In a deal reminiscent of its recent cross-licensing a greement with eBay, Microsoft Corp.
Microsoft has licensed Boston-based SpeechWorks’ Speechify text-to-speech (TTS)
engine, a technology that makes it possible for text-based information such
as e-mail, news and other dynamic content to be read to callers
automatically.
Financial terms were not disclosed. SpeechWorks stock soared on the news and
was up about 25 percent to the $6.25 range in mid-morning trading.
As part of the deal, SpeechWorks said its Speechify text-to-speech engine
would support the latest version of the Microsoft speech application
programming interface (SAPI 5.0), in order to help SAPI developers support
telephony speech applications and services.
Due to its highly natural sound quality, SpeechWorks says, its Speechify
engine is able to improve speech-activated services that allow consumers to
obtain information and complete transactions over any telephone.
SpeechWorks says its goal is to have Web content as accessible from mobile
devices as it is from computer-based browsers.
The deal “… is consistent with Microsoft’s vision for empowering people any
time, any place and on any device,” said Kai-Fu Lee, vice president of the
.NET Services Group at Microsoft. “The Speechify text-to-speech engine has
established itself as a leading technology for converting text to speech for
telephony service users.”
The agreement is in line with Microsoft’s .NET strategy of dishing-up its software as a Web-based service.
SpeechWorks speech recognition solutions allows customers to direct their calls,
obtain information and complete transactions automatically, by phone.