April 2004

Dear Readers,

Spring of 2004 has been a time of unprecedented progress in the VoiceXML revolution! On March 16, 2004 the W3C published the VoiceXML 2.0 specification along with Speech Recognition Grammar Specification as official Recommendations. These specifications were followed by the publication of the VoiceXML 2.1 Working Draft. In addition, just today, the CCXML (Call Control) “last working draft” specification was published by the W3C.

This issue of the VoiceXML Review is packed with articles detailing these recent developments – brought to you by the folks that are making it happen! You’ll recognize the fact that all the authors featured in this particular issue are active participants in the W3C’s Voice Browser Working Group.

RJ Auburn, editor of the CCXML specification brings us a detailed update on the last working draft version of the specification. In addition to playing a key leadership role in the standards process, RJ and his very extreme team at Voxeo were among the first to launch a commercial product based upon the specification.

Requirements are now being gathered for VoiceXML 3.0. Jim Larson (Intel) and Scott McGlashan (HP) provide a short update on that process as well as a broad sketch of the kinds of features being considered for inclusion in “V3”.

Our regular columnists are also caught up in the standards excitement. In Speak & Listen, Matt Oshry (Tellme) tackles your questions on VoiceXML 2.1’s DOM support, and exposing RSS feeds via a voice interface. Rob Marchand (VoiceGenie) launches the first of a series of columns that will walk the reader through the new features introduced in the VoiceXML 2.1 working draft.

On a concluding note, I’ve recently read several misleading quotes in the press claiming that VoiceXML platforms are too expensive, with entry-level prices starting at $500k. This is patently false! Take VoiceXML Forum member company Vocomo for example, with its turnkey IVR solution for less than $10k! While it is true that high-density telco-grade voice platforms are not cheap, there is a whole range of VoiceXML platforms on the market today ranging from small turnkey enterprise solutions to massive telco-grade deployments. There is no need to invest in non-standard, proprietary voice solutions today – even if you’re a little guy! Before you get yourself locked into a proprietary non-VoiceXML platform, scan the VoiceXML Forum’s member company list on voicexml.org and educate yourself on what’s out there!

Sincerely,

Jonathan Engelsma
Editor-in-Chief
VoiceXML Review

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