Joel Riciputi and Gina Carriere, senior product marketing managers, Nuance Communications

We caught up with Nuance Senior Product Marketing Managers Joel Riciputi and Gina Carriere post-conference to discuss recent trends in speech applications.     Speech Tech Magazine: What are the specific traits/signs that are "leading indicators" of where the speech market is today and where it's headed?  Where are we in the evolution of the speech market?   Joel Riciputi & Gina Carriere: Gartner probably best characterizes today's market.  The Gartner Hype Cycle of Emerging Technologies plots out the growth and adoption of products  from the "technology trigger" beginning through the "plateau of productivity" stage.  According to the firm, speech recognition in call centers is on the "slope of enlightenment."   From Nuance's view, being on the slope of enlightenment means that the value proposition for voice automation is being understood across a wider segment of the market, both enterprise and telco.  We no longer hear the question "does voice recognition really work?"  We're over that hurdle.  We're also not hearing "what's the value proposition?"  That's understood as well.    To be on the slope of enlightenment, standards must have emerged.  And we have that too, in particular, VoiceXML.    As for the future, customer questions continue to be a good indicator.  Today, instead of  asking "does it really work," companies want to know the answer to "what's the best and fastest way to implement speech?"    The fact that companies are now asking these types of questions shows what we believe is a trend towards broader adoption of the technology.  It's also why packaged voice automation applications are important.    STM: There seems to be an industry focus on packaged applications-- including applications for vertical industries. Why is this?   JR&GC: The evolution within the voice automation market is following a path similar to those in other enterprise software markets, such as ERP and CRM, and moving from fully custom to the use of packaged applications.   We were the first to announce packaged speech applications for the call center in November of 2002 and this seems to have sparked many others in the industry to follow our lead.   The reasons for this are many.  First, with more than 1,000 companies having implemented these solutions, there's simply more expertise to actually package up into products.  Voice user interface best practices, reporting-- all these things are now available in applications.  Secondly, companies want to take the guesswork out of speech application deployment.  With packaged applications they can get much more defined development times, automation and caller satisfaction rates, and ROI up front.    The combination of benefits is driving demand for packaged solutions across a range of application areas, both horizontal and vertical, as well as inside and outside the call center.   STM: What exactly is a "packaged application" and what should a potential purchaser be looking for in a packaged application?   JR&GC: A packaged voice application is typically comprised of the following key components: the voice user interface (VUI), which includes the dialog spec, grammars and prompts; the application code; configuration tools that allow a customer or partner to configure the application to meet specific integration or application needs; and standard configuration points to link the application to an IVR or back-end database via CTI or Web services. The integration of these pre-built components enables quick deployment, reduces time-to-market (sometimes up to 50%) and speeds application ROI. In addition to the above items, a packaged application should provide technical support, documentation and upgrades.   STM: Outline Nuance's packaged applications strategy and packaged applications offerings.   JR&GC: Nuance provides packaged speech applications to automate the call center end-to-end.  To our knowledge, Nuance is the first vendor to offer packaged applications to automate the complete call center.  Nuance's packaged applications are focused on managing customer interactions in the call center within two specific areas: the "front door challenge" and the "destination challenge."   To address the front door challenge, Nuance's applications must get the caller to the right destination and verify the caller's identity.   Our application called Nuance Call SteeringTM, which is powered by our natural language Say AnythingTM and AccuRouteTM technologies, determines a caller's correct destination after they naturally state what is needed ("I… uh… lost my credit card and need to cancel it…") and Nuance Caller AuthenticationTM verifies a caller's identity using our Nuance Verifier™ voiceprinting software.   For the destination challenge, we provide Nuance Flexible Application SuitesTM (Nuance FAStTM).  These are industry-specific packaged offerings that include a number of  applications such as account payment or address change to help the caller complete their specific transactions.   In addition to providing the VUI best practices and other components, FASt includes powerful application configuration tools that empower customers and partners  to maintain and change the applications themselves, potentially saving anywhere from $35,000 to $350,000 per year depending on the modifications required and type of application.   STM: What does the packaged application buying process entail? What about deployment paths - can your packaged applications be deployed through partners?   JR&GC: Customers can purchase Nuance packaged applications from Nuance or from Nuance partners.   Also, Nuance's packaged applications can be deployed in conjunction with  our partners' own application offerings, which include a wide range of solutions from field service and HR applications to government-specific solutions.    For Nuance FASt, Nuance offers a high level of flexibility with deployment options available through Nuance and Nuance partners to meet customer-specific needs. These applications can be implemented on a variety of platforms and can be deployed in VoiceXML or traditional IVR environments.   STM: How will packaged applications improve customer adoption rates?   JR&GC: Packaged applications benefit companies by speeding deployment and time-to-market while boosting customer satisfaction from the caller's initial point of contact through transaction completion.  As more and more businesses see bottom line benefits attributed to packaged applications, we expect adoption rates to continue to rise.   STM: In one sentence —Make a prediction regarding the role packaged applications will play within the speech market in the next 5 years.   JR&GC: Within five years, the vast majority of call center-related speech implementations will involve a packaged application—whether it be a front door call steering or verification application or a destination application.