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Aculab’s MRCP client library is a common application programming interface (API). It provides developers with an alternative method of controlling access to speech resources, such as automatic speech recognition (ASR) and text-to-speech (TTS), from speech vendors that have pledged support to the MRCP standard. Aculab's MRCP client is for use with the entire Prosody range, including Prosody X PCI, Prosody X cPCI, Prosody X PCIe, Prosody PCI, Prosody cPCI, and Prosody S.
| Features and benefits: |
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Tested for interoperability with products from major speech vendors |
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For use with the entire Prosody product range |
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Major operating systems supported1 |
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Cost free licence |
| Target applications: |
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Adding speech to existing applications |
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Automated directory assistance |
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Contact and call centres |
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Directory services |
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Premium services |
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ASR and TTS-based IVR servers |
Standards-based
The demand for standardisation within the speech industry has led to the development of MRCP, which is a protocol that has been co-ordinated by the Internet Engineering Taskforce (IETF). It has been designed with the specific goal of helping to simplify the tasks for developers when looking to build IVR or messaging services using ASR, TTS or SVI components from different vendors. Aculab's MRCP client library can implement both version 1 (IETF MRCP
version 1 draft 7) and version 2 (IETF MRCP version 2, draft 10) of
MRCP.
Freedom of choice
All of the major players within the speech industry have shown commitment to the MRCP standard. This allows developers greater flexibility when selecting a speech provider, as they have a choice of vendor for each component of their solution. This choice can even extend to multiple ASR or TTS vendors for the same application, in order to achieve the required language coverage, for example.
The availability of an MRCP client under a cost free licence confirms Aculab’s commitment to offering unmatched value and to continually extend the features available to applications using Prosody. By supporting MRCP, Aculab has compatibility with a standard supported by the major speech vendors - Loquendo, Lumenvox, Nuance, Telisma and Verbio.
The MRCP client is yet another improvement to the Prosody family, allowing developers the advantage of creating MRCP solutions based on a reliable and successful platform.
Real benefits
MRCP brings the benefits expected from a standards-based implementation, in that there is no longer the need to interface to different proprietary audio providers or speech interfaces. This means significantly reduced costs for the integration of speech technologies from any mix of vendors, and faster time to market for both new and updated solutions.
Furthermore, the advantages for the developer include a lower total cost of ownership, which can be shared with the customer or applied to protect margins in a competitive arena. The traditional costs and time associated with updating a solution are removed when utilising MRCP, and systems can be more modular in design utilising ASR and TTS resources from different vendors with minimal interoperability issues.
Configuration example
Note: 1. - Linux and Windows support readily available; please contact your Account Manager regarding support for SPARC Solaris platforms.
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