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Technical Information

From the technical point of view, OptimTalk Technology is a set of libraries written in portable C++ that
  1. interpret VoiceXML 2.0/2.1, CCXML, SRGS, SISR and SSML markup languages,
  2. control ASR and TTS engines, typically using the MRCPv2 protocol,
  3. communicate with telephony infrastructure using a telephony protocol, typically SIP, or a hardware telephony board,
  4. control the media layer, such as media recording and playback, media streaming and mixing, etc., typically implemented by a media server (audio as well as video supported),
  5. provide an implementation of the media layer, and
  6. provide all required infrastructure for successful run of the previously mentioned libraries.

The following table presents the functionality in more detail.

Functionality Description
Interpretation of VoiceXML 2.0 and VoiceXML 2.1

The VoiceXML 2.0/2.1 interpreter can be easily embedded into an application. The interpreter contains all the components it needs for its successful run. However, if some of the components do not fulfil customer's needs they can be easily replaced with a new implementation. If the MRCPv2 protocol is not appropriate for some reason, the interpreter can be integrated with any TTS and ASR engine using their proprietary API. It can be also integrated with the media processing layer by providing custom implementations of the media player, media recorder, media source and media sink components. If the OptimTalk CCXML Interpreter is not appropriate for some reason, it can be integrated with another telephony platform.
Analysis of grammars according to the Speech Recognition Grammar Specification (SRGS)

The grammar analyzer

  • can be embedded into an application and used for parsing utterances in text form, or
  • can be integrated with third party ASR systems since all information about the grammar rules are accessible through a set of interfaces. (The capability is demonstrated on the integration of SRGS with Microsoft Speech API 5.1 that does not support SRGS natively.)
Evaluating semantics in accordance with the Semantic Interpretation for Speech Recognition Specification (SISR)

The semantic interpreter

  • cooperates with the SRGS implementation, or
  • can also work as an independent entity being embedded into custom applications.
Natural language generation for TTS systems – both with and without Speech Synthesis Markup Language (SSML) support

The OptimTalk VoiceXML Interpreter can process SSML prompts in the following ways:

  • It can generate SSML documents (SSML itself has to be interpreted by the TTS system).
  • It can significantly facilitate mapping of the SSML-based prompts to other markup languages or APIs for TTS systems that do not support SSML.
Interpretation of Call Control Markup Language (CCXML)

The CCXML interpreter can be easily embedded into an application. It can

  • provide telephony call control support for the VoiceXML interpreter,
  • provide telephony call control support for a proprietary dialog control language,
  • be used separately without VoiceXML for building flexible telephony applications.

If the available telephony layer integration (e.g. SIP protocol or Dialogic cards) is not appropriate for communication with the telephony infrastructure for some reason, the interpreter can be integrated with any telephony protocol or telephony board using their proprietary API.
Reusable general-purpose components

All OptimTalk Technology parts use a set of reusable components for performing various common operations. The reusable components help to promote consistency, cohesion and compactness of the system. They include:

  • an ECMAScript engine and tools for work with ECMAScript scopes, scripts and values,
  • streams for reading data from memory, from files and from web servers using the http(s) protocol,
  • component for synchronous and asynchronous resource fetching,
  • component for storing of and working with structured values of arbitrary complexity,
  • XML parser and tools for XML manipulation,
  • URI parser and tools for URI manipulation,
  • loggers,
  • and more
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