Comments on: TellMe Rolls Out Better Speech Recognition And An Almost-Sexy New Voice Called Zira http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/28/tellme-rolls-out-better-speech-recognition-and-its-own-voip-network/ Startup and Technology News Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:10:32 -0800 hourly 1 By: Microsoft Tellme: At Least SOMEONE Will Listen to You Now | Blippitt.com http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/28/tellme-rolls-out-better-speech-recognition-and-its-own-voip-network/comment-page-1/#comment-3054404 Microsoft Tellme: At Least SOMEONE Will Listen to You Now | Blippitt.com Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:03:38 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=60296#comment-3054404 [...] Tellme has debuted a new voice-recognition feature for Windows-powered cell phones. The feature enables you to hit on button, then bark commands at your [...] [...] Tellme has debuted a new voice-recognition feature for Windows-powered cell phones. The feature enables you to hit on button, then bark commands at your [...]

]]> By: Tune Up Your PC » Post Topic » TellMe Rolls Out Better Speech Recognition And An Almost-Sexy New Voice Called Zira http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/28/tellme-rolls-out-better-speech-recognition-and-its-own-voip-network/comment-page-1/#comment-2722698 Tune Up Your PC » Post Topic » TellMe Rolls Out Better Speech Recognition And An Almost-Sexy New Voice Called Zira Wed, 29 Apr 2009 21:03:27 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=60296#comment-2722698 [...] have been a ton of news articles about it since the announcement, but I liked what Tech Crunch said about the new Zira voice. They said it’s “almost sexy”. I never really thought about TTS [...] [...] have been a ton of news articles about it since the announcement, but I liked what Tech Crunch said about the new Zira voice. They said it’s “almost sexy”. I never really thought about TTS [...]

]]> By: TellMe Rolls Out Better Speech Recognition And An Almost-Sexy New Voice Called Zira | Coded Style http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/28/tellme-rolls-out-better-speech-recognition-and-its-own-voip-network/comment-page-1/#comment-2722558 TellMe Rolls Out Better Speech Recognition And An Almost-Sexy New Voice Called Zira | Coded Style Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:52:28 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=60296#comment-2722558 [...] have been a ton of news articles about it since the announcement, but I liked what Tech Crunch said about the new Zira voice. They said it’s “almost sexy”. I never really thought about TTS [...] [...] have been a ton of news articles about it since the announcement, but I liked what Tech Crunch said about the new Zira voice. They said it’s “almost sexy”. I never really thought about TTS [...]

]]> By: Rob's Rhapsody : TellMe Rolls Out Better Speech Recognition And An Almost-Sexy New Voice Called Zira http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/28/tellme-rolls-out-better-speech-recognition-and-its-own-voip-network/comment-page-1/#comment-2722496 Rob's Rhapsody : TellMe Rolls Out Better Speech Recognition And An Almost-Sexy New Voice Called Zira Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:19:20 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=60296#comment-2722496 [...] have been a ton of news articles about it since the announcement, but I liked what Tech Crunch said about the new Zira voice. They said it’s “almost sexy”. I never really thought about TTS [...] [...] have been a ton of news articles about it since the announcement, but I liked what Tech Crunch said about the new Zira voice. They said it’s “almost sexy”. I never really thought about TTS [...]

]]> By: WulfCry http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/28/tellme-rolls-out-better-speech-recognition-and-its-own-voip-network/comment-page-1/#comment-2722369 WulfCry Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:17:39 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=60296#comment-2722369 Almost sexy female voice think "not" sounds more like the voice you hear on COPS "Robbery at night shop 14/15 south Louis Avenue suspect is on foot armed and dangerous '' . Ask me to repeat myself one more time Tell me. I don't think even a sexy female voice can conceal the fact you have to say the commands more then once on a occasion the frustration remains. Almost sexy female voice think “not” sounds more like the voice you hear on COPS “Robbery at night shop 14/15 south Louis Avenue suspect is on foot armed and dangerous ” .

Ask me to repeat myself one more time Tell me.

