(July 14, 2003) - Microsoft Corp. brings speech technology to the mainstream with the first public beta release of the Microsoft® Speech Server, a Windows Server System™, and the beta 3 release of the Speech Application Software Development Kit (SASDK). In addition, Microsoft has established several new resources to engage with enterprises looking to adopt Microsoft's Speech Application Language Tags (SALT)-based speech offerings. The resources include the Microsoft Speech Server Beta Program; an Early Adopter Program (EAP); and specialized training courses on Speech Server, the SASDK, and voice user interface (VUI) and speech application design.

Microsoft Speech Server Beta v1.0

Designed to run on the Windows Server™ 2003 operating system, Microsoft Speech Server is the most flexible and integrated platform for delivering low total cost of ownership for speech deployments. Taking advantage of the improved secure architecture and new security-aware features of Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Speech Server includes additional features to help protect and defend systems, resources,and users from potential security threats. Built on SALT, an open industry standard, Microsoft Speech Server extends existing Web markup languages by adding speech recognition and prompt functionality to both telephony and multimodal applications.

For connectivity into the enterprise telephony infrastructure and call-control functionality, Intel Corp. and Intervoice Inc. will provide a Telephony Interface Manager (TIM) that supports Microsoft Speech Server. The TIM will provide integration of the speech server with the Intel NetStructure communications boards, enabling deployment of robust speech processing applications. Multimodal applications do not require a TIM.

Microsoft Speech Application SDK Beta v3.0

The Microsoft Speech Application SDK is a set of tools and ASP.NET controls based on the SALT specification that enables developers to build both telephony and multimodal applications. Developers can incorporate speech functionality into Web applications quickly and easily, and can learn the concepts necessary to build a speech application with the familiar Microsoft Visual Studio® .NET 2003 development environment. Users can access these applications across a variety of devices, from the desktop to the telephone, using speech as a possible mode of interaction.

Additional information about Microsoft Speech Server and the Speech Application SDK is available at www.microsoft.com/speech/. Pricing and availability details for Microsoft Speech Server will be announced at a later date. Enterprise companies interested in taking advantage of the Microsoft Speech Server beta program can find more information at www.microsoft.com/speech/beta/.