Telecom Web Technologies
- VoiGen: It is a voice driven generator of voice applications that plays the same role for VoiceSites that a website creator plays for websites.
VoiGen simplifies the process of creation of voice based applications (i.e. VoiceSites) by enabling it through a voice-driven interaction over a phone call. A phone subscriber could call in to VoiGen and compose an application by navigating through the custom options offered to her. This application is then deployed in the form of a VoiceSite. VoiGen makes use of existing
components (reusable dialogs as well as IT components such as databases, web services and others) to compose custom applications. By virtue of having a voice-driven interface, the services get exposed to all telephony devices including very low end ones.
VoiceSites created by VoiGen can get deployed in VoiHost – a VoiceSite hosting engine. VoiHost can reside in telecom provider’s infrastructure and can be shared among its many subscribers. Hosting VoiceSites in the network brings several benefits.First and foremost, it enables the subscribers to adopt a pay-per-use model rather than investing in a huge cost of owning and maintaining own setup for their VoiceSites. Second, it provides access to other applications available in the service provider's infrastructure or their partners'. This enables VoiceSite owners to leverage existing applications and services and derliver those to traditional telephone subscribers. For the VoiceSite owner, the VoiceSite virtually resides on his phone.
- Hyperspeech Transfer Protocol (HSTP):Telephony voice applications so far have been successful in providing access to data and services in the context of a single business. Services requiring integration across businesses such as linking payment gateways with a tele-shop, require mechanisms to interconnect the two applications.
In the Internet world, a large part of the success of the World Wide Web is due to the interconnection across different websites that is provided through the hypertext/hypermedia links. As an example, it is possible to seamlessly purchase items at a website and then make payment at the bank’s website. Such cross-enterprise connection of applications in a standardized manner provides the Internet users with a rich set of applications. Such an interconnection is missing between telephony voice applications.
Hyperspeech Transfer Protocol (HSTP) is a protocol, analogous to HTTP, that provides a mechanism to connect telephony voice applications with each other. It enables voice-driven transactions that can span multiple cross-enterprise voice applications thus providing a seamless browsing experience to the telephony user.
HSTP impacts several application categories as well as enables new applications. The implication of HSTP is deeper for developing regions where there is a huge market of businesses (small-medium and micro-businesses), with a need for telephony voice applications. Apart from enabling secure cross-enterprise transactions, HSTP also allows navigation across voice applications, potentially hosted in different enterprises. It enables the concept of links between voice applications and provides the user with the ability to browse forward and backward across voice applications.
- World Wide Telecom Web Browser:
As the number of VoiceSites grow, there will be a need for a browser to surf the Telecom Web. These VoiceSites are typically accessed through a telephone over an audio channel. Telecom Web Browser enables browsing the Web of voice applications through an ordinary phone while providing similar experience as is available on the World Wide Web. Since the Telecom Web can be accessed through a dumb phone instrument, the WWTW browser actually resides in the network rather than on the end-user device. The browser can be accessed by making a phone call to a specific number, and it provides standard browsing features such as back, forward, bookmarking, and history.
