Applications of voice processing to telecommunications

The ways in which people communicate are changing rapidly. The options are many and diverse, ranging from voice calls over wireless networks, to video calls over the conventional wired network, ISDN video, FAX, e-mail, voice mail, beeper services, data services, audio teleconferencing, video teleconferencing, and so-called scribble phone service (transmission of arbitrary handwritten input). This revolution in communications is being fueled by several sources, including the availability of low-cost, low-power, computation in both DSP and RISC chips, larger and cheaper memory chips, improved algorithms for communications (e.g., modems, signaling) and signal processing, and finally the creation of world-wide standards for transmission, signal compression, and communication protocols. The broad goal of the communications revolution is to provide seamless and high-quality communications between people (or groups of people), anywhere, anytime, and at a reasonable price. Although there are many technologies that form the bases for the communications environment of the twenty-first century, one of the key technologies for making the vision a reality is voice processing. In this paper we attempt to show, by example, how voice processing has been applied to specific problems in telecommunications, and how it will grow to become an even more essential component of the communications systems of the twenty-first century