Hear about Google’s vision for speech technology. Following months of development and speculation, Google recently released its first speech application, GOOG411. Mike Cohen will describe Google’s experience with GOOG411, discuss Google’s general philosophy and approach to speech services, and review some of the lessons learned thus far. 

The market for speech technology topped the $1 billion mark in 2006, up 100% from 2 years ago. As adoption of speech systems increases in all parts of our lives, from our computers to our cars to customer relationships, it is clear that speech technology is at the tipping point. Hear from Malcolm Gladwell, who coined this phrase, about how he sees ideas, behaviors, and patterns moving through a population in much the same way as an epidemic. He posits that ideas can become contagious and reach a tipping point, just as a virus reaches critical mass. Learn what it takes to start a social epidemic and create change and how to push speech technology, and your businesses, toward the tipping point.

What are they doing? What is on their minds? How did they come to important decisions about their speech technology projects? Do their systems work as promised? Where are the headaches and pitfalls? Listen to this high-powered customer panel and learn what customers of speech technology systems are thinking and how they are making their decisions. Find out what is important to them—and how they are coping with the challenges of procurement, deployment, and implementation of speech systems. If you are a customer or thinking about implementing a speech technology system, you’ll gain valuable insights and learn best practices. If you are a speech vendor, this keynote panel takes you behind the scenes into what customers are really thinking and doing—and wanting.

Continue conversations with these customers and learn more about their speech technology implementations in a breakout session following this keynote, from 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. in the Broadway Ballroom.