Join us at CTIA Wireless in Las Vegas

Picture 1 It seems like we’re just back from Barcelona, and now we are packing us again to exhibit at the CTIA Wireless conference in Las Vegas, March 23-25, 2010! Once again, we’ll be teaming up with Acision, the internationally leader in SMS messaging, at stand 2917. We’ll be branded as Spoken Communications in the Partner Bar, so come by and enjoy a beverage and a demonstration.

Here’s what’s on the menu: since demonstrations of GotSearch comprehensive voice search were so popular at Mobile World Congress, we’re providing those again. And we got lots of call for information on our voicemail transcription solutions, so we’ll be demoing that as well.

For events during the show, including access to Acision’s cocktail party, be sure to follow us on Twitter.

Also, to schedule a demo of GotSearch, contact us here, and we’ll schedule a time. Looking forward to the show!

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Posted in GotVoice Events, Mobile Events | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Mobile World Congress, Day 3

Here at Spoken, today was primarily booked with meetings with current and potential partners. What’s really nifty about Spoken’s primary technology is that, while it was developed to support efficiency and customer service in call center, the principle of having a human Silent Guide can be applied to just about ANY service in which voice or speech recognition and accuracy are important. We see this every day, and even more so here at Mobile World Congress!

That being said, we did get the chance to walk the show floor and see some of the innovations available out there in the mobile voice space. Discoveries from day three:

  • Eye-powered earphones. Yes, not kidding. The demo was crazy: look left to go back a song; look right to forward to the next song; look up to increase the volume. For when you just can’t be bothered to look down at your iPhone and push the button!
  • IMG_3656
  • The PowerMat–not the giant iPhone, but the flat pad that allows you to charge your devices just by setting them down. For people who hate messy cords, it’s a tidy solution.
  • IMG_3658

Today is the last day, and we’ll be in the booth with GotSearch until 4:00–please stop by Acision Partner Bar and say hello if you haven’t already!

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Mobile World Congress, Day 2

GotSearch demoVery exciting day today for Spoken’s GotSearch! We ran through quite a few demos for our partner here, Acision, to an overwhelmingly positive response. We’re hearing quite a bit about the need for a voice search solution that is accessible by feature phone, adaptable to different databases, and with the ability to help decrease the amount of distracted driving.

We also saw quite a few shiny new toys here in the mobile space as well:

  • GeoVector,  an iPhone and Droid app with built-in compass for geo surfing the world. We love this app, mostly because you can not only find coffee nearby, but coffee that is on your way home–in your vector
  • Talked with Windows about the new phone and the philosophy of creating not just another phone but a device based on Zune and Xbox
  • Had more conversations that the taste for or against voicemail is culturally defined: some countries have the option of turning off voicemail all together, so that messages can’t be left.
  • Other countries have a growing distaste for the TUI voicemail interface, finding it unwieldy and time-consuming

Tomorrow is another day of meetings and demos with operators from around the world; give us a buzz to schedule one if you’re here.

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Mobile World Congress, Day 1

MWC10

Mobile World Congress opened its doors to 50,000 attendees in Barcelona today. The lines were long, but they went quite quickly. Much longer were the lines at local mobile stores, where non-local attendees flocked to purchase local mobile phones and SIM cards for Spain. A few notes from the first day of the conference:

  • Interesting that Nokia opted not to have a visible presence
  • Interesting announcement that Verizon is teaming up with Skype, hopefully prefacing a trend of mobile and VOIP teaming up rather than facing off as competitors
  • Spoken/GotVoice had a partner meeting with Lilian Gaichies of StreamWide, one of GotVoice’s current enthusiastic partners, who expressed customers’ insistent demand for voice-to-text

Tonight, we join Acision for a cocktail reception in the booth in Hall 8–8A86. Come join us!

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Posted in GotVoice Events, Mobile Events, Mobile News, voice search | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Spoken Previews New Comprehensive Voice Search Solution GotSearch at Mobile World Congress 2010

Seattle—February 11, 2010 Spoken Communications Inc., the hybrid voice technology innovator, will demonstrate for the first time
GotSearch, its new comprehensive voice search solution, at Mobile World Congress 2010 in Barcelona, Spain. Developed in conjunction with recently-acquired leading voice-to-text transcription provider GotVoice, GotSearch is being created to meet the unique needs of mobile operators.

“We’ve been looking at this space for a long time,” says Jonathan Kendrick, Chairman and CEO of ROK Mobile Group Ltd, the leading mobile entertainment company specializing in innovative mobile technologies. “And we’ve never found anything that we would put our name to until now. GotSearch is really quite different. We’ve never found anything quite like GotSearch, which stands out because of the level of accuracy it achieves. It works. It does what it says on the tin, as they say. And it reduces the cost of delivery for mobile operators by 90%. That enables us to deliver this solution to a lot of international markets, such as India and Pakistan.”

