Google sees voice-activated search as key to its mobile
business and has just introduced a UK version for the
Blackberry.
Voice search offers an easier alternative to typing search terms
using fiddly keyboards on mobile devices, but is it good enough for
business?
Google claims to have made quantum leaps since initial trials
six years ago and says it is ready to deal with UK accents.
Technological advances
The firm has been able to exploit rapid developments in speech
technology.
Analytical models have now reached a level of refinement that
makes them practical for business use, says Peter Rogers, chief
executive of speech analytics firm Aurix.
In the past two to four years, continual refinements of the
mathematical models have produced a level of accuracy in
speech recognition that borders on artificial intelligence.
Google claims to have increased accuracy by 15% since it
launched voice search on the
iPhone in the US last November as more data is collected.
"At the same time, improvements in microprocessor technology
mean that mobile devices now have the speed and power necessary to
run these models," says Rogers.
The power of speech
Google's
Mobile App, available for free download, enables UK Blackberry
users to go to the search firm's
mobile search site and speak the
search terms.
Mobile App
with voice search is available on all versions of Blackberry,
except Blackberry Storm, as long as they run OS 4.2 or above, says
Google.
Users simply have to say "lester square" to bring up information
on "Leicester Square" without knowing the correct spelling, says
Google App engineer Luca Zanolin in a
blog post.
"Keystrokes have been reduced to a single press of the green
button [on the phone]," he says.
Greater independence from keyboards represents a step-change in
applications such as Google search, says Rogers.
Similarly, these advances have enabled the automation of
processes involving speech, such as call centre monitoring.
"Call centres can now use speech analytics to monitor for the
absence or presence of compulsory phrases to comply with industry
regulations," says Rogers.
Businesses are beginning to tap in to the cost benefits of
automating these processes as the technology matures and explore
the benefits of mining voice data for business intelligence
purposes.