I don’t think even a sexy female voice can conceal the fact you have to say the commands more then once on a occasion the frustration remains.

]]> By: Jason http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/28/tellme-rolls-out-better-speech-recognition-and-its-own-voip-network/comment-page-1/#comment-2721979 Jason Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:18:25 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=60296#comment-2721979 Tropo (http://www.tropo.com) is that breakthrough you are looking for. Develop directly in Ruby, Groovy, Python, Javascript or PHP. No need for VXML or CCXML in that case. Tropo (http://www.tropo.com) is that breakthrough you are looking for. Develop directly in Ruby, Groovy, Python, Javascript or PHP. No need for VXML or CCXML in that case.

]]> By: Paul Rawlings http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/28/tellme-rolls-out-better-speech-recognition-and-its-own-voip-network/comment-page-1/#comment-2721933 Paul Rawlings Wed, 29 Apr 2009 12:34:44 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=60296#comment-2721933 Checkout www.vooices.us - Its inbound voice that can control javascript that anyone can code againgst using the API. Checkout http://www.vooices.us – Its inbound voice that can control javascript that anyone can code againgst using the API.

]]> By: Okko http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/28/tellme-rolls-out-better-speech-recognition-and-its-own-voip-network/comment-page-1/#comment-2721932 Okko Wed, 29 Apr 2009 12:31:34 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=60296#comment-2721932 We need less call-center automation and more cool, sexy mashups in this area. Voice and speech are such phenomenal technologies that, with the exception of some recent mobile and dictation applications, suffer sorely from the role they play in the IVR/customer service sector. Nortel had a directory assistance speech app in the 1990s, but it took GOOG411 for anyone to get excited about it. "[Breaking] up sentences into their constituent parts" has been around for a while too. I hope someone can use technology by MSFT/TellMe, Voxeo, Nuance etc and do something exciting with it. Call center automation is where the money is, I suppose. But the breakthrough will be elsewhere. We need less call-center automation and more cool, sexy mashups in this area. Voice and speech are such phenomenal technologies that, with the exception of some recent mobile and dictation applications, suffer sorely from the role they play in the IVR/customer service sector.
Nortel had a directory assistance speech app in the 1990s, but it took GOOG411 for anyone to get excited about it. “[Breaking] up sentences into their constituent parts” has been around for a while too.
I hope someone can use technology by MSFT/TellMe, Voxeo, Nuance etc and do something exciting with it. Call center automation is where the money is, I suppose. But the breakthrough will be elsewhere.

]]> By: Paul Lopez http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/28/tellme-rolls-out-better-speech-recognition-and-its-own-voip-network/comment-page-1/#comment-2721922 Paul Lopez Wed, 29 Apr 2009 12:18:19 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=60296#comment-2721922 Speech enhances customer loyalty and emulates dialogue with callers. Good workflow design and VXML skills will help in recognizing the caller and predicting what they are looking for. For mobile and hands-free callers, it is a very convenient method of data exchange. Speech enhances customer loyalty and emulates dialogue with callers. Good workflow design and VXML skills will help in recognizing the caller and predicting what they are looking for. For mobile and hands-free callers, it is a very convenient method of data exchange.

]]> By: Paul Rawlings http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/28/tellme-rolls-out-better-speech-recognition-and-its-own-voip-network/comment-page-1/#comment-2721778 Paul Rawlings Wed, 29 Apr 2009 08:59:48 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=60296#comment-2721778 If you want an alternative to TellMe i suggest trying voxeo (www.voxeo.com) or their new product Tropo (www.tropo.com) which makes making inbound and outbound calls very easy. Also the TTS and ASR is pretty much best of breed and very good. Paul If you want an alternative to TellMe i suggest trying voxeo (www.voxeo.com) or their new product Tropo (www.tropo.com) which makes making inbound and outbound calls very easy.

Also the TTS and ASR is pretty much best of breed and very good.

