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Speech Capabilities and Office Communications Server Come Together

Microsoft has announced that the full capabilities of Microsoft Speech Server 2007 will be integrated into Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007. The company also demonstrated Windows Speech Recognition, which will be available in Windows Vista(TM) in eight languages, marking the first time a Microsoft Windows operating system will include speech recognition technologies, so the user can issue commands and dictate text in applications. Microsoft and HP had announced earlier a joint effort focused on accelerating the transformation of telephony, audio, video, and web conferencing and instant messaging into a single unified communications platform.

"This relationship signals a strategic effort from both companies to enable a seamless unified communications experience -- one that provides flexibility for IT managers and allows information workers to easily collaborate with one another," said Anoop Gupta, corporate vice president of the Microsoft Unified Communications Group.

The addition of speech capabilities is said to give developers the opportunity to create new and powerful communication applications or extend existing applications using an integrated set of Application Programming Interfaces (API) and by extending existing applications for Office Communications Server 2007, enabling new revenue streams for their businesses.

"Today, the Speech Server platform is trusted by a number of major Microsoft customers to successfully answer millions of customer calls," said Anoop Gupta. "The integration of this proven, reliable technology into Office Communications Server further demonstrates Microsoft's commitment to providing our customers and partners with a truly unified communications solution and platform."

"The addition of speech technology to Office Communications Server gives us a more extensive set of capabilities on which to build compelling unified communications solutions for our customers," said Ruchi Prasad, vice president of Global Enterprise Marketing for Nortel. "Through our Innovative Communications Alliance, with Microsoft, we have the ability to bring new and unique capabilities to communications applications with Microsoft's speech engine technology integrated with Nortel's own industry-leading IVR and contact center solutions."

By dropping Speech Server as an independent product and integrating it into Office Communications Server 2007, Microsoft is building a stronger platform, analysts said. "A speech interface will help Microsoft set OCS apart from a number of other unified communications platforms on the market," Brian Riggs, analyst for Current Analysis, said in an email response to a request for comment. "In general, speech integration will make OCS a much stronger platform for voice- and text-based business communications."


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