues to support the efforts of the Working Group by influencing further innovation of the standard."

-- Mukesh Sundaram, Chief Technology Officer, Telera, Inc.  (1/2003)

http://www.w3.org/2001/10/voicexml-testimonial#telera

 

Tenovis

 

Think Engine Networks 

 

Unisys 

"Through the efforts of W3C and the VoiceXML Forum, Unisys believes that VoiceXML will spearhead voice-enabling the Web. The exciting opportunities afforded by VoiceXML complement the Unisys strategy to provide open speech-enabled solutions to customers worldwide. Unisys is engaged in VoiceXML projects across the globe, including voice portal solutions, supported by a strong team of professional services experts and enabling technologies."

-- Scott Miller, director of Sales and Marketing, Natural Language Speech Solutions, Unisys  (1/2003)

http://www.w3.org/2001/10/voicexml-testimonial#two

 

V-Enable

 

VeCommerce Ltd.

 

Verizon

 

Vocalocity, Inc.

"The voice industry is migrating from expensive proprietary solutions to open and flexible best-of-breed solutions. Customers have been demanding this for years, and VoiceXML is delivering this today," says Jeff Haynie, Vocalocity's CTO. "VoiceXML lets companies like Vocalocity provide core voice platform software that is easy for OEM customers to integrate and extend. By concentrating on a single solution layer, we can lower the cost of the platform layer, increase functionality, and enable our customers to focus their resources on activities that differentiate themselves from their competitors." - Jeff Haynie, CTO, Vocalocity (9/2003)
http://www.voicexml.org/testimonials.pdf

"Five years ago, we launched the VoiceXML Forum with the goals of making voice applications easier to develop and less expensive to deploy by leveraging existing internet standards and infrastructure. Today, as VoiceXML 2.0 becomes a W3C Recommendation, we see widespread adoption of the new standard, sparking a level of innovation in applications never before seen in telephony. At Vocalocity, we have designed and deployed a highly customizable and extensible software platform that would not have been possible without standards like VoiceXML 2.0. As a result, our OEM and System Integrator customers enjoy lower costs and more efficient use of their resources."  -- Ken Rehor, Chief Architect, Vocalocity; Co-Editor, VoiceXML 2.0; and Member of Founding Team, VoiceXML Forum (3/2004).
http://www.w3.org/2004/03/voicexml2-testimonial#eighteen

 

Voice Web Solutions, Inc.

 

VoiceGenie

"Voice Genie Technologies congratulates those who worked so hard to put together this important MoU between the W3C and the VoiceXML Forum regarding a unified VoiceXML standard. The involvement of the W3C and the continued involvement of the VoiceXML forum will ensure that the standard continues to strengthen and avoids fragmentation which could lead to confusion in the minds of our customers. A strong VoiceXML standard will ensure the blossoming of the voice content market and energize this emerging industry. VoiceGenie, with its industry leading VoiceXML gateway, is fully committed to the success of the VoiceXML standard and the benefits it will bring to consumers."
-- Stuart Berkowitz, President and CEO, VoiceGenie Technologies Inc.  (1/2003)
http://www.w3.org/2001/10/voicexml-testimonial#thirteen

"There is clear, industry-wide momentum behind VoiceXML 2.0 as the dominant language for deploying open-standards voice applications. Each day, millions of calls around the world are answered by VoiceXML-based infrastructure and we expect this adoption to continue. The trend away from legacy, proprietary-based IVR systems speaks volumes to the value that VoiceXML applications deliver to an enterprise environment." - Eric Jackson, Vice President, Strategy and Business Development, VoiceGenie Technologies Inc. (9/2003)
http://www.voicexml.org/testimonials.pdf

"VoiceGenie Technologies is delighted that the VoiceXML 2.0 Specification has achieved full W3C Recommendation status, and applauds the diligence of the contributors to this effort. As a participant in the W3C Voice Browser and Multimodal Interaction Working Groups, and as a board member of the VoiceXML Forum, VoiceGenie remains strongly commited to the support of open standards such as VoiceXML 2.0, SRGS and SSML. The VoiceGenie framework provides complete support for VoiceXML 2.0 and integrates a selection of industry-leading ASR and TTS resources. World-class customers including AT&T, Verizon, Oracle, Scotiabank and hundreds of others have selected the VoiceGenie framework for critical applications including customer care, directory assistance automation, retail services, voice activated dialing and more. VoiceGenie fully supports the work of the W3C and the VoiceXML Forum, and looks forward to continued rapid growth in the deployment of applications based on the open standards delivered to industry by the W3C." -- Stuart Berkowitz, President and CEO, VoiceGenie Technologies. (3/2004).
http://www.w3.org/2004/03/voicexml2-testimonial#fifteen

 

VoiceLab

 

Voice Objects

 

Voxeo

"The release of the W3C VoiceXML 2.0 specification is another significant milestone in the explosive growth of VoiceXML. Prior to VoiceXML, Interactive Voice Response (IVR) platforms were proprietary IT islands - disconnected from mainstream IT infrastructure. VoiceXML and the W3C CCXML standard efforts bring IVR into the world of modern, integrated IT solutions. As a result of this progress, over 200 enterprise customers have already replaced proprietary IVR platforms with Voxeo VoiceCenter VoiceXML and CCXML platforms and hosting services." -- Jonathan Taylor, President and CEO, Voxeo Corporation (3/2004).
http://www.w3.org/2004/03/voicexml2-testimonial#fifteen

