Spoken revelation from Genesys

Alcatel-Lucent's contact centre software subsidiary, Genesys Telecommunication Laboratories, says companies can now afford to build their own voice-based, self service applications with its VoiceXML Sandbox.

Announced last week, the package combines IBM's Websphere Voice Server with the Genesys Voice Platform and a whole bunch of pre-configured SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) technology.

Genesys says the package is aimed at IT and telecommunications departments that want to build VoiceXML-based speech applications without having to connect to a telephone switch. Once installed, the protocol stack can be used across an enterprise to process large volumes of inbound calls.

Bruce Eidsvik, EMEA vice president of voice portals at Genesys, says the package gives developers a quick and affordable way to build voice and speech features into their applications: "It's a cost effective all-in-one solution which can enable connection to web services and serious business applications."

One example he quotes is a password reset application for a large international bank. "They wanted to be able to reset passwords on their SAP system over the telephone. One of their developers built and installed the working application in a couple of weeks and demonstrated an excellent return on investment."

Eidsvik says the VoiceXML Sandbox can be used to add speech features to a wide range of services. "You only have to ask yourself: What services would you want to access over the phone? Basically anything that is available through the web can be made available over the phone with this technology."

The VoiceXML Sandbox package includes: four-port Genesys VXML Platform (VoIP or PSTN), four-port IBM Websphere Voice Server (WVS), five days' training for one participant, two days' Genesys Professional Services, one year's technical support, VoIP SIP Telephony Server, and SIP Softphones. ®