GotSearch offers mobile operators new revenue opportunities because it works on all mobile phones, not just smartphones, and because it provides a more accurate customer experience. GotSearch improves on currently available voice search tools by using Spoken’s
patented human Silent Guide system, which provides the most effective combination of automated voice technology with pinpoint human intervention through a patented software solution.

With GotSearch, mobile operators are able to:

  • Add customers: GotSearch works with any mobile phone; a smartphone is not required
  • Lower 411 costs: GotSearch’s human Silent Guide system delivers dramatic cost savings
  • Increase quality: GotSearch’s human Silent Guide system delivers more accurate results
  • Support advertisers: Connecting with a local business en route has never been easier

“This is what mobile operators have been asking for,” says Howard Lee, CEO of Spoken Communications. “With Spoken’s GotSearch, they can offer voice search to feature phone and smartphone users alike, all at a fraction of the cost of delivering 411, with vastly increased accuracy and concierge service. Mobile operators can even insert ads, surveys and promotional offers with special appeal. GotSearch can also answer general questions, like ‘What is the World Cup?’ or ‘Who is Lady Gaga?’ And we will soon include the ability to make restaurant reservations, get traffic status and much more. It’s the best comprehensive voice search solution on the market today.”

Previews of Spoken’s GotSearch will be available at Mobile World Congress from Feburary 15th-18th. To sign up for a demonstration or a live trial of GotSearch, visit www.spoken.com/gotsearch.

About Spoken Communications
Spoken Communications provides hybrid voice technology solutions to call centers, telecommunications companies and consumers that ensure a successful call experience. With Spoken, voice technology is combined with pinpoint human intervention in a single solution, because the caller experience matters. For more information, please visit www.spoken.com, call 1-888-9-SPOKEN, Twitter @spokencomm or subscribe to our blog at http://blog.spoken.com.

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Mobile Voice Search: the survey revealed

[Cross-posted from the Spoken blog]

What do users really want in mobile voice search?

That’s the sticky question we’ve been seeking to answer as Spoken develops an innovative new voice search service. How is it that cell phone users, smartphone and feature phone alike, search for information when they are on the road?

The survey on voice search habits (it’s still open, so please do take
it
and give us more feedback) provides a wealth of information on how
mobile phone users use their phones on the road when they need
information. A big THANK YOU to everyone who took time out of their
days to take the survey.

The survey revealed the following tidbits:

  • Contrary to mobile handset sales statistics, the large majority of users in this survey have smartphones
  • About half of mobile users report using an application
    for search on the road, all of which require screen attention, which
    would result in distracted driving
  • 411 is dead; only 19% even know how much they are being charged for a 411
    call
  • Travel time is a popular time for making phone calls, often because the time is seen as more productive when the phone is in use

Voice search habits survey

The survey was simple, with just six questions:

  1. What kind of mobile phone do you have?
  2. When you are driving, how do you search for information?
  3. How many times have you called 411 in the last month?
  4. How much are you charged for a 411 call?
  5. Of the mobile calls you’ve made in the last month, what percentage were from the car?
  6. If you make calls from the car, please tell us why.

The results

Of roughly 100 survey participants, 79.6% had smartphones, versus 20.4% with feature phones. Responses to the next question showed that a large percentage of users–about 52%–use smartphone apps to search for information on the road, while only a relatively small percentage–about 13%–use the traditional phone voice search service, 411, to get information.

When you are driving, how do you search for information?

Picture 3

In the Other option for this question, 14 respondents wrote in that they used in-car navigation or GPS, while other write-ins included printing out directions before leaving, pulling over to use a map website from a smartphone (8),  using a map website on their smartphones while driving or handing the phone to a passenger.

The next two questions were designed to determine if 411 still has popularity as a mobile voice search service. Over 78% of respondents replied that they have not used 411 at all in the last month; additionally, over 81% did not even know how much they would be charged for a 411 call.

The final two questions were geared at discovering when and why users make calls on the road.

Of the mobile calls you’ve made in the last month, what percentage were from the car?

Picture 4

Interestingly, the primary reason cited for making calls from the car was productivity: “saves time,” “multitasking,” “making use of commute time.” Not having office distractions/having focus, communicating tardiness or en route and connecting with business and social contacts were mentioned as well. A few answered “its the only time I really have to talk to people” and “because I am lonely”, while about 10% of respondents reported not making any phone calls from the car, citing safety concerns.

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Service Announcement

I bet you were hoping for something exciting after that last post, but alas all I have for you is a service announcement.

As part of Spoken’s GotVoice acquisition, GotVoice is switching a couple of its service providers.  As this point there is only one service left to be switched, and that is our inbound SIP service.  This will affect phones that are call-forwarded to the GotVoice service and the dial-in dispatch service.

