Session Descriptions
Adopting Speech Into Mainstream Business Applications (CCA-04)
With the emergence of VoiceXML and SALT, businesses can quickly and easily add speech as a new interface to their business applications. In the past, voice applications were proprietary and required a large amount of customization and integration. Today, enterprise customers can buy packaged applications or develop their own speech-enabled applications. These new standardized interactive voice response (IVR) systems can be built with off-the-shelf hardware and software that can lower the acquisition and operation costs. However, there are trade-offs to be made regarding centralized versus distributed design, hardware versus host-based handling of media processing and call controls as well as TDM versus IP interconnections. This presentation will address the adoption of VoiceXML and SALT development platforms along with examples of where businesses are deploying speech-enabled applications to improve their business processes.

The Real Value of a Speech Solution (CCA-05)
Now that the speech solutions market has survived its first decade, a dramatic but predictable shift is taking place. The arrival on the scene of open standards (VXML) and Microsoft-backed specifications (SALT) has had a major effect on the speech market: downward price pressure on voice platforms and infrastructure. As the market matures, the value of speech solutions will continue to move upward into the application layer, and anything below will be relegated to commoditized plumbing. This curve eventually occurs in all layered technology industries and has been seen in personal computing, data networking, telephony systems and many other industries. Companies are in a unique position to capitalize on this trend, and vendors that deliver enterprise software built to be 100 percent standards-compliant and platform-independent can establish market leadership. Today's enterprise speech software provides a superior caller experience through sophisticated speech applications that are fast to develop and easy to deploy and maintain.

Multimodality: Next-Generation Applications for Mobile Devices (MD-03)
Today's handheld devices allow rich applications to be used while on the go, but often these devices possess a physical interface that makes text input difficult and tedious.  Speech applications make user input easy and natural, but audio prompts cannot provide the rich output that is possible with a visual display.  Multimodal applications allow the user to interact with a device using multiple modalities, such as text and speech.  These applications allow developers to use the advantages of one modality to make up for the shortcomings of other modalities, bringing the best of both worlds to the handheld device.

Bringing Speech Technologies to the Enterprise (CCA-10)
Speech creates many new opportunities for improved customer contact and improved efficiency. Rather than treat speech as an upgrade to an existing IVR system, companies can increase their ROI and improve customer satisfaction by treating speech as an enterprise initiative. By bringing in speech at an enterprise level, companies can provide their customers with a unified view of the company and eliminate the appearance of disconnected departments or silos. This presentation will explain how companies can improve current automation, automate a new range of tasks, consolidate toll-free numbers and call routing systems to get the customer to the right contact quickly and efficiently, reinforce their brand, and improve customer satisfaction and, therefore, retention.

Text-To-Speech 101 (TMCU-02)
 What is text-to-speech? How does it work?  How do I deploy it? This presentation looks to answer these questions by explaining how the written word can be rendered into synthetic speech, which can be delivered to a telephone.  We'll compare and contrast some of the different technologies, such as formant syntheses and concatenative synthesis.  We'll then look at the processes involved and pitfalls to be wary of, and finally we'll examine telephony hardware requirements and explain how to connect your chosen text-to-speech engine to the outside world.