WIN Services Voice Recognition on the Road

With the many wireless services available to consumers at ever-falling prices, you must continue to differentiate yourself by increasing value to your wireless subscriber base. The move toward wireless intelligent networks (WINs) not only is introducing standardization to the industry but also has the potential to boost your revenues by expanding your list of service offerings. Chief among these emerging enhanced services is speech-enabled telephony services, and chief among potential audiences for voice-recognition-based services are mobile professionals.

Speech recognition is used as an enabling technology to automate traditional keypad commands. Using the human voice, a speech engine uses algorithms to match spoken inputs with outcomes. This in turn provides the user with a selection of menu options without requiring a keypad. Speech-recognition services range from voice-activated dialing (VAD) and voice-activated voice mail (VAVM) to personal assistants and other information-access applications. The technology is especially suited for uses in which a large number of key presses are necessary to complete operations. It provides tremendous value for services such as stock quotes, airline arrival and departure information, and traffic information.

The wireless, speech-driven recognition market is expected to grow significantly, as it is easy to use, inexpensive (currently being offered for several dollars per month by carriers), reliable and represents a value-added service for brand building. A random survey of 1,000 adults showed that 15% were more likely to purchase a mobile phone with speech-recognition capabilities than without.

CUSTOMER HABITS In tapping into potential value-added services such as speech recognition, you first must look at customer habits. For example, among corporate users, a company's sales force and management team is likely to be equipped with mobile phones. This segment relies heavily on wireless telecommunications to close sales leads and conduct other business essential to the corporation while on the road. By recognizing the need to accommodate user groups such as these, you can develop a feature-rich service that provides tremendous value to the end user and at the same time boosts your revenue stream.

In the case of speech-recognition technologies, one of the greatest opportunities for success in the wireless marketplace lies in its ability to offer a service that takes advantage of "hands busy" or "eyes busy" requirements. Using the mobile workforce example, then, the opportunity lies in automating what cannot conveniently be done while driving a car -- namely looking up and dialing telephone numbers and checking voice mail. In this case, VAD and VAVM can provide the functionality that allows this segment to increase use of wireless communications while decreasing the time spent searching for numbers and buttons and decreasing the likelihood of a collision while driving.

As one voice-activated dialing subscriber said, "I drive a stick-shift car, and I need my hands to shift and drive, not to dial my cellular phone."

A number of recent surveys illustrate the opportunities for good will among wireless carriers, the automobile industry and consumers. A 1997 Yankee Group survey showed that 60% of respondents would use VAD if it were made available because they would feel safer using it. The Yankee study also reported that 30% of wireless users already were interested in VAD, at the same time citing a lack of awareness of available enhancements among the general population.

A separate study indicates that 80% of people who have VAD already use it because of safety-related benefits. And in research conducted by Peregrine Research, 72% of cellular users said they "probably" or "definitely" would be willing to pay for VAD service.

PHONE, NETWORK OPTIONS VAD uses speech-recognition technology that allows the user simply to say "call home" or "call office." The command is processed by way of a digital signal processor in the phone or in the wireless network.

You can use a number of methods to integrate speech-recognition technology into the handset or, in some cases, into the automobile. This process involves embedding the recognizer into the handset itself. Once the integration is complete, it provides the user with a button for activating the voice-recognition capabilities. This type of integration might be carried out using an OnStar system that combines the capabilities and expertise of General Motors North American Operations, Hughes Network Systems, Electronic Data Systems and Delco Electronics.

You also can integrate the technology into the handset by working with a company such as Oki telecom, using its Oki chip. This might be done by embedding the Oki chip into the phone or through an integration system such as the one that Oki has devised with Mercedes-Benz. In the latter instance, the speech-recognition technology is embedded in the VAD kit that resides in the trunk of the car.

If you choose to integrate the technology into your handsets, you may be able to offer customers the ability to download software, depending on the sophistication of their phones. And the phone-based solution may end up costing less because it is a 1-time charge, as opposed to the typical $2-4 monthly fees paid for the network VAD.

Integrating VAD capabilities into your network at the switch offers its own advantages. You would accomplish this through integrating hardware from companies such as Dialogic, NMS or Intervoice to control the switch. As an alternative, you could integrate the recognizer as part of the switch. This is not a PC-based solution and is done directly at the switch. Both of these solutions require the end user to press a key to prompt the voice recognition.

NETWORK BENEFITS If you choose the network-based option, you do not have to buy expensive hardware and equipment because it is all transparently provided at the network layer. And, as the technology becomes more sophisticated and more features are added, users can upgrade immediately without purchasing another cellular phone to have access to the technology. Network-based solutions also have the ability to tap greater processing capabilities, resulting in more features and functionality.

Although VAD still has some hurdles to overcome, its benefits already outweigh its drawbacks when used in the appropriate environment. For example, 1-word dialing is sometimes not effective while roaming. Loud engines, convertibles and city noise also have the potential for reducing accuracy levels. But noise-reduction and error-correction techniques can result in confidence levels of more than 95%, minimizing wrong numbers caused by background noise. Regardless of whether the speech recognition resides in the phone or on the network, you can maximize accuracy levels through testing in realistic environments.

VAVM also makes use of speech recognition through access to a voice-mail system that resides on the wireless network. It is used in a similar fashion to 1-word dialing with commands such as "skip," "reply," "delete," and so forth. The advantages are that it saves time and decreases the need for training on the system apart from natural commands, both factors that should increase adoption. Also, through the use of voice-activated commands, users (drivers) do not need to take their eyes off the road to use DTMF.

A study by the Rochester Institute of Technology claims that automobiles with mobile phones stand a 34% greater chance of being involved in a collision than those without. Another study found that nearly half of all Americans support a ban on traditional car-phone use, with a majority of respondents citing safety as a principal concern. In Europe this has become a significant issue as several countries have taken legislative steps to ensure that alternative methods of wireless communication are available.

Whether or not the presence of a wireless phone in the car is directly related to traffic accidents, advanced speech-recognition features such as VAD and VAVM delivered via the wireless intelligent network can no doubt be positioned to improve automobile safety. And that's certainly good for business.