Call Foward Service

We are planning on moving this service on Thursday, Feb 4th, 2010 between 3pm PST and 4pm PST.  The transfer should only take 5 to 10 minutes.

Dial-In Dispatch Service

We are planning on moving this service on Friday, Feb 5th, 2010 between 9am PST and 10am PST.  The transfer should only take 5 to 10 minutes.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment here or contact your GotVoice associate.

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Aaron’s Introduction

Hello, my name is Aaron DeForest and I am Spoken/GotVoice’s Network Engineer.  I have been working with GotVoice since February 2005.  My responsibilities mostly revolve around improving and maintaining the GotVoice platform whether it is code-related, network-related, system-related, you name it.

The next couple of years should be interesting as the technologies from Spoken and the technologies from GotVoice are blended together into new products.  I think it will be interesting to see what comes out of this new group in the next couple years.

I would like to use this blog for technical discussions about emerging technologies, uses for GotVoice and Spoken products, and for GotVoice service announcements.  Suggestions for topics are always welcome, too.

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Posted in General | Leave a comment

GotSearch: All-voice, voice-to-search solution to preview at MWC10

Spoken and GotVoice have a nifty new product to preview at Mobile World Congress, and we’d like to give our readers the advance scoop!

Introducing Spoken’s GotSearch, a nifty new voice-to-search service with concierge as a value-added service. It’s a true all-voice, voice-to-search solution, maximized for mobile operators.

Why voice-to-search?

We live in a highly mobile world, no question. Mobile users want to search for and get up-to-date information at point of use, right there on the spot. And distracted driving is becoming more of an issue; driving and texting is even being banned in some countries and driving-based occupations. And currently, only smartphone users have access to voice-to-search through applications–and 72% of new handset sales in the U.S. last year were feature phones. Considering the following:

  • Smartphone voice-to-search apps still require screen attention (looking down)
  • On a feature phone, the only voice-to-search option is dialing 411
  • 411 costs around $1 a call and uses only a machine-only ASR 

Easy to use: 1-2-3

GotSearch allows any user to dial a local number for voice-to-search on any phone–a feature phone or a smartphone, without the app. Users can call in, ask a questions and hear the answer read aloud with an  option.

Gotsearch 1 Call in to a local or toll-free number from any phone.

Gotsearch 2 The IVR asks an open-ended question: “What would you like to do?” Users
can search for locations in the U.S., with other countries supported
soon. For example, ask for the closest coffee shop, grocery store or
sushi restaurant.

Notice that open-ended question. Spoken is an industry leader in IVR customization with the capacity to ask open-ended questions without ever having to ask a question twice or say “I didn’t understand that.”

For most users, accuracy is a sticking point with automated speech recognition (ASR)-based IVRs. Spoken improves accuracy with a unique, patented solution that has been the secret of top-notch call centers for years: silent human guides. Most machine-only ASR systems have between 40-70% accuracy with speech recognition, which actually isn’t too bad for a machine with no human ears to distinguish between a street name and a dog barking in the background. That’s why ASR’s will ask a question twice or make a guess if the system’s recognition confidence is low.

 Guide slide with callout.001

Here’s where GotSearch is really different: leveraging Spoken’s patented silent guide system, human beings listen in when speech recognition confidence on an utterance is low. When needed, silent human guides jump in, listen to the utterance, and type in the correction, all without interrupting the call flow for the user.

Gotsearch 3 So GotSearch reads the search result for users and gives the option of having the information texted to their phones as well. And it’s done! 

Spoken ties in to multiple search engines, including Yahoo! search, Google search and will soon be able to make restaurant reservations as a concierge service for callers.

Mobile Carrier Value Proposition

  • With no smartphone limitation, GotSearch is available for a broader user base
  • Customer experience is improved due to Spoken’s patented Guided Speech technology using ASR with a human safety net
  • GotSearch runs about 1/10 the price of a 411 call
  • Customer experience is improved due to an all-voice format
  • Custom ads, surveys and promotions can easily be inserted into the IVR

Find out more

Come see a preview of Spoken’s GotSearch at the Acision booth at  Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, February 15-18. If you’re attending the conference, you can help alpha-test the service. We are offering a free preview trial exclusively to MWC attendees for the duration of the conference–stop by the booth to get the dial-in number and try it for yourself.

To reserve a slot for an 8-minute preview demonstration of GotSearch at Mobile World Congress and the trial code or if you’re not attending MWC but would like to find out about GotSearch’s upcoming beta and events, visit GotSearch to find out more.

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Posted in GotVoice, GotVoice Events, Mobile Events, Mobile News, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Electronically stored information and the law

At GotVoice, we spend some time asking our users how and why they use voicemail transcription and what the benefit is to them. I’m not a lawyer, myself, so none of the following observations should be taken as any kind of legal advice. Interestingly, some of GotVoice’s most enthusiastic clients are lawyers, and from our conversations, they report that the ability to preserving voicemail messages, both in text and as easy-to-retrieve .wav attachements for archive purposes, is handy in their profession.

