Voice Recognition: Technologies, Markets, and Opportunities

Report Highlights

• Globally, there will be in excess of 300 million users of voice-enabled applications by 2007 while the voice recognition technologies market rises at an average annual growth rate (AAGR) of 15% between 2002 and 2007.
• Enhanced devices that interface the technologies that sense, process, translate and interpret audio input with applications serving the end-markets will grow at an AAGR of 17%.
• Automatic speech recognition and text-to-speech software work in tandem to voice-enable many applications. Software sales will increase at an AAGR of 15%.
• The enterprise market, responsible in 2002 for more than 75% of voice-recognition applications, will continue to dominate end use by 2007.
• During the next five years, the voice portal sector will gain momentum, nearly doubling its 2002 market share.

INTRODUCTION

Voice recognition technologies are fast realizing their long-awaited potential. Because of advances in a critical triad of cornerstone technologies, automatic speech recognition (ASR), text-to-speech (TTS) and speaker verification (SV) applications are expanding dramatically. Virtually every enterprise sector is looking to speechenabled features to help implement its models. Brokerages, airlines and banks will use them to enhance their telephone-based customer contacts and alleviate security concerns. Personal digital assistant (PDA) manufacturers hope to add speech-enabled Internet browsing. Help desk providers want to add these features to their help lines to educate users and alleviate call queues.

Realizing the promise of voice recognition technologies will require changes in customer preferences as well as the economic climate. Traditional habits persist. Many consumers still prefer to talk to a live operator. They also may remember past unsuccessful experiences with speech recognition applications. Additionally, choosing voice recognition solutions represents a significant IT investment. In the aftermath of the worldwide economic downturn of 2001, many companies find it hard to justify investing in technologies that are more strategic than obligatory to their survival.

On the other hand, properly integrated voice recognition applications and advances in these technologies could help companies realize cost savings of as much as 80%. Moreover, the continued adoption of wireless devices and the increasing demand for unlimited access to information will prompt enterprising companies to choose voice recognition solutions for competitive advantages even when the short-term economic landscape remains murky.

This BCC report emphasizes the market potential of voice recognition technologies as well as the current and future forces shaping the voice-enabled market. It will be of great importance, therefore, to chief executive officers, directors of marketing and development, strategic planners and research VPs at manufacturers of both hardware and software, as well as end users.

SCOPE OF STUDY

This analysis provides coverage of:

• The main voice recognition categories
• Top supplier market share
• New technologies and the unique challenges faced by each category
• Markets segmented by voice recognition categories as well as end-use markets with five year forecasts
• Research and development funding
• The organizational and economic makeup of the voice recognition industry
• Legislative, political and environmental issues
• Changing dynamics of the international market.

METHODOLOGY AND INFORMATION SOURCES

The material presented is this report is based on information gathered from personal contacts with participants within the voice recognition industry, and on an analysis of the technologies, issues, and concerns gathered from technical papers and industry conferences. Our final analysis and projections combine the consensus of primary contacts and our assumptions regarding the impact of both historical and emerging trends.

Additional data was obtained from analysis of secondary sources. These include trade publications, trade associations, company literature, and on-line databases. This research was done to supplement our understanding of applications, markets, and trends in the voice recognition industry. All dollar estimates in this report are based on 2002 constant dollars.