Microsoft Enhances Unified Communications With Speech Technology
From the SpeechTEK 2006 conference in New York, Microsoft Corp. announced that the full capabilities of Microsoft® Speech Server 2007 will be integrated into Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, extending the company’s commitment to unified communications and breaking down today’s silos of instant messaging, Internet Protocol telephony, voice response, audioconferencing and videoconferencing.

Feature Article

Leading Regional Bank Scales Up IVR Solution To Meet Rapid Growth Curve
Woodforest National Bank has been using a Microsoft Speech Server 2004 based IVR application for the past two years and needed to scale up the Telephone Banking System solution. Specifically, it wanted to address the growth in call volume, create a new Spanish language application, and move to a real-voice interface. Again, using its own in-house IT expertise, the existing .NET infrastructure, and powerful Microsoft Speech Server 2004 R2 software, Woodforest addressed each opportunity.

Microsoft Works with GetHuman Founder Paul English to Improve Phone-Based Customer Service
In early August at the SpeechTEK 2006 conference in New York, Paul English, the founder of GetHuman.com, announced the creation of new standards for telephone-based customer service. Microsoft Corp., Nuance Communications Inc. and other industry leaders, businesses and consumers will work with the GetHuman™ project to drive adoption of these standards, which are designed to eliminate poor caller experiences with automated systems.

O.C. Tanner Company Develops a New Call Center Solution with IT Partner Gold Systems and Microsoft Speech Server R2
The O.C. Tanner Company needed to solve call volume and call containment issues. With call center calls reaching 30,000 per day and many customers opting for live support, O.C. Tanner needed a powerful voice response solution to bring the situation under control – and they needed it fast.

Q: How Can I Find More Tools to Troubleshoot Speech Applications?

* September Tips and Tricks are provided by John Clarkson, Program Writer in the Microsoft Speech Server Group. Look for new Tips and Tricks each month from the Microsoft Speech Development team.

Learn more about Microsoft Speech Technologies and meet members of the Microsoft Speech Technologies team at upcoming industry events.

ACCE (Annual Call Center Exhibition)
September 11-13, 2006
Seattle, WA
After its second successful year, CMP Media and ICMI are back in Seattle, Washington, for the third annual Call Center Exhibition featuring the ICMI Knowledge Exchange Conference. The Knowledge Exchange Conference delivers unprecedented educational opportunities for all levels of contact center professionals. Join in pre-conference seminars, conference sessions, and networking events with industry peers and find out what works, and — more importantly — what doesn’t. Check out next month’s newsletter for more details on Microsoft participation at this year’s conference!

View the Microsoft Speech Server Event Calendar here

Newsgroups are a key part of the Microsoft community. Through a Microsoft newsgroup, you can get quick, expert answers to your questions. These three brand-new newsgroups specifically target the Microsoft Speech community:

• Microsoft Speech Server newsgroup
  microsoft.public.speech.server
  Description: General issues about Microsoft Speech Server (MSS), a development and deployment platform for voice recognition applications.

   

• Microsoft Speech Desktop newsgroup
  microsoft.public.speech.desktop
  Description: General public newsgroup for Microsoft speech and natural language technologies that run on the desktop.

   

• Microsoft Speech Mobile & Embedded newsgroup
  microsoft.public.speech.mobile
  Description: General issues about Microsoft speech technologies and applications, such as VoiceCommand, that run on Windows Mobile®– and Windows® CE–powered devices.

How do you get to the new Newsgroups?
There are two ways to access any Microsoft newsgroup: through Microsoft Office Outlook® Express and through the Microsoft Web interface.

In Outlook Express, click Tools > Newsgroups. Select the newsgroups you want to subscribe to, and then click Subscribe.

On the Web, go to http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx, and locate the newsgroups in the tree:

English > Servers > Server Applications > Speech Server > Speech Server
English > Office and Desktop Applications > Speech Desktop > Speech Desktop
English > Mobile and Embedded > Speech

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You Talkin’ to Me?

From the folks who brought you Microsoft Speech Server 2007 beta, there’s a new MSS Team Blog appropriately named “You Talkin' to Me?” According to blog manager Ken Circeo, the MSS Team Blog is a place for “information, dialog, and opinions about Speech Server that just don’t seem to fit anywhere else.” Since its launch in April, the blog has already received postings from various Speech Server developers, writers, PMs, and executives. Check it out at http://blogs.msdn.com/mssblog, and feel free to leave a comment or three.