Introduction to SALT (Part 4): Microsoft .NET Speech SDK

ASP.NET-based Speech Controls

The ASP.NET-based Speech Controls allow developers using ASP.NET and Microsoft Visual Studio.NET to create multimodal/telephony applications and/or add speech interactivity to existing web applications. The screenshot below (click to enlarge) shows these tools being used to develop a speech-based interactive pizza ordering application.

These controls add to the existing .NET class libraries and provide developers with the ability to add speech-based interaction to their existing applications or to build new applications. The table below shows a quick reference to the functionality provided by these controls.

Control	Function
Speech Controls
QA	Collects & process speech/DTMF input from the user
Command	Collects inputs such as help, repeat, cancel which is not processed by QA Control
Custom Validator	Validates input data through a script
Compare Validator	Validates input data by comparing with another control/value
Semantic Map	Contains a set of values which provide input controls semantic state and its bindings
Style Sheet	Contains a set of common speech controls properties
Call Control Controls
Smex Message	Sends a CSTA (Computer-Supported Telecommunications Applications) Message
Transfer Call	Transfers the current call
Disconnect Call	Disconnects a call
Make Call	Initiates a telephone call
Answer Call	Answers a Call
Call Info	Contains basic information about the current call
Application Controls
Alpha Digits	Collects a string of numbers and lettrs
Currency	Collects an amount in US dollars
Date	Collects a date
Natural Number	Collects and validates a natural number
Navigator	Allows navigation of a list of table based elements
Phone	Collets a US telephone number
Single Item Chooser	Allows a user to select a single item from a list by dynamically creating a grammar
SSN	Collets a US Social Security Number
Yes No	Collects a Yes/No answer
Zipcode	Collects a US Zip Code

Speech Tools

The Speech Tools include grammar builder, prompt builder (shown below) and speech debugger, which aids in constructing and testing different parts of a speech application.

The table below provides a quick reference for the tools provided by .NET Speech SDK.

Grammar Editor	Graphical Tool for visual development and testing of speech grammars Supports XML-based grammar files based on W3C Speech Recognition Grammar Specification 1.0.
Prompt Editor	Set of editing tools that enable speech applications to develop a database of prompts used by the application. Provides a graphical wave editor to customize .wav files
Speech Debugging Console	Provides speech information (including speech data, event and errors) Activated when ASP.NET based speech applications is run in debug mode
Speech Control Editor	Set of extensions to the Visual Studio WebForms designer for assembling a speech application.

To be Continued

We will continue our exploration of SALT in the next article by actually walking step-by-step through what is involved in developing a telephony/multimodal application using SALT and Microsoft .NET Speech SDK.

Resources

• Microsoft .NET Speech SDK Beta (Order/Download)

About Hitesh Seth

A freelance author and known speaker, Hitesh is a columnist on VoiceXMLtechnology in XML Journal and regularly writes for other technology publications on emerging technology topics such as J2EE, Microsoft .NET, XML,Wireless Computing, Speech Applications, Web Services & Enterprise/B2BIntegration. Hitesh received his Bachelors Degree from the Indian Instituteof Technology Kanpur (IITK), India. Feel free to email any comments or suggestionsabout the articles featured in this column at hks@hiteshseth.com.

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This article was originally published on December 21, 2002