Paul

]]> By: thetimkid.com http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/28/tellme-rolls-out-better-speech-recognition-and-its-own-voip-network/comment-page-1/#comment-2721766 thetimkid.com Wed, 29 Apr 2009 08:47:37 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=60296#comment-2721766 Better than the old Bethany voice. Better than the old Bethany voice.

]]> By: Jeremy http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/28/tellme-rolls-out-better-speech-recognition-and-its-own-voip-network/comment-page-1/#comment-2721652 Jeremy Wed, 29 Apr 2009 06:34:46 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=60296#comment-2721652 Hey all, Daniel at spideroak is just spamming TechCrunch with a push for spideroak. He has comments everywhere ... crying for attention ... Hey all,

Daniel at spideroak is just spamming TechCrunch with a push for spideroak. He has comments everywhere … crying for attention …

]]> By: pc repair http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/28/tellme-rolls-out-better-speech-recognition-and-its-own-voip-network/comment-page-1/#comment-2721643 pc repair Wed, 29 Apr 2009 06:26:47 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=60296#comment-2721643 I think all these automated voice systems would go bankrupt. It’s impossible to talk to a real person anymore before listening to 10 mins of automated voice systems, which almost never understand the speech correctly. I think all these automated voice systems would go bankrupt. It’s impossible to talk to a real person anymore before listening to 10 mins of automated voice systems, which almost never understand the speech correctly.

]]> By: Fried Pal BLogger > http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/28/tellme-rolls-out-better-speech-recognition-and-its-own-voip-network/comment-page-1/#comment-2721610 Fried Pal BLogger > Wed, 29 Apr 2009 06:01:44 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=60296#comment-2721610 If that is true, this might be good. Voice recognition is really good , but this thing is all about SPEECH recognition?" Wow. If that is true, this might be good. Voice recognition is really good , but this thing is all about SPEECH recognition?” Wow.

]]> By: Balaji http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/28/tellme-rolls-out-better-speech-recognition-and-its-own-voip-network/comment-page-1/#comment-2721605 Balaji Wed, 29 Apr 2009 05:56:07 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=60296#comment-2721605 You must be kidding when u said "She only sounds slightly robotic" You must be kidding when u said “She only sounds slightly robotic”

]]> By: Jay Cuthrell http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/28/tellme-rolls-out-better-speech-recognition-and-its-own-voip-network/comment-page-1/#comment-2721592 Jay Cuthrell Wed, 29 Apr 2009 05:44:00 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=60296#comment-2721592 You should just go to http://www.gethuman.com/ which lists all the bypass mechanisms for various IVR and tree menus of the call center world for a variety of companies. You should just go to http://www.gethuman.com/ which lists all the bypass mechanisms for various IVR and tree menus of the call center world for a variety of companies.

]]> By: EH http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/28/tellme-rolls-out-better-speech-recognition-and-its-own-voip-network/comment-page-1/#comment-2721584 EH Wed, 29 Apr 2009 05:38:26 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=60296#comment-2721584 <i>solves delays in call waiting</i> This is absolutely not true. solves delays in call waiting

This is absolutely not true.

]]> By: Linda http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/28/tellme-rolls-out-better-speech-recognition-and-its-own-voip-network/comment-page-1/#comment-2721581 Linda Wed, 29 Apr 2009 05:30:17 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=60296#comment-2721581 I want my voice to be used for Automated Calls. How can i apply to Microsoft for this. I want my voice to be used for Automated Calls. How can i apply to Microsoft for this.

]]> By: Dylan http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/28/tellme-rolls-out-better-speech-recognition-and-its-own-voip-network/comment-page-1/#comment-2721570 Dylan Wed, 29 Apr 2009 05:16:54 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=60296#comment-2721570 Agree with you Mik. But automated voice systems make things easier for people (at least for those who run the business) and solves delays in call waiting. Do we not have people to talk around that we look for someone real to answer our call for inquiry of something? Agree with you Mik. But automated voice systems make things easier for people (at least for those who run the business) and solves delays in call waiting. Do we not have people to talk around that we look for someone real to answer our call for inquiry of something?