 

VoxSurf Limited

 

West Interactive Corp


 

 

Founders

 

Cisco Systems

"The ability to develop interactive voice applications using the W3C Voice Browser Working Group's recommendations [VoiceXML 2.0, SRGS, SSML] will contribute to further growth in the rapidly expanding VoIP market and will enable the delivery of innovative value-added communication services over a single packet network."
-- Alistair Woodman, Director of Marketing, Voice Technology Center, Cisco Systems.  (1/2003)
http://www.w3.org/2001/10/voicexml-testimonial#cisco

 

Comverse

"The voice portal--with its natural voice user interface--provides subscribers quick and easy access to content and services through their mobile phone. The VoiceXML standard is key to accelerating the growth of this worldwide market. As such, Comverse is strongly committed to VoiceXML as a key element of our strategy to deliver complete voice portal solutions to network operators."
-- Mike Krasner, Vice President and General Manager of Speech Portal Division, Comverse  (1/2003)
http://www.w3.org/2001/10/voicexml-testimonial#comverse

"We are encouraged by the recent developments surrounding the VoiceXML 2.0 specification. Because we recognize the huge benefits for our customers and for the entire voice services community, Comverse is committed to driving the development of VoiceXML standards for voice and multimodal applications. We are pleased to offer our continued participation on the VoiceXML Forum's Conformance Committee." -- Christopher Cyr, General Manager, Comverse Voice Solutions (9/2003)
http://www.voicexml.org/testimonials.pdf

"As a key participant on the W3C Voice Browser Working Group and a longtime supporter of open standards, Comverse is pleased to contribute to and endorse VoiceXML 2.0 and the Speech Recognition Grammar Specification as W3C Recommendations. The ratification of these standards allows Comverse to quickly and simply interchange speech recognition technologies in order to provide its customers with the best language recognition performance in each of the 100+ countries in which it does business. Comverse's vision for total communication is a borderless world where people are free to communicate in the way that is most appropriate and convenient for them. VoiceXML 2.0 and SRGS are major steps forward in realizing this goal." -- Andy Wulff, Chief Technology Officer, Comverse Americas (3/2004)
http://www.w3.org/2004/03/voicexml2-testimonial#two

 

Intel

"VoiceXML and related tools for developing VoiceXML applications will enable web developers to easily voice enable their e-business websites without the use of cumbersome, proprietary IVR equipment. Intel supports VoiceXML 2.0 and its related speech synthesis and speech grammar markup language standards as defined by W3C to foster continued development of innovative voice web applications."
-- Howard Bubb, vice president and general manager, Telecommunications and Embedded Group, Intel  (1/2003)
http://www.w3.org/2001/10/voicexml-testimonial#intel

 

Microsoft

"VXML is just not technically good enough and it doesn't matter what you do. You can beat a dead horse for a long time but no matter how you beat it is still dead," Huang said.
 http://www.idg.com.sg/pcwsg.nsf/0/C1BB5FC2A1E7367148256B65002F4D82?OpenDocument

 

SpeechWorks --> ScanSoft
Philips --> ScanSoft

"Philips Speech Processing is pleased with the progress on developing the VoiceXML standard. As a leader in speech recognition technology, Philips appreciates all advances that enable people to use their voices as an interface."
-- Volker Steinbiss, Chief Technical Officer, Philips Speech Processing  (1/2003)
http://www.w3.org/2001/10/voicexml-testimonial#ten

"SPWX is extremely pleased with the publication of the VoiceXML 2.0 spec and congratulates W3C on a landmark achievement. As a key contributor to the 2.0 specification, SPWX is committed to evolving the standard and delivering products, like the VoiceXML-optimized OpenSpeech line, as well as services and programs that bring the powerful benefits of VoiceXML to a global customer base. This much-anticipated standard heralds unprecedented portability of speech applications and creates new opportunities and growth for all who embrace it."
-- Steve Chambers, vice president of worldwide marketing, SpeechWorks  (1/2003)
http://www.w3.org/2001/10/voicexml-testimonial#speechworks

"ScanSoft congratulates the W3C Voice Browser Working Group on reaching the Recommendation milestone for VoiceXML 2.0. It is clear that these developing standards are integral to the development of advanced technologies that change the way we communicate, from interactive voice response solutions to in-vehicle automotive applications. Businesses and consumers alike will benefit from the VoiceXML-based speech-enabled applications. ScanSoft is committed to VoiceXML and the W3C processes for standardization. Our SpeechWorks Family of ASR, TTS, and dialog solutions are uniquely optimized to support VoiceXML 2.0 and enable our partners to deliver industry-leading platforms, solutions,and services that are revolutionizing the business of speech."
-- Steve Chambers, Senior Vice President and General Manager Network, Speech Solutions, ScanSoft (3/2004).
http://www.w3.org/2004/03/voicexml2-testimonial#thirteen