Early Adopter VoiceXML [Illustrated] [Paperback]

Stephen Breitenbach (Author), Tyler Burd (Author), Nirmal Chidambaram (Author), Eve Astrid Andersson (Author), Xiaofei Tang (Author), Paul Houle (Author), Daniel Newsome (Author), Xiaolan Zhu (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2001

VoiceXML brings the power of Voice to the Web - the information we are used to accessing through the visual web interfaces of our PCs and mobile devices can now be accessed through speech alone. Building on the functionality already seen in IVR applications deployed by our banks and utility companies, the tag based syntax of VoiceXML will instantly be familiar to existing web developers, and applications can already be deployed using one of the many voice portals available.

With the world's billion plus telephones, from antique black candlestick phones to the latest mobiles, there is a huge ready-made audience crying out for voice applications. The userbase encompases those on the move who require easy access to information wherever they are, and those who haven't the money or inclination to access the Internet through a PC.

The book aims to give the reader an in-depth analysis of the current state of VoiceXML technology. The information will help you develop voice-enabled applications now, and make sure you are ready for future advances of this quickly changing arena.

This book covers: An overview of the development and deployment environments available VoiceXML 1.0 syntax tutorial Grammar use, including JSGF and Nuance GSL syntax Use of VoiceXML with XSLT, ASP, JSP, and PHP Nuance Speechobjects The future of VoiceXML technologies, including VoiceXML 2.0

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

This book is for those professional developers who wish to add a new language to their toolkit, and want to be in a position to take advantage of the imminent explosion in voice-enabled applications. We assume a prior knowledge of XML, and some other web programming technologies, such as ASP, JSP and PHP.

About the Author

Eve Andersson co-founded ArsDigita Corporation and co-authored the ArsDigita Community System, an open-source toolkit for building Internet applications. She has been building Web services since 1994 and VoiceXML services since February 2001. Andersson holds engineering degrees from Caltech and U.C. Berkeley.

Stephen Breitenbach, a software engineer for Indicast Corporation, is an alumnus of Penn State's Electrical Engineering program and a member of IEEE. As an accomplished programmer, Steve utilizes the language of Perl as a foundation for his numerous projects and writings.

Tyler Burd is currently working as CIO and co-founder of Pop Fizz Media, a jack-of-all-trades design and development firm in Denver, CO. Tyler develops in languages such as C++, Java, Visual Basic, Delphi, PHP, and ASP (to name a few), in addition to his executive tasks.

Nirmal Chidambaram currently works for Ivega Corporation. He is currently designing and developing distributed applications for Ivega's clients in financial vertical and his main area of interest is in SOAP and Web Services.

Trained as a theoretical physicist, Paul Houle works as an internet consultant with an international clientelle. You can reach Paul at [e-mail].

Daniel Newsome is the President and Founder of Denver based design and development firm Pop Fizz Media. The average day finds him marketing, meeting with clients, overseeing a team of designers and developers, as well as programming Lingo, Cold Fusion, Java or PHP.

Xiaolan, aka "Jessica", Zhu is a senior software engineer leading the voice group at Yopa, Inc., a San Jose, California, company developing voice and wireless business solutions. Before joining Yopa, she worked as a software architect at Tellngo to design and develop voice applications using Nuance, VoiceXML, and Java. Xiaolan has two Ph.D. degrees, one in Computer Science, the other in Cognitive Psychology.

Xiaofei, aka "Jeff", Tang has been in the software development business for over 12 years. Hes been a principal software engineer, senior software engineer, and consultant at both start-ups and Fortune 500 companies. He's worked with VoiceXML, Nuance, and Speechworks technologies to design and develop voice-enabling platforms and voice applications. Hes also helped design and develop many enterprise applications, including clinical information system, document imaging product, web-based computer telephony application, Internet media application, and enterprise order management system. He can be reached at [e-mail].

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Peer Information Inc.; 1st edition (August 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1861005628
• ISBN-13: 978-1861005625
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,185,266 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best of the current crop of VXML books., October 31, 2001

By 

"sassyroz" (San Ramon, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Early Adopter VoiceXML (Paperback)

This is more than just another VoiceXML book. It goes into all the elements and architecture needed to get started developing phone web applications. I've bought 3 books so far and sent two of them to partners working with me on getting a phone web server online. Covers Voice XML Gateways, two different grammar formats, AVR Software, TTS, dialog design, even a chapter on XSLT, plus tons of VXML code examples. Highly recommended!

Roz