]]> By: Paul http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/28/tellme-rolls-out-better-speech-recognition-and-its-own-voip-network/comment-page-1/#comment-2721561 Paul Wed, 29 Apr 2009 05:07:32 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=60296#comment-2721561 I agree, a solid, profitable acquisition. In my opinion, these are the types of services/companies Microsoft should be looking at acquiring. The allow MS to sell more services to existing clients. I think Microsoft should pattern themselves more like IBM and perhaps Oracle than Google. Their strengths lie with Enterprise customers. I agree, a solid, profitable acquisition. In my opinion, these are the types of services/companies Microsoft should be looking at acquiring. The allow MS to sell more services to existing clients. I think Microsoft should pattern themselves more like IBM and perhaps Oracle than Google. Their strengths lie with Enterprise customers.

]]> By: Mik http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/28/tellme-rolls-out-better-speech-recognition-and-its-own-voip-network/comment-page-1/#comment-2721554 Mik Wed, 29 Apr 2009 05:00:22 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=60296#comment-2721554 I wish all these automated voice systems would go bankrupt. It's impossible to talk to a real person anymore before listening to 10 mins of automated voice systems, which almost never understand the speech correctly. I wish all these automated voice systems would go bankrupt. It’s impossible to talk to a real person anymore before listening to 10 mins of automated voice systems, which almost never understand the speech correctly.

]]> By: Dylan http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/28/tellme-rolls-out-better-speech-recognition-and-its-own-voip-network/comment-page-1/#comment-2721551 Dylan Wed, 29 Apr 2009 04:57:58 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=60296#comment-2721551 This is a good step for TellMe. Especially acoustic modeling" is one thing it had problems with earlier. In fact all such software lag behind in this area. But I do not know whether its next-word-recognition thing will work. We have to see how far it goes to guess the next word. I'm looking forward to the speech to text technology and voice commands in WinMo. Btw, I heard Zira speak. Verdict: 55% robotic; 45% husky. This is a good step for TellMe. Especially acoustic modeling” is one thing it had problems with earlier. In fact all such software lag behind in this area. But I do not know whether its next-word-recognition thing will work. We have to see how far it goes to guess the next word.

I’m looking forward to the speech to text technology and voice commands in WinMo. Btw, I heard Zira speak. Verdict: 55% robotic; 45% husky.

]]> By: Jay Cuthrell http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/28/tellme-rolls-out-better-speech-recognition-and-its-own-voip-network/comment-page-1/#comment-2721546 Jay Cuthrell Wed, 29 Apr 2009 04:55:01 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=60296#comment-2721546 Specifically... the IVR Demo http://www.theivrvoice.com/html/demo.htm Specifically… the IVR Demo http://www.thei...m/html/demo.htm

]]> By: Jay Cuthrell http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/28/tellme-rolls-out-better-speech-recognition-and-its-own-voip-network/comment-page-1/#comment-2721539 Jay Cuthrell Wed, 29 Apr 2009 04:50:36 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=60296#comment-2721539 To the folks talking about Asterisk... her name is Allison Smith and you've heard her before. http://www.theivrvoice.com/ You just might not have realized it at the time. http://www.theivrvoice.com/html/demo.htm Now -that- is vocal talent. To the folks talking about Asterisk… her name is Allison Smith and you’ve heard her before.

http://www.theivrvoice.com/

You just might not have realized it at the time.

http://www.thei...m/html/demo.htm

Now -that- is vocal talent.

]]> By: Erick Schonfeld http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/28/tellme-rolls-out-better-speech-recognition-and-its-own-voip-network/comment-page-1/#comment-2721535 Erick Schonfeld Wed, 29 Apr 2009 04:42:28 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/?p=60296#comment-2721535 No, it doesn't sound sexy. It sounds "almost-sexy." They are trying to make the voice sexy, but you can tell it's a replicant, er, software. No, it doesn’t sound sexy. It sounds “almost-sexy.” They are trying to make the voice sexy, but you can tell it’s a replicant, er, software.

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