[Freeswitch-users] Robust Affordable Speech Recognition

[Kashif Kahn]

Hi Jan,

Our answers to your questions are as 
follows. Please note that there is a wide variety of information 
available on our website under "Speech Engine" pull-down menu. You 
should also review Freeswitch section under "Soft-PBX" for free connector and engine pricing information. Our website is: http://www.vestec.ca/

1) What languages 
do you
support

We currently support American English and 
working on major European and Asian language acoustic models as well.

2) What are your 
recognition
stats per language?

Three points are worthy of note here: 

(a) we have rigorously benchmarked our recognition 
accuracy against leading commercial engines in the market and can safely say that we deliver among the highest recognition accuracy in the 
industry; 

(b) generally speaking, a native speaker can expect a 
recognition accuracy - without "tuning" - in the 90% range while a 
non-native speaker can expect a recognition accuracy - again, without 
"tuning" - in the 80% range. Grammar "tuning" - for example, via 
addition of custom pronunciations for difficult to recognize words - 
generally improves recognition accuracy by an additional 5-10%; 

(c) in comparative testing against some of the leading commercial speech 
engines, we scored an accuracy improvement of over 3%. See: http://www.vestec.ca/recog_acc

3) What are the benefits 
of
using this compared to Sphinx/Pocketsphinx?

There 
are two fundamental advantages of using Vestec over Sphinx: 

(a) 
Vestec speech engine comes with a robust acoustic model while for Sphinx you need to develop your own acoustic model. (Acoustic model is the 
"ear drum" if you will that does the recognition). Now, development of a high quality acoustic model is no mean feat, even if you have the 
necessary tools. For starters you need high quality training data that 
can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Next, you need highly specialized knowledge in order to properly manipulate the various parameters of 
training tools for optimal recognition quality. Finally, you need to be 
fully prepared to undertake a trial-and-error process - sometimes 
spanning 6-8 months - to achieve the desired recognition accuracy 
results, with the right data and training tools. 

(b) Unlike 
Sphinx, Vestec speech engine supports industry standard grammar writing format. This allows you to port your existing standard 
grammars to the engine as well as make sure that your work is reusable. 
Similarly, we provide a variety of useful grammar writing tools and 
functions that are not available with Sphinx to make the developer's job a lot easier.

4) How does the (1)
installation of a license happen, (2) license check happen.

You need to put the license files that you purchase from Vestec webstore
under a specific directory. The engine then takes care of the rest. The 
license check is host based. In other words, every license is
bounded to one physical/virtual machine. You cannot buy one port license and
expect to run the speech engine on several machines.

 
5) Does the licensing server
support redundancy schemes? 
We used to have a 
redundancy scheme but recently disabled it in preparation for the 
release of a new architecture. The redundancy scheme will be integrated 
in the new architecture that will support MRCP. Please note that 
software maintenance - covering patches and major upgrades - is free for the first 12 months since date of license purchase. So, you will be 
able to transition to the new architecture over next several months if 
you were to purchase a license now.

Hope this helps.

Best 
regards,
-Kashif




________________________________
From: Jan Berger <jan.berger at video24.no>
To: freeswitch-users at lists.freeswitch.org
Sent: Thu, May 13, 2010 11:36:54 AM
Subject: Re: [Freeswitch-users] Robust Affordable Speech Recognition

 
Hi,
 
Hope you don’t mind
a few nosy questions.
 
What languages do you
support (1) national characters, (2) pre-build databases.
 
What are your recognition
stats per language?
 
What are the benefits of
using this compared to Sphinx/Pocketsphinx?
 
How does the (1)
installation of a license happen, (2) license check happen.
 
Does the licensing server
support redundancy schemes? 
 
Jan
 

________________________________
 
From:freeswitch-users-bounces at lists.freeswitch.org
[mailto:freeswitch-users-bounces at lists.freeswitch.org] On Behalf Of Kashif Kahn
Sent: 13. mai 2010 16:04
To: freeswitch-users at lists.freeswitch.org
Subject: [Freeswitch-users] Robust
Affordable Speech Recognition
 
Dear All,

All those who have wanted a speech recognition solution for Freeswitch but
found the software cost too expensive or the recognition accuracy
unsatisfactory, please consider Vestec Speech Engine for Freeswitch at: http://www.vestec.ca/products A starter kit - which is a specially priced one port (ie. one channel) license
for the standard engine - is available for only $25. Additional ports
(channels) licenses can be purchased for $99/port. The engine comes with a
free-of-charge Freeswitch connector, thereby allowing direct interaction via
Dialplan.

Best regards,
-Kashif
 
Kashif Kahn
VP, Business Development
Vestec, Inc.
Waterloo, ON Canada
phone: (519) 885-7615
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