OEM Agreement Brings Interactive Telephony Solutions to Market

Strategic Insights -

Digital Equipment Corporation and Linkon Corporation have signed an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) agreement, combining DECtalk text-to-speech synthesis software with Linkon's LinkEngine computer telephony platform. This partnership will yield new interactive telephony solutions, enhancing efficiencies in major industries such as airline travel and healthcare. The agreement enables Linkon to license DECtalk software and port it to its LinkEngine series, allowing for access to e-mail over the telephone and embedding high-quality voice recognition into a range of telephony systems.

Key Takeaways:

  • The OEM agreement between Digital Equipment Corporation and Linkon Corporation will enable the creation of new interactive telephony solutions, integrating DECtalk text-to-speech synthesis software with Linkon's LinkEngine computer telephony platform.
  • The partnership will improve efficiencies in major industries, including airline travel and healthcare, by providing real-time access to information and enabling customers to phone-in for their internet messages.
  • Linkon will sell the TTS-enabled boards to other large manufacturers, VARs, and systems integrators, who will develop specialized telephony applications customized for specific industries.
  • The airline industry is expected to be an early adopter of this technology, investing heavily in voice recognition and TTS to handle inquiries on flight schedules and weather.
  • Digital Equipment Corporation's DECtalk technology is regarded as the premier human-like speech enhancement to any man/machine interface, producing clear, correct pronunciation of single characters, words, phrases, and proper names.
  • The evolution of digital signal processing technology (DSP) and its convergence with the growth of integrated telephony have led product manufacturers to consider text-to-speech synthesis a strategic component of their own product design.
  • DECtalk technology has been successful in other OEM industries, including the game market, multimedia PCs and workstations, and PDAs.

Statistics:

  • 75% market growth in key OEM embedded markets (telephony, manufacturing, and process control) realized by DECtalk since early 1994.
  • 5 million to 30 million users grew from 1991-1995, indicating a significant increase in Internet usage.
  • The growth of Internet usage and dependence on telephony as a customer satisfaction and competitive tool is expected to escalate market demand for speech and voice tools through the next five years.

Sources:

  • Digital Equipment Corporation
  • Linkon Corporation
  • DECtalk is a trademark of Digital Equipment Corporation.
  • Linkon and LinkEngine are trademarks of Linkon Corporation.