The Speech at Microsoft group is integrating voice technology into some of Microsoft’s best-known applications, revolutionizing how people interact with their computers and mobile devices.
Zig Serafin, General Manager of the Speech at Microsoft Group.
Keyboards and mice still are the dominant methods for working with a PC or laptop. But big leaps in speech-recognition technology mean that talking to a computer may soon be as natural as using a mouse.
Leading Microsoft’s charge to that audible future is Zig Serafin, general manager of the Speech at Microsoft group. Serafin says his team’s goal is simply to create the world’s most advanced speech platform, one that spans cloud-based voice services, mobile phones and world-class servers for enterprise customers. “Voice is the new touch,” says Serafin. “It’s the natural evolution from keyboards and touch screens. Today, speech is rapidly becoming an expected part of our everyday experience across a variety of devices. Bill Gates articulated this vision a decade ago, and we’re seeing it happen today.”
Two years ago, Microsoft acquired Tellme Networks and has subsequently merged Microsoft’s speech development team (formerly the Speech Components Group) with Tellme to form the Speech at Microsoft group. The group’s sophisticated speech-recognition technology and Web speech engine, which has been under development for more than a decade, is leading to a wave of voice-enabled products promising easier, faster interactions — spanning automobiles, smartphones, and personal productivity software.
For example, Ford Sync, powered by Microsoft and Tellme, provides in-dash voice-activated navigation and search. In addition, Bing for Mobile, Exchange Server 2010, Windows 7, and new Windows® phones such as the Samsung Intrepid from Sprint are all voice-enabled.
“See” Your Voice Mail
One of the most eagerly awaited features in Exchange Server 2010 is the new Voice Mail Preview, a capability that is poised to transform the way people retrieve and navigate voice mail. Using speech-to-text technology, Exchange 2010 automatically sends a text preview of voice mail right to the user’s inbox.
Instead of wondering whether the little red light on their phones is signaling an important call, people can scan text previews, right in Outlook, to determine message content and priority.
Exchange Server 2010’s voice mail feature turns an audio call into a text preview.
Rajesh Jha, corporate vice president of Microsoft Exchange, says Voice Mail Preview in Exchange 2010 makes it dramatically easier to visually sift through voice mail on your PC, mobile phone, or any popular Web browser to quickly determine the importance of a call. “For me, this feature is invaluable during meetings or other situations when actually listening to voice mail is not a viable option,” says Jha.
Exchange Server 2010 will launch at TechEd Europe, which runs Nov. 9–13 in Berlin.
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Source: Spread the Word Speech Recognition Is the “New Touch” in Computing The Speech at Microsoft group
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