Chuptez- 3 / Computer HaWu~az-e " ~ ~1
Verizon Communications : Advances
in Speech Recognition Software
Are Extending the Utility of
Traditional Applications
he velvety" voice of the wonutn nn the other end of
the phone is really just digits on a disk somewhere at
Verizon but "she" remembers you spoke to her ear
lier, before you were intcrrulmcd "I apologize if I ask some
questions yont already answered," the voice sounds genuinely
contrite .
The virtual telephone-repair lady is just getting warmed
up. "I'll tcstvour line from here OK, I've started the line test.
It could take up to a minute . I'll also check to see if anything's
changed ttn the line since you last called ." W1ule the test
runs,Vshe asks for more infornrttictn about your telephone
problem, and scents to understand your every response .
Presently she says, "The line test is finished now. ~'nfor-
tunately, it couldn't determine if the problem is in Veriztm's
network or with your eyuiprnent, so we need ut dispatch a
technician . . . . I Iere we are-I've picked up all ttf our tech-
nicians' current schedules. The earliest v."e can schedule it is
on 'Thursday", benween 8 :y.:n . and fi t~.wt . ( :an someone t,"ive
access to the premises at that time " " The call is soon com-
pleted, and ctn 'Thursday, so is the repair.
Computerized speech has come a long way since the
early 1980x. The technology has beet»ne stuarter, easier to
use, and nu~rc integrated with other applications . Such tech-
nical advances, plus prcxluct introductions that facilitate the
dcploy-rnent ctf the technology by utainstream developers,
are enabling newt- uses for automated speech systems.
Research in :ASR goes back to the 1930x, but serious ccnn-
rncrcialization etf it didn't begin until 50 years later. In 1988,
Dragon Systems Inc. denutnstrated a PC-based speech recog
nition svstem with an 8,000-word vocabulary-. Users had to
speak slowly and clearly. One . Word . At . A. Time .
The nest big step came in 1990, when Dragon demon-
strated a 1,000-word continuous speech svstem for PCs and
a large-vocabulaw, speech-to-text system for general pur-
pose dictation. In 1997, Dragon and 181 introduced con-
tinuous speech recognition systems for general use.
Meanwhile, corporations began rolling out interactive
voice response (IV'R) systems. The earlier ones-indeed,
most in use today-are menu-driven: "For your fund bal-
ance, say or press `one ."' :~ few advanced systeuts are snore
conversational : "1l'hat city are yctu departing from%" Dcspitc
the steady advancements to bigger vocabularies, lower error
rates, and nun-e natural interfaces, however, speech products
have remained specialized tools for niche markets such as
PC navigation by the disabled, medical dictation, and tightly
constrained customer service interactions .
But now, previously stand-alone speech systems are link-
ing up with enterprise systems to access other applications
and spawn transactions . :~s a result, these speech systems-
prcviously the domain of call center and telephony rnan-
agers-are increasingly becoming something for the IT shop
to va-orry alxtut, if not manage .
~%erizon's speech applic :uion, for example, can trigger a
line test, update customer accounts, schedule repairs, and
create trtwble tickets-processes that require interfaces with
many systems. "If you create sc»ncthing that's just a veneer,
people get it very quickly"," says Fari E;brahimi, senior vice
president for IT at Verizon. "Rut for customers to really get
value, you need to do something with the back office ."
.V1auv of V'erizort's hack-office fiu~cticms have been re-
designed as V'cb services and are accessible }w customers
over the V\ ch or pspoken request. -I"he new system handles
s<mie X0,000 repair calls per day and has boosted the percent-
ag~ of calls that are fully automated from 3 to 20 percent.
"The technology that used to be in those telephone silos,
managed by the call center utanager, is now becoming
standards-based and is being driven by the same application
server that serves the ~Veb pages," says W"illi :tm :llciscl, pres-
ident of 'li'1I1~ Associates, a speech-technology consulting
firm in 'Iarzana, California . "Now the IT deparnnent can
create the altltlications in an environment that's more famil-
iar tct them ."
Case Study Questions
1 . \~y~at arc the business benefits and limitations of ILR
at Verizon Hcnv could their use of IZR be improved%
2. ~'~'hat types of business situations would hen~:fit most
from IZ`R technology-" VL'hich ones would benefit leash
3. Given the advancements in voice recognition soft t"are
over the last ?0 years, what types of new applications
for IZR do you see in the next -'0 years% Give examples .
Source : ,adapted from C;an' f~ . Anthes, "Speak Easy," Coruputrr-
u-orld. Tuly ~, 20(}4. (:olryright O 2004 by Computertworld, Ltc.,
Frarningharn, ~T~ 01-01 . al righu resen"ed .