Ditech Networks to Release Voice-Enabled Media Processing Platform

Ditech Networks, a global innovator in mobile voice solutions, will soon unveil a network-based platform specially created for mobile carriers, called mStage.

 

This ground-breaking media processing platform will enable mobile subscribers to use their voice as well as their thumbs to interact with Web applications like social networking and Instant Messenger (IM) on-demand. It will even allow them to do this during a phone call.

 

Through its open API, mStage will allow Web developers to integrate voice into applications built for the mStage platform. This will enable mobile carriers to continuously make advancements, create additional demand, and increase revenue opportunities for mStage-enabled networks.

 

With mStage users no longer need to use their keyboards, touch screens, and styluses to employ the most intuitive access method available – the human voice. mStage becomes engaged with just one spoken word in the midst of a phone call. It will then instantly connect callers with the Web where they can check e-mail, communicate with social networks, research local entertainment, etc.

 

Another innovative feature currently still in development is mStage’s ability to allow the Web to gain the attention of a subscriber while they are on a call in the form of a ‘whisper’ message that could be an important reminder or an IM from a friend. 

 

According to Ditech, this capability addresses two of the main challenges carriers face today - declining per-minute voice usage and lack of an intriguing, sustainable value add in the mobile application marketplace.

 

Andy Seybold, a mobile industry analyst and CEO of Andrew Seybold (News - Alert), a strategic consulting firm, explained that the voice application market recently experienced tremendous growth.

 

“While this looks promising, most of these apps rely on time-intensive, costly, or unsustainable means of supporting or initiating their service, such as calling a toll free number to access the application or depending on manual speech-to-text entry, all of which stand in the way of full-scale adoption,” said Seybold. “With mStage, Ditech is taking the logical step of handing voice applications over to the experts—the carriers. By combining a network-based solution with an Open API, carriers will be able to offer a seamless, always-on voice application to the subscriber.”

 

As a provider of carrier-grade voice processing platforms, Ditech handles billions of calls annually for mobile operators. The company is using its expertise to create a carrier-grade product that is able to support heavy traffic loads.

 

mStage is being designed for installation at either the core or edge of a network based on traffic needs. This allows the service to be scalable, cost-effective, and available to every subscriber on any call, extending the use of voice in carrier networks beyond standard point-to-point phone service.

 

“With mStage, Ditech is aiming to help carriers avoid the ‘pipes and ports’ scenario, and allowing them to reinvent their business model by offering on-demand voice services that provide subscribers with significant incremental value,” said Hossein Eslambolchi, former AT&T CTO and technical advisor for Ditech Networks (News - Alert).

 

Eslambolchi believes that mStage will bring power back to the human voice and encourage mobile carriers to use this valuable technology within the mobile application market.

 

“mStage will provide mobile carriers with a creative method of engaging in the web application and social media revolution using the most intuitive tool of all – the human voice,” he added.

 

Ditech plans to release mStage commercially in the third quarter of 2009. The company will be showcasing it at Mobile World Congress (News - Alert) in Barcelona, held February 16-19, 2009 at booth 2E35.

 

Mountain View, California-based Ditech Networks is transforming modern communications with advanced voice processing solutions that perform tasks spanning from voice-enabled Web 2.0 and unified communications services to network and speech enhancement. 

 

Believing in the power and simplicity of human speech, Ditech’s technology delivers compelling voice capabilities to new communications methods like social networking and text messaging, allowing consumers to use voice in today’s Web 2.0-savvy world.