MWC: Ditech brings voice-enabled media to wireless operator networks

“Logistically, to make this happen in a network is very difficult unless you are in the carrier network,” Simpson said. “For a little software company to do this – to deploy a platform in the network – could quickly collapse under their own success because the routing required to do this on a large number of call is pretty severe. The best way to roll this out is for the carriers to add these capabilities within the edge of their networks. Since that is the only way to make it ubiquitous and the carriers are our current customers, there is a really good match there.”

The platform, being marketed for both enterprise and consumers, was created to let carriers drive revenues lost from declining per-minute voice usage and add value to the mobile app marketplace, according to Simpson. Voice-enabled services, such as Google Voice Search and Jott, exist today, but most rely on dialling an extra number or entering a text command to complete the action. Ditech’s service uses the carrier’s network to make the speech-enabled functionality seamless with the call.

Ditech isn’t announcing any customers at launch, but is in talks with its current customer base, which includes Verizon, AT&T and Sprint in the U.S. Ditech, which went public in 1999, was recently asked by the company’s largest shareholder to consider a takeover by AccessData to relieve its struggling financial position. The company will report its fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday.