IBM Software Exec. Describes Company's Global Leadership in Speech Recognition End-to-End Voice Solutions - Company Business and Marketing

Edge: Work-Group Computing Report, April 3, 2000

IBM (NYSE:IBM) is pioneering the conversational user interface through speech technologies, the new way humans will more naturally interact with computers, according to W.S. "Ozzie" Osborne, general manager of IBM Voice Systems.

Osborne was a featured speaker at last week's WebSphere 2000 Conference in Miami, Florida. He described IBM's end-to-end speech recognition offerings that transcend the desktop, ranging from speech-enabled mobile devices, such as a Palm Pilot or automobile, to telephony offerings and computing solutions for the Internet.

"As computing devices continue to become smaller and smaller, voice is the most natural interface for e-business and our evolving e-life," said Osborne. "We are in a thriving market and, as the global leader in speech recognition technology, IBM is the only company in the world that can provide the full range of speech-enabled solutions for consumers and businesses alike, across all platforms."

With more than 30 years in research and development, 150 patents and 250 researchers, IBM is leading the global market of speech recognition technology, including the majority of the Japanese and European market share. IBM was the first company to deliver a boxed voice recognition software product in 1996. With more than 10 million users, IBM's ViaVoice is the only speech recognition technology that can be found on every operating platform --from Windows to Macintosh to Linux. Using voice as an interface will dramatically improve the way people interact with computers and drive the evolution of transparent computing -- making the human-to-machine interaction easier and more natural.

"Computing is pervasive and part of everything we do in everyday life -- voice will make computing seamless," said Osborne. "We're in a sweet spot, and IBM is the only company that can make this happen." FMI: www.ibm.com/software/speech.>

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