VoiceXML: Professional Developer's Guide with CDROM [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

~ (Author), Jeff Kunins (Author)
Key Phrases: voice application networks, application network providers, application root document, Tellme Networks, Usage Parents Children, Tellme Studio (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

…a great resource for developers and well worth the price… -- Computer Bulletin, September 2002

Product Description

Learn how to build voice-enabled applications using VoiceXML
VoiceXML is designed for creating human-computer dialogs that feature synthesized speech, digitized audio, recognition of spoken and key input, recording of spoken input, telephony, and mixed-initiative conversations. Providing a detailed look at this markup language, VoiceXML (Version 2.0 is covered) takes the reader from the basics of voice solutions all the way through to building and running an application. It also reviews the critical success factors when designing and implementing a voice strategy and provides a glimpse into the future of voice technologies. The authors include discussions on how to generate dynamic VoiceXML content as well as the design of compelling and effective voice user interfaces.
CD-ROM includes code from the book as well as development toolkits and reference material from multiple vendors.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (December 7, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471418935
• ISBN-13: 978-0471418931
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #959,562 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #24 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Software > Voice Recognition
  #33 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Software > Business > Speech Processing

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good coverage, up-to-date, very userful, March 1, 2002

By	Frederick Parkinson (Sunnyvale, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This is the best VoiceXML book I've seen. Most VoiceXML books try to do too much: talk about voice hardware, telephony, the history of voice, tts, as well as be a VoiceXML reference. The weakness of these books is that one or more of these sections reveals that the authors do not really command the knowledge needed to make these sections useful. This book also attempts to do these things, but for the most part is able to carry it off.

If you're looking for a reference, this is the book to get. The reference section is current VoiceXML 2.0 (October 2001), which is an advantage in and of itself. But the real strength of the reference section is its depth. Each element, (e.g., <assign>, <grammar>, <filled>) has an entry for syntax (how to invoke the element), a description (what the element is used for), a thorough discussion of its attributes (that is, a description of the attribute), a usage statement (the elements parents and children), and an example (a snipet of complete code that uses the element). The examples and discussion of attributes really set this book apart from its peers.

There is a brief discussion of the architecture of a VoiceXML app, and a couple of paragraphs discussing the differences between VoiceXML 1.0 and 2.0.

The book also gives, contrary to my expectations, a history of the voice industry, a history of VoiceXML, and a discussion of players in the industry. What makes this book's treatment of these topics unusual is that the authors (particularly Kunins, I suspect) actually know these fields. I don't normally want these sections in a reference book (it just adds bulk around the section I really want) but I found them quite compelling here. I learned quite a bit from reading them.

The book also contains sections on Dynamic VoiceXML, Security, Voice App Life Cycle, VUI Design, the Future of VoiceXML, and a case study. I haven't read these sections yet, so I can't comment on them. I do know, however, that the sections I have read are sufficiently superior to make this THE VoiceXML book on their own.

If I were to criticize the book, I would fault the authors' lavish praise of TellMe (this is minor and not unexpected) and the examples in the reference section. The examples are quite good for someone learning VoiceXML, and the authors are commended for including them. The fault (albeit a minor one) is that they are fairly vanilla. So, while I would have preferred more examples, I concede that such examples would make the book much larger and the inclusion of "advanced" examples to the exclusion of "canonical" examples would have made them less useful to developers learning VoiceXML.

Overall, if you are going to own one VoiceXML reference, THIS should be that one.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Timely reference, January 16, 2002

By	Dave (Austin) - See all my reviews

Agree with other reviewers. A thorough and detailed reference on VoiceXML and voice application development. I wish authors had put VoiceXML 2.0 reference on some website (though examples are available on the CD). Also liked the tips throughout the book on VUI. It is the most important aspect of voice application development and the authors kept emphasizing that through the entire book with examples. Excellent.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Use this book only as a reference not to learn VoiceXML, February 25, 2003

By A Customer

I was mislead by the accompanying great reviews for this book. Having bought and read the book I find that it serves more as a reference than to illustrate how VoiceXML can be used through example applications. But I should admit though that this book does a good job of serving as a reference. I also bought "VoiceXML: 10 Projects to Voice-Enable your system" that helped me to come up to speed to do a VoiceXML project.