A look at VoiceXML

VoiceXML is one of those technologies most experts say will help voice applications really fly. At least that’s the theory. 

The technology, which just last week was granted standard status by the World Wide Web Consortium, defines how a dialog is constructed and executed between a caller and a computer running speech recognition and/or text-to-speech software.  VoiceXML will help customers create speech-enabled Web-based content or build telephony-based speech recognition call center applications.

In a nutshell, VoiceXML outlines a common language to follow when programming a speech application. In VoiceXML, many of these rules are referred to as tags, as used in HTML. Tags denote actions for creating dialog between a human voice and a speech recognition system.

Designing a speech application includes presenting data for delivery over the phone, constructing a call flow and enabling prompts and grammars. VoiceXML provides a common set of rules as a flexible foundation, but it’s up to the designer to create the appropriate flow and personality for a speech system.

For more on this topic see our Technology Update this week: https://www.nwfusion.com/news/tech/2004/0322techupdate.html