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Oracle Embraces Voice Technology Across All Product Lines
URL(s): http://www.oracle.com
REDWOOD SHORES, Calif., Aug 2, 2001 - ( http://www.oracle.com/tellmemore/?860877 ) Oracle
Corp. (Nasdaq: ORCL) today announced comprehensive support for the creation and deployment of voice-enabled services across
its technology and applications software. As part of this initiative, Oracle9i Application Server (Oracle9iAS) Wireless will become
the industry's first application server to offer integrated voice support, which will enable mainstream developers to create and
deploy applications just once for use with any interface -- Web, wireless or voice. Voice support will also become a key
component of other Oracle(R) software and services, including Oracle E-Business Suite, OracleMobile Online Studio and Oracle
JDeveloper.
Oracle's broad commitment to support voice-access to information will accelerate the acceptance of voice technology in the
corporate enterprise. To accomplish this, Oracle is working with voice technology leaders General Magic (Nasdaq: GMGC), Intel
(Nasdaq: INTC), Motorola (NYSE: MOT), Nuance (Nasdaq: NUAN), SpeechWorks (Nasdaq: SPWX), Vail Systems, Verascape
and VoiceGenie to offer customers complete voice solutions. In addition, Oracle also announced today that it has opened a voice
technology development center in Chicago dedicated to advancing voice technology and applications in addition to testing and
optimizing third-party voice technology for deployment on Oracle software.
"Our business depends on being able to provide a high-quality experience to our customers regardless of the device or interface,"
said Eric Tumperi, CEO of AnyTransaction, a voice application service provider for catalog companies. "By integrating Oracle9i
Application Server Wireless into our application delivery platform, we easily create and manage applications that extend the reach
of existing business systems to additional channels."
A Complement to Wireless Interfaces
Many companies have discovered that they can significantly improve business processes by enabling their customers, employees
and partners to access key information from wireless devices. But in certain situations, such as driving a car, using wireless
data applications is neither safe nor practical. In other situations, inputting information via keypad or stylus is not optimal. Voice
provides an ideal complement to wireless data by offering an easy-to-use interface that enables requests to simply be spoken
directly into a handset or hands-free device.
Oracle Gives Applications a Voice
Although voice applications have been deployed by many companies, they have primarily been developed with proprietary tools
and limited to call centers and telecommunications carriers. By making voice an integral part of Oracle9i Application Server
Wireless, an Internet-standards based application server, voice development and deployment will now be available to developers
familiar with Java, Visual Basic, eXtensible Markup Language (XML) and other popular languages, making voice accessible to
most enterprises. Oracle's commitment to integrating voice technology across its software and services includes:
-- Oracle9i Application Server Wireless: Future enhancements will enable
applications to be seamlessly accessed from the web, wireless devices,
or by spoken commands through telephones and VoiceXML gateways. Later
this year, the software is scheduled to feature enhanced support for
voice and voice-based notifications while offering the high
performance, security and reliability of Oracle9i Application Server.
-- Oracle E-Business Suite: Future enhancements in Oracle9i Application
Server Wireless are expected to quickly make many key applications
voice-ready, including field sales, field service, business
intelligence and e-commerce.
-- OracleMobile Online Studio: For companies who want to start building
voice applications today, OracleMobile Online Studio gives developers
up to six months of early access to advanced technology. Internet
developers can quickly and easily develop and test voice applications
for deployment as an online service.
-- Oracle JDeveloper: Java and XML developers are able to easily and
quickly build, test, and debug wireless and voice applications within
Oracle JDeveloper's full-featured integrated development environment
and its built-in Java2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) framework.
-- Oracle Unified Messaging: With a future release of Oracle9i
Application Server with Oracle Unified Messaging, companies will be
able to provide their employees with access to voice mail, e-mail and
faxes from multiple interfaces including Web, wireless and voice.
Oracle is already offering its employees access to voice-enabled email.
-- My Oracle: Many of the applications of My Oracle, the personalized
pages of Oracle.com, will be available from a voice interface.
"By fully integrating voice technology into its standards-based application server and exposing that technology to developers,
Oracle is accelerating the movement of voice beyond the call center and telecom industry and into the corporate enterprise," said
William Meisel, president of TMA Associates, a leading voice consultancy. "This is a clear indication that Oracle understands the
voice opportunity and is looking to drive the market."
"Earlier approaches to voice technology treated voice as a stand-alone access method. However, true value is derived from the
ability to access the same information from any access point, be it Web, wireless or voice," said Denise Lahey, CEO of
OracleMobile, the mobile products and services division of Oracle Corp. "With the combined capabilities of our partners'
technologies with Oracle9i Application Server Wireless, we will be able to deliver the most complete wireless and voice solutions
available."
Oracle Aligns with Voice Technology Leaders
Oracle is joining with other industry leaders to provide complete voice solutions to customers in the following areas:
-- Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) and Text-to-Speech (TTS)
Technologies: Oracle9i Application Server Wireless supports ASR and
TTS engines from the two leading vendors, Nuance and SpeechWorks.
-- Voice Gateways and Telephony Platforms: Oracle has optimized voice
gateways and telephony platforms with Oracle9i Application Server
Wireless from leading companies including: General Magic, Intel,
Motorola, Verascape and VoiceGenie.
-- Voice Hosting: For companies that wish to outsource development and
deployment to a third-party vendor, Oracle is working with Vail
Systems.
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