Unisys and Philips Sign Major Reseller and Integration Agreement for Automated Speech Recognition Applications.NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 27, 1998--Unisys and Philips Speech Processing Speech processing is the study of speech signals and the processing methods of these signals. The signals are usually processed in a digital representation whereby speech processing can be seen as the intersection of digital signal processing and natural language processing. Tuesday announced an agreement allowing Unisys to resell re·sell tr.v. re·sold , re·sell·ing, re·sells 1. To sell again. 2. To sell (a product or service) to the public or to an end user, especially as an authorized dealer. and integrate Philips automated speech recognizer (ASR (Automatic Speech Recognition) Using voice recognition to replace keypad entry for telephone voice menus. Typically used to speak the digits 0 through 9 insted of keying them, ASR systems may be able to recognize a limited vocabulary. See voice recognition and AVSR. ) engine with Unisys award-winning Natural Language (NL) Understanding technology, opening new markets for both companies. As part of this agreement, Unisys will integrate the Philips ASR, SpeechPearl(TM), into its NL Speech Assistant Toolkit. This integration will provide a turnkey industry-leading development environment from a single source to build and operate powerful speech-based applications. With this agreement Philips will be the inaugural member of the new Unisys ASR Reseller Program (see related release). By pre-integrating and bundling speech recognizers such as Philips SpeechPearl(TM) with the Unisys Natural Language technology, the Unisys ASR Reseller program will drive the growth of the speech-based application market to one day replace touch-tone applications with more efficient voice technology. Previously, developers were forced to turn to a variety of vendors for the pieces of technology required to build speech-based applications and then integrate those technologies. Since the Unisys and Philips technology combination will be sold predominantly through a well-developed distribution network of Interactive Voice Response (IVR (Interactive Voice Response) An automated telephone information system that speaks to the caller with a combination of fixed voice menus and data extracted from databases in real time. ) channel partners, developers will receive all the necessary technology components from a single source, with the most complex technology already integrated. "This agreement reinforces Philips strategy of partnering with leading-edge speech solution providers to become the dominant supplier of natural speech technologies," explained Paul Celen, COO of Philips Speech Processing. "This partnership enables both Unisys and Philips to develop and drive the latest speech recognition technologies in the telecommunications marketplace." "Unisys Natural Language tools are licensed by many of the leading IVR vendors offering large-vocabulary speech recognition," said Joe Yaworski, vice president and general manager of the Natural Language Understanding program, Unisys Corp. "Our reseller agreement with Philips will provide our IVR partners with access to industry-leading speech recognition technology, supported by Unisys expertise in handling the complexities of integrating hardware, middleware Software that functions as a conversion or translation layer. It is also a consolidator and integrator. Custom-programmed middleware solutions have been developed for decades to enable one application to communicate with another that either runs on a different platform or comes from a , speech recognition and natural language technologies." About Unisys NL Speech Assistant The Unisys Natural Language (NL) Speech Assistant is an advanced speech application development tool set that is platform- and speech recognizer-independent. As part of the Unisys Natural Language Understanding suite of products, NL Speech Assistant provides application developers not only with the tools for speech application creation but also for application project management, development methodology, and testing. Through NL Speech Assistant, developers have a standard tool to create spoken language applications across platforms and speech recognizers, protecting their applications from obsolescence ob·so·les·cent adj. 1. Being in the process of passing out of use or usefulness; becoming obsolete. 2. Biology Gradually disappearing; imperfectly or only slightly developed. . About Philips SpeechPearl(TM) SpeechPearl(TM) is recognized as the leading speech recognition engine for both small and large vocabulary applications. Developers now have access to more than 23 languages developed by Philips Speech Processing and the commitment of a true global organization. More importantly, SpeechPearl (TM) is one of the only recognizers that can switch languages "on-the-fly." This allows development of robust multi-lingual applications and expands the developer's market potential in the U.S. and internationally. Availability The combined offering will be available early 1st Quarter 1999. Unisys has integrated the Philips SpeechPearl(TM) recognizer initially into into several of its IVR channel partners' products and toolkits. Additional development will be done on an ongoing basis. The agreement covers all languages currently offered or in development by Philips. It has no restrictions and will include future language development. Core languages offered include: US English, US Spanish, UK English, Spanish, German, French, Dutch and Italian. Additional languages covered by the agreement include: Australian English, Canadian French Canadian French n. The French language as used in Canada. Noun 1. Canadian French - the French language as spoken in Quebec, Canada French - the Romance language spoken in France and in countries colonized by France , Canadian English This article may contain original research or unverified claims. Please help Wikipedia by adding references. See the for details. This article has been tagged since September 2007. Canadian English (CaE) is a variety of English used in Canada. , Danish, Swedish, Swiss German Swiss German adj → suisse-allemand(e) Swiss German Swiss adj → deutsch-schweizerisch Swiss German adj → , Austrian German Austrian German (Österreichisches Deutsch) is the national standard variety of the German language spoken in Austria and South Tyrol. As German is a Pluricentric language, Austrian German is another standard variety in addition to the High German spoken in Germany. , Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese Brazilian Portuguese (português brasileiro in Portuguese) is a group of dialects of Portuguese written and spoken by virtually all the 190 million inhabitants of Brazil and by a couple million Brazilian emigrants, mainly in the United States, United Kingdom, Portugal, , Greek, Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Norwegian and Thai. About Philips Philips Speech Processing, an Atlanta-based business unit of Royal Philips Electronics, consists of two lines of business: Speech Technology and Dictation. Philips has more than 40 years experience in the development and marketing of speech products and is the largest producer of professional dictation systems worldwide. The company also developed the world's first natural continuous speech recognition technology, and is one of the market leaders for products and technology in this fast growing market. Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands is one of the world's largest electronics companies, with sales of more than $39 billion in 1997. The company is a global leader in the production of television sets, lighting, home telephony products and electric shavers. Its 264,700 employees in more than 60 countries are active in the areas of semiconductors and components, consumer products, professional products and systems, lighting, and software and services. Philips is quoted on the NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange (PHG), London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and other stock exchanges. News from Philips Speech Processing is located at -- http://www.speech.philips.com. About Unisys Unisys (NYSE:UIS (graphics, programming) UIS - A VMS graphics programming interface package for VAXstations. ) is more than 33,000 employees helping customers in 100 countries apply information technology to solve their business problems. Unisys solutions are based on a broad portfolio of global information services See Information Systems. including systems integration, outsourcing, "repeatable" application solutions, consulting, network integration, remote network management, and multivendor maintenance and support, coupled with enterprise-class servers and associated middleware, software and storage. Repeatable solutions are focused on key vertical markets including financial services The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. , transportation, telecommunications, government, publishing and other commercial markets. Headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania Blue Bell is a census-designated place (CDP) in Whitpain Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, its population was 6,395. , in the Greater Philadelphia area, Unisys 1997 annual revenue was $6.6 billion. Access the Unisys home page on the World Wide Web -- http://www.unisys.com -- for further information. Unisys is a registered trademark of Unisys Corp. SpeechPearl is a trademark of Philips Speech Processing. All other brands and products referenced herein are acknowledged to be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. |
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