STM Blog

Study: Consumers Prefer Self-Service Over Live Agents

Michele Masterson — Fri, 11 May 2012 14:32:36 +0000

According to a recent survey commissioned by Nuance Research and conducted by Vocal Laboratories Inc., two out of three consumers prefer self-service over speaking to a person for customer service inquiries. The survey also showed that convenience is the largest contributing factor, with 75 percent of consumers saying that they find self-service to be more [...]

My Bad Business Model

Allison Smith — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:57:19 +0000

My product can’t be manufactured without me physically being in the factory. I’m a shopkeeper who always has to be on premises to make a sale, and my product can’t be made in advance, stockpiled, or frozen. I am, in fact, my product. The telephone prompts I voice for telephone systems around the world are, [...]

Siri, Google Voice, Others Targeted In Federal Patent Lawsuit

Michele Masterson — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:07:29 +0000

While Apple has been the target of two class action lawsuits disputing the functionality of Siri, it now has a bigger headache in the form of a suit brought by Potter Voice Technologies LLC claiming patent infringement. Brighton, Colo.-based Potter names 15 defendant companies in total, and cites technologies from Apple, Google Voice, Microsoft’s Windows [...]

Enter Now for Your Chance to Win

Len Klie — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:43:59 +0000

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2012 Speech Technology Industry Awards, which will be presented in the July/August issue of the magazine and at the SpeechTEK Conference in New York in August. The deadline for submitting nominations is this Friday, April 27. Every year since 2007, Speech Technology magazine has presented the awards, which [...]

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Len Klie — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 19:37:18 +0000

New Jersey teen Jonathan Izak this week released a communication and therapy tool for the iPad that uses speech and GPS technologies to provide context for the places where his autistic younger brother, Oriel, might find himself. Called AutisMate, the app that allows Oriel and other users to add their own videos, pictures, and voice [...]

I Only Have Ears For You

Michele Masterson — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 19:09:58 +0000

Have you ever noticed that when you’re in a crowded room filled with loud voices you’re still able to focus on one person talking to you, and can ignore other simultaneous conversations? Thanks to scientists from the University of California, San Francisco, the mystery of the so called the “cocktail party effect” has been solved. To [...]

Offbeat Clients Need IVR Too

Allison Smith — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:10:27 +0000

In my career as a professional telephone voice, I can tell you that the work is fairly formulaic: Almost everybody requires a front-end (“greeting”) message, a message once people get to their various department selections, an after-hours greeting, and occasionally, an extended absence greeting. That’s it. Sometimes, there’s deviation from that, but not often. Pretty [...]

Voice Expert Analyzes Treyvon Martin 911 Call

Michele Masterson — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 02:21:35 +0000

Voice technology made headlines recently when a forensic expert determined who was heard on a 911 call made before Treyvon Martin was shot to death by George Zimmerman last month in Florida. The Orlando Sentinel called on Tom Owen, a forensic consultant for Owen Forensic Services LLC and chair emeritus for the American Board of [...]

New Kindle Has to Have Better Speech

Len Klie — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 20:16:37 +0000

Amazon this week unveiled its new Kindle Touch 3G, which will begin shipping April 27. Kindle Touch 3G is Amazon’s most full-featured Kindle e-reader yet, with a touch screen and free 3G wireless. And, most important to us speech-heads, it features the Read-to-Me feature, a text-to-speech application that lets Kindle read English-language content out loud. Additionally, Kindle Touch [...]

Traits of My Favorite Telco Clients — Part 2

Allison Smith — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 15:08:51 +0000

In my most recent blog post, I discussed tangible measures that IVR writers can do with their scripts to greatly facilitate the recording of their prompts. It can be as simple as the program and format you use. In this post, I’ll delve into other ways that can forge a strong and easy relationship with [...]

Half of U.S. iPhone 4S Users Love Siri

Michele Masterson — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 14:56:13 +0000

Apple’s voice assistant Siri is not without its flaws, and has even prompted one lawsuit complaining about its limitations, but according to a new survey, over 50 percent of U.S. users are “very satisfied” with the iPhone 4S feature. The Park Associates survey also found that an additional 21 percent are “satisfied,” leaving a small [...]

Nagoya University, Fujitsu Create Technology to Detect Over Trust Situations Based on Voice Pitch and Level

Michele Masterson — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 14:13:15 +0000

Nagoya University and Fujitsu have developed what they say is the world’s first technology to analyze phone conversations that automatically detect situations in which one party might “over trust” scammers. Over trust, the organizations said, might involve in a situation in which an individual may have a diminished capacity and can’t objectively evaluate an explanation [...]