C.a.T.S has successfully introduced a UNIX based voice server with a mobile operator in Mid- Africa making use of VoiceXML and current web infrastructure.
"Even though mobile operators are flourishing in Africa, people still do not have easy and affordable access to data. We have decided to bridge the gap, but with a difference; giving people access not to data, but to information," Johan Grobler, Managing Director of C.a.T.S eludes.
"We saw this as an opportunity to create a voice portal for people of all walks of life to extract information according to their preferences," Johan Grobler continues. The system is based on an IVR system currently accommodating 360 telephone connections and taking more than 60 000 calls per day. The voice portal was written VoiceXML and makes use of Java based voice browsers for each call.
The decision was made to go the route of VoiceXML by the C.a.T.S Technical Team due to the fact that VXML is easy to manage remotely and run on test systems, being an open standard. Also, use could be made of current web-based applications developed by the client, with the minimal integration development required.
Johan Grobler also added that the most cost effective avenue was followed in this case. VXML makes it possible to run a fully fledged system in C.a.T.S.`s Pretoria development environment integrating to the back-end system in Mid-Africa via the internet.
Use could also be made of the Text-To-Speech (TTS) capabilities provided with the IBM system and specifically the French and US English TTS engines. This made the system dynamic and able to render to speech any information thrown at it by the back-end system. Also from a support perspective the system can easily be changed and upgraded without voice recordings having to accompany the new VXML file.
Johan Grobler added that voice recognition could also make the system more intuitive; however, at this stage telephone keypad (DTMF) input suffices.
Johan also added that the current problem with literacy in Mid-Africa makes voice the technology of choice for delivering information. Also VXML coupled with the features of the IBM Voice Server, the platform is of Telco grade and very stable.
"We did not approach this as an opportunity to merely roll out new technology, but to apply our experience with voice and local knowledge combined with this exiting technology into a very functional and user-focused application," Johan Grobler concludes.
C.a.T.S., as an IBM business partner, focuses on IBM`s WebSphere Voice Response IVR solutions, integrated with WebSphere Voice Server and WebSphere Application Server and WebSphere Portal Server. It is available on PC and RS6000 (pSeries) platforms, as well as operating systems like AIX, OS/2 and Microsoft Windows. Johan Grobler, a professional electronics engineer, founded C.a.T.S. in 1996 after spending two years at IBM in the Network Solutions team working on Voice Applications.
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