IBM Continues to Enhance Tools Available to Open Source Community to Spur Innovation of Voice Applications

IBM today announced new open source developmentsoftware enhancements for Web developers to use popular browser tools tobuild, test and run new voice applications.

The new speech application programming interface (API) software has beenrecently developed as part of the Eclipse Foundation's Voice Tools Projectto speed the adoption of VoiceXML applications for phones, handhelddevices, cars and the Web. VoiceXML is a leading language for developingvoice recognition applications. Ultimately, the project aims to connectEclipse developers and VoiceXML developers, allowing for common tools andarchitectures to spur innovation.

Developed as part of the Voice Tools Project by IBM, Tellme and otherparticipating companies, the API creates a common developer framework thatcan work with any VoiceXML platform. By using this framework, anEclipse-based tool can interoperate with a compatible VoiceXML platform.

"This project reinforces IBM's commitment to open source technologies thatgrow the voice industry," said Brent Metz, Voice Tools Project Lead, IBM."Now every developer, big or small, can build speech applications. TheVoice Tools Project is designed to remove the cost barrier of entry so thatdevelopers can add speech to a wide variety of applications."

To give developers the ability to test voice applications before deploymentusing the new API, Tellme Networks has contributed a software plug-in thatlets developers test VoiceXML applications using their computer'smicrophone and speaker or a handset, using VoIP and Tellme's VoiceXMLdeveloper community, Tellme Studio (http://studio.tellme.com).

"Using the Voice Tools Project with Tellme Studio means Eclipse developerscan now write IP-based voice applications to reach people using any devicewith voice input," explains Brad Porter, Office of the CTO, TellmeNetworks. "This project is important to the proliferation of voiceapplications because Eclipse is one of the most widely adopted developmentenvironments."

In addition, IBM has released the Multimodal Tools Project for Eclipse onits alphaWorks website at http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/tech/mmtp. TheMultimodal Tools Project for Eclipse can be installed on the Voice ToolsProject to create multimodal speech-enabled Web applications written in theXHTML+Voice (X+V) markup language. These tools can help applicationdevelopers to ensure Web sites can easily be used on small devices, withlimited input options, such as mobile phones or set top boxes, where voiceinput and visual output might be preferable. You could one day ask yourcellphone for "nearby sushi restaurants" and have the resulting listdisplayed on your mobile device, or ask your television, "show me tennismatches this coming weekend" in order to record them.

In 2004, IBM donated its Reusable Dialogue Component speech technologies tothe Eclipse and Apache organizations. RDCs allow developers to simply plugin certain code that is common among speech applications, to speeddevelopment of new voice-enabled technologies.

The Eclipse Voice Tools Project is an open source initiative of the EclipseFoundation to develop an editing environment for the W3C Recommendations inspeech such as VoiceXML and SRGS. The project's software provides theEclipse community with the tools necessary to develop consumer orbusiness-focused applications that use speech recognition everywhere:appliances, cell phones, game devices, PDAs and more. The project wasfounded in 2004 and has had active participation from many companies in thevoice industry. As part of the project's founding, IBM donated editors forthe major voice standard markup languages. For more information on theproject and to download a free copy, visit www.eclipse.org/vtp.

About IBM

IBM is the world's largest information technology company with 80 years ofleadership in helping businesses innovate. Drawing on resources from acrossIBM and key business partners, IBM offers a wide range of services,solutions and technologies that enable companies to take full advantage ofthe on demand era. Please visit www.ibm.com for more information.

About Tellme

Tellme operates the world’s largest Internet application network for thephone handling billions of calls per year and used by more than 30 millionpeople every month. Applications running on Tellme’s network includecustomer service for Merrill Lynch, E*TRADE and American Airlines,directory assistance for Cingular and Verizon and e-commerce services forAmazon.com and Fandango. Headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., Tellme ispioneering a new era of Internet communications by simplifying how peopleuse the phone to find people, businesses and information.

Contacts:Laura WessnerIBM914-766-1366wessner@us.ibm.com

Megan DyerTellme650-930-9247megan@tellme.com

SOURCE:  IBM

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