In terms of professional archiving, of course, that makes sense for a lawyer as much as for anyone else; it’s always a good idea to keep searchable records for future reference. However, our legal users’ enthusiasm begs the question of how the legal system itself will be adapting to new technologies that are available for preserving communication in a variety of formats. Voicemail transcription, of course, is one technology, but there have also been cases recently when a burglar was caught when he logged in to Facebook from the house he was robbing, and another where a defendant used Twitter as an alibi against a burglary charge.

In terms of voicemail, at least, Farrah Pepper has written an in-depth article for Law.com answering the question of what to do with “outlier” electronically stored information (ESI) such as voicemail. Her post is heavy on the legal language but fascinating, in particular with respect to voicemail:

Audio recordings, including voice mail systems. While no obligation has been articulated for parties to proactively record relevant conversations for litigation,[FOOTNOTE 16] courts have ordered the production of preexisting relevant voice recordings and sanctioned parties for destroying them.[FOOTNOTE 17] Voice mail systems are considered to be sources of discoverable ESI, whether they are in analog or digital form.[FOOTNOTE 18] Notably, emerging voice mail technology offers unified messaging systems which integrate telephony and computer systems. In certain systems, recipients receive emails notifying them of an incoming voice mail that may also attach the voice mail as a WAV audio file, thus creating additional forms of voice mail messages.[FOOTNOTE 19]

The takeaway here, at least for non-legal-types like myself, is  that “voice mail systems are considered to be sources of discoverable ESI.” This is good news for those with a need to document their processes for later referral or even in court–now there is another layer of documentation available to establish both the nature of the communication itself and a communication timeline. Even if, as she states, there isn’t a specific legal obligation to do so, many organizations and individuals are choosing to protect themselves by keeping searchable records of all correspondence, including voicemail.

What’s your take on this? Do you use voicemail transcription as searchable documentation, or is it just the convenience factor that is appealing?

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Posted in Voice to Text, Voicemail Archives | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments
  • Join us at MWC10

  • Twitter.com/got_voice

    Avatar Use the "Dr Pepper rule" for answering voicemail at 10, 2 and 4, suggests @lifehacker: http://is.gd/a9a8L
    Avatar Who is attending #ctia? We'll be in Acision stand 2917. Ping for demo for GotSearch http://bit.ly/9lkOLk or GotVoice http://bit.ly/bGMuKk
    Avatar Does your voicemail greeting reflect your brand? http://is.gd/a3wSr
    Avatar VIDEO: comprehensive voice search solution--just call in and ask a question: http://short.to/1cb2r
    Avatar We'll be exhibiting at CTIA Wireless in Vegas March 23-25--visit in Acision Partner Bar, Stand 2917 for a demo of GotVoice and GotSearch!
  • RSS GotVoice Feed

    • Join us at CTIA Wireless in Las Vegas
      It seems like we’re just back from Barcelona, and now we are packing us again to exhibit at the CTIA Wireless conference in Las Vegas, March 23-25, 2010! Once again, we’ll be teaming up with Acision, the internationally leader in SMS messaging, at stand 2917. We’ll be branded as Spoken Communications in the Partner [...] […]
    • Mobile World Congress, Day 3
      Here at Spoken, today was primarily booked with meetings with current and potential partners. What’s really nifty about Spoken’s primary technology is that, while it was developed to support efficiency and customer service in call center, the principle of having a human Silent Guide can be applied to just about ANY service in which voice [...] […]
    • Mobile World Congress, Day 2
      Very exciting day today for Spoken’s GotSearch! We ran through quite a few demos for our partner here, Acision, to an overwhelmingly positive response. We’re hearing quite a bit about the need for a voice search solution that is accessible by feature phone, adaptable to different databases, and with the ability to help decrease the [...] […]
    • Mobile World Congress, Day 1
      Mobile World Congress opened its doors to 50,000 attendees in Barcelona today. The lines were long, but they went quite quickly. Much longer were the lines at local mobile stores, where non-local attendees flocked to purchase local mobile phones and SIM cards for Spain. A few notes from the first day of the conference: Interesting that [...] […]
    • Spoken Previews New Comprehensive Voice Search Solution GotSearch at Mobile World Congress 2010
      Seattle—February 11, 2010 Spoken Communications Inc., the hybrid voice technology innovator, will demonstrate for the first time GotSearch, its new comprehensive voice search solution, at Mobile World Congress 2010 in Barcelona, Spain. Developed in conjunction with recently-acquired leading voice-to-text transcription provider GotVoice, GotSearch is being cr […]
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