Voxeo Acquires Motorola’s VoiceXML Browser Technology

Voxeo acquired Motorola’s VoiceXML browser business, including full and exclusive rights to the VoxGateway VoiceXML browser, on October 6. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The VoxGateway product provides the interface between phone and voice applications, using VoiceXML to execute a set of instructions and relay information between the two application layers, according to Dan York, director of conversations at Voxeo.

Voxeo first licensed the VoxGateway from Motorola in 2002, using it as the foundation for its own Prophecy voice application platform, which also includes Call Control XML (CCXML), Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), Media Resource Control Protocol (MRCP), and other speech engines. Then in 2004, Voxeo and Motorola entered into a shared development agreement for the product. 

Under the new agreement, Motorola completely transfers all control of the VoxGateway VoiceXML browser and its source code to Voxeo. The agreement also includes cross-licensing of related Voxeo and Motorola patents and source code.

“The primary thing we can do is license it to other companies,” either alone or as part of the larger Prophecy suite, York says. “Now that we own the whole thing, we can continue to evolve the product with the new VoiceXML 3 and other things that come along.”

Motorola, one of the “earliest players in VoiceXML,” has issued dozens of licenses for VoxGateway, and counts more than 1,000 companies as customers, making it one of the most widely used VoiceXML browsers in the world, according to York.

“Voxeo will continue to support existing licenses and will license the advanced features that we have added, as well,” he says.