| Review lauds "stunning" speech recognition on Microsoft VoIP platform |
Jan. 09, 2008
 Microsoft's Response Point combines a "basic set of PBX features" with a "stunning use of speech recognition technology that is brain dead simple to learn." That's the conclusion of eWEEK's Andrew Garcia, who just reviewed the recently introduced VoIP system.
(Click here for larger image of Quanta's Syspine desktop phone)
As Garcia explains, Response Point employs Windows XP Embedded, but isn't delivered as software for customers to install on a server. Instead, it's a platform designed for hardware vendors to install and sell on their own equipment, so each iteration of Response Point will be a little different.
 | Quanta Syspine base unit
(Click image to enlarge) |
The version tested by eWEEK.com was Quanta's Syspine Digital Operator Phone System A-50. The base unit is shown at right, while the desktop phone is shown above. The system costs approximately $2,500 with built-in analog telephone adapter (ATA), secure gateway, and four phones. Additional phones cost $160 each.
The fanless, solid-state A-50 base unit supports up to eight analog trunks and has two four-port FXO (foreign exchange office) banks, according to Garcia. It also offers a gigabit Ethernet connection, three USB ports (for as-yet undefined future expansion) and an audio line-out port. The appliance also features a detachable LCD faceplate that shows some status and network information.
First announced in March, Response Point implements a voice-activated user interface that, for example, allows users to reach anyone in their company directory or Outlook contact list by saying the name. An "Automated Receptionist" answers incoming calls and routes them according to the caller's voice instructions, the company adds.
Explains Garcia, each phone has a blue Response Point button which, when pressed, allows the user to place, park, transfer, or conference calls by telling the system what to do verbally. Testing showed that the system was capable of providing incoming callers with information on office hours, whether they asked "What are your hours?" or "What time are you open?" or numerous other variations of that question.
But, while lauding the system's speech recognition features, Garcia said Response Point's voice quality and connectivity fall just a little short. That's because it uses the G.711 codec, which provides "decent" but not high-definition sound quality, yet uses enough bandwidth that it's not routable over slower WAN connections.
To read Garcia's complete review of Quanta's Response Point system, visit eWEEK, here.
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