Speech Tech Provider Loquendo MRCP Server Integrated with Asterisk Platform

By Anshu Shrivastava, TMCnet Contributor

Provider of speech technologies Loquendo and UniMRCP, an open source MRCP project, revealed the interoperability of the Loquendo MRCP Server, in its version LSS 7.0, with the Asterisk (News - Alert) open source IP telephony platform through the UniMRCP Connector Bridge.

The integration is based on the widely adopted IETF protocol, media resource control protocol (MRCP). “This integration makes Loquendo (News - Alert) speech technologies, in all 30 languages, available for the Asterisk environment enabling rapid deployment of custom solutions for large-scale, speech-enabled telephony deployments for call centers, self-service applications, auto attendants, and much more,” said Roberto Pacifici, product manager for MRCP Server at Loquendo, in a press release.

Both for Windows and Linux, Loquendo MRCP Server supports MRCP v1 and v2. Company officials said that it’s a server solution for speech, enabling large-scale telephony applications such as contact centers and message reading services.

With this solution, enterprises can “significantly” reduce costs by interacting with customers via a speech interface - reliable, natural and intuitive to use, according to company officials.

UniMRCP is an open source cross-platform MRCP project, which provides everything that is required for the implementation of both an MRCP client and an MRCP server. In addition to encapsulating SIP/MRCPv2, RTSP, SDP and RTP/RTCP stacks, UniMRCP provides integrators with an MRCP v1 and v2 user level API.

“The UniMRCP project is an important initiative which has proved itself to be of invaluable assistance to speech technology providers and integrators of telephony solutions,” Pacifici said.

With the UniMRCP Connector Bridge, Loquendo has certified the interoperability of its ASR and TTS, integrated through Loquendo MRCP Server. Company officials said that Loquendo speech technologies are thus available for enriching large-scale telephony deployments on Asterisk Platform, such as IP PBX (News - Alert) systems, VoIP gateways, conference servers, and more.

Thanks to the interoperability with UniMRCP, integrators can exploit the whole range of Loquendo ASR and TTS functionalities by means of client-server architecture, standards-based, supporting multiple operating systems.

“The successful interoperability with a speech technology leader such as Loquendo is a very valuable event for the UniMRCP community. Loquendo's voices sound quite natural, and the recognition results are always accurate,” said Arsen Chaloyan, author of UniMRCP, in a statement.

Earlier in August, SpeechCycle (News - Alert) and Loquendo partnered to deliver the industry’s first end-to-end offering for building and deploying Rich Phone (News - Alert) Applications.

(source: http://www.tmcnet.com/channels/speech-recognition/articles/124399-speech-tech-provider-loquendo-mrcp-server-integrated-with.htm)