Vestec Speech Recognition Software Available to Asterisk Users

Calling a company and encountering a speech recognition system can be disconcerting. At first, the experience is like talking to a sympathetic person who understands one's spoken replies. Then some miscommunication makes clear that the person is actually software that translates one's spoke words into phone system commands, as an alternative to key-press response. Still, some like the experience, even if others find it frustrating or a waste of time. Either way, the technology has until now typically been available only to large organizations. A new tie-up between Digium and Vestec makes it available to the many smaller businesses that use IP PBXes based on the Digium-developed Asterisk open-source software.

The tie-up makes the Vestec Speech Engine available through Digium's Web store, and through Digium North American channel partners in the near future. The cost will be $99 per port for a perpetual license, with free maintenance including patches and upgrades for the first year. After that, an optional annual maintenance contract runs $15 per port.

The Vestec software recognizes a vocabulary of 500 words. It uses a standard grammar format and American English. It recognizes names, dates, digits, numbers and yes/no answers. Vestec claims it has 90 percent accuracy with native speakers, and 80 percent accuracy for non-native speakers. The company also says the software outperforms the competition by 3 percent.