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‘Push’ technology is the name given to a broad spectrum of products that automate the delivery of information to the user. Many Web sites are currently based upon ‘pull’ models, whereby users seek out the information in which they are interested. In contrast, push technologies create automated communications relationships whereby products can be aimed at users who have expressed an interest and given permission to be sent targeted material.

V-Commerce (short for ‘voice‘) allows users to conduct self-service transactions alternately using the web and the telephone. This initiative is being led by the V-Commerce Alliance, which consists of a number of Internet and telecom companies. For example, a consumer would be able to make an airline reservation over the Web, and then later call a specific number to obtain departure gate or frequent-flyer information — or, before ordering a new computer online, speak to a customer service representative to check which model would be most suitable for their requirements.

Speech recognition is becoming increasingly common in US call centres, particularly in the banking and airline industries. It is also being adapted as a ‘hands-free’ input device for cars in Europe and Japan, as the motor industry recognizes that voice is the safest way for drivers to interact with in-car technologies (The Economist, 2001b). Nissan already sells a premium model that uses voice instruction to control audio, temperature, navigation and lighting. The new technologies promise to deliver access to information and services on a permanent basis anywhere that there is a telephone connection. It is only in the past year or so that the necessary computing power has become small and cheap enough to fit into mobile devices in a cost-effective way. In addition, the (admittedly slow) spread of broadband access to the Internet in public places is fuelling the demand for instant information. What is also generating interest is the way in which speech recognition is improving the quality of information services by eliminating the need for telephone queuing and badly designed menu-driven voicemail systems. The Economist report goes on to note the advantages that have accrued to Charles Schwab, a US discount stockbroker that was one of the first firms in the world to introduce a speech-based system, in 1996:

That year, the number of new accounts with the company increased by 41 per cent, and its call centres took 97 million calls. The new system was installed by leading speech-recognition supplier, Nuance of Menlo Park, California. AtSchwab, the automated attendant can understand 15,000 names of individual equities and funds; takes up to 100,000 calls a day; and is 93 per cent accurate in identifying queries the first time they are made. Customers get immediate access to quotes and trading, even during busy periods. Costs have been cut from $4-5 per call to $1.

(2001b: 96)

Apart from call centres, other opportunities for telephone-based services using speech recognition include:

• self-service banking;
• catalogue ordering;
• weather and stock market reports;
• email collection;
• virtual personal assistants (VPAs).

In order for the telephone and the Internet to be merged effectively, common industry standards need to be achieved so that Web pages can handle voice. In October 2001 the World Wide Web Consortium (www.w3.org ) — a voluntary organization that sets international standards — released a draft version of VoiceXML for this purpose. At the same time, however, a new platform was created by such key players as Microsoft, Intel and Philips to develop a rival standard called SALT (Speech Application Language Tags). It remains to be seen which of these will prevail.

Virgin plans a new service (www.virginunlimited.com) that aims to sell everything from cars and toasters to holidays at big discounts. It will offer postcode-specific advice on financial services and household utilities at the lowest prices. In order to provide this service, the company has established partnerships with a number of consumer durable wholesalers and also providers of specialist niche products. Consumers will be able to ask product providers to compete for business by stating their requirements. The company that offers the best price and terms will win the order.

Consumers are often frustrated at having to deal with different service providers for each channel, which necessitates separate billing arrangements, passwords and email addresses. Consequently, they will migrate to services that allow them to personalize a single service for use on multiple devices. Looking ahead, Java TV (still at a very early stage of development) will bring together television and computing technologies to enable broadcasters to deliver value-added services to a range of Java-enabled devices. This means that the Internet will be rendered ‘device independent’ and customers will be able to switch their viewing from television to PC or mobile — anywhere and at any time — as their circumstances dictate.

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