VoiceXML Review - Letter from the Editor

Volume 1, Issue 2 - Feb. 2001

Dear Readers,

Now that you've all had a chance to figure out what VoiceXML technology and the VoiceXML Forum is all about after having read our premier issue last month, it's time now to take a look at the business implications and opportunities.

In his article entitled The Voice Web: Commercial Implications of VoiceXML, Bill Meisel establishes VoiceXML as an analogue to the familiar HTML that the browsers running on our desktop computers fetch and render each time we access the Web. From there, Bill identifies the various business opportunities and types of applications that have come into existence with the advent of VoiceXML.

In our second feature article, Business Advantages of VoiceXML, John Hibel digs deeply into the business advantages of VoiceXML, especially as compared to the traditional proprietary IVR approach to implementing voice applications. John ends his article by emphasizing that the existence of VoiceXML product offerings and services, along with a flourishing development community, lend credibility to his assertion that VoiceXML is real and here today. If you've been paying attention to the flurry of press releases coming from various players in this industry lately, or perhaps tried out a few of the existing voice portals constructed on VoiceXML technology, you'll be hard pressed to disagree.

For you technical types who are now rolling your eyeballs over all the business speak in this month's issue, don't despair. After all, you may need this information to convince your managers to let you go off and develop that first VoiceXML prototype application you've been thinking about! In any case, we've covering some interesting technical topics for you this month in our regular columns.

In the First Words column, Rob Marchand continues last month's column by adding some structure to his venerable "Hello World" example application. If you missed Rob's inaugural column, no problem! Every article published in the e-zine is archived, and accessible to you by simply clicking on the Archives link on the navigation bar.

Jeff Kunins answers your recent questions in this month's Speak & Listen column. This month you'll get insight into using XML and XSL to dynamically generate VoiceXML applications. In addition, in response to the "what about conformance" question you've all been asking, Jeff points us to the Forum's current policy on this matter. If you have a VoiceXML-specific question you'd like addressed in a future column, please send us an email at speak.and.listen@voicexmlreview.org.

Finally, the VoiceXML Forum is holding its first Users Group Meeting in conjunction with the AVIOS 2001 Conference on 5 April 2001 in San Jose, Calif. Don't forget to mark your calendars!

Sincerely,

Jonathan Engelsma
Editor-in-Chief, VoiceXML Review
Jonathan.Engelsma@voicexmlreview.org

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