Audio processing forecast as a major growth area

Press, 28 June 1983, Page 33

Audio processing forecast as a major growth area

Speech is the most natural form of communication. Consider the time, for example, a manager spends each day consulting with colleagues, meeting with staff and, more than all the rest, talking on the telephone. Although no manager would deny the benefits of office automation, speech remains a preferred way to communicate because it is direct, accurate and personal. Wang belieeves audio processing is the next logical step for achieving an integrated office information environment and are committed to this technology for that very reason. The key that has unlocked audio processing is the changeover from analogue to digital conversation, or the conversion of voice sound waves to digital signals that the computer can handle. Its two main in-, gredients are the human voice and a familiar tool — the telephone.

The benefits of harnessing speech to work in an integrated information system are many. First, audio processing offers the immediate capture and communication of thoughts. One might say the telephone performs this same task. Studies, however, show that 70 per cent of the time a business call does not reach the intended party on the first attempt. The caller must then keep ringing back, leave a message, or write the message out, have it typed, and wait for delivery. With any of these methods, the idea risks being lost and time is taken away from more productive pursuits. Audio processing provides a fast, eficient cure to the missed phone call syndrome. The manager accesses his audio processing system via the telephone, dictates the voice message, reviews and changes it if he likes, and sends it directly to the intended party, regardless of an engaged line, an unat-

tended phone or even time zone differences. The speed and efficiency of audio processing is its major benefit because of its positive impact on office productivity.Think of the countless memos and notes a manager writes each week. Then consider the fact that speech is five times faster than writing. Voice messages not only break through communication barriers, but also take less time to create — an important point when an executive’s time and salary are involved. In a Wang-equipped office, the manager’s telephone is connected to an “Audio Workstation.” The interface is a familiar, friendly tool, the telphone. The workstation screen represents each second of dictation by a special symbol, enabling the manager to “see” his or her message as it is passed to the computer and digitised. It is in dictation that

Wang envisages a universal role for the Audio Workstation. Since speech is faster than writing, and transcribing from recorded speech is faster than transcribing from shorthand, audio processing makes the whole routine more efficient. The equipment will also permit users to annotate electronic mail documents with voice notes, either as clarifiers sent with the document or comments made after reviewing the document. Voice notes eliminate the unnecessary steps of having to print the document out, make the annotations, and reroute it back to the author. Audio processing is a relatively new field; only a handful of manufacturers have developed products offering this technology. It is, however, a field which forecasters expect to experience tremendous growth in the next five years.