The widespread use of smart gadgets and devices among users has increasingly driven the adoption of speech recognition technology. According to Globe Newswire, the speech and voice recognition market is predicted to grow and reach USD 26.8 billion by 2025, with a CAGR of 17.2% from 2019 to 2025. Speech recognition technologies are being recognized as an effective and convenient tool to manage smart devices. Not only that, it is also a very useful feature in the emerging technology Communication Platform as a Services (CPaaS). 

What Speech Recognition is and why it’s important for your business

Speech recognition is a technology that allows a computer or program to transform words spoken aloud into readable text. It can capture users’ speech in real-time, transcribe it, and convert it into a written text. This technology combines various research from different fields, including computer science, engineering, and linguistics. The development of this technology is still ongoing, as many of speech recognition softwares currently have limited vocabulary and only work properly if the words are spoken very clearly. However, as the technology becomes more and more sophisticated, speech recognition technology is now able to understand more natural speech with different languages and accents, making the outcome more accurate and therefore increase business efficiency and productivity in your organization.

How does Speech Recognition work?

The first step to run a Speech Recognition program is to implement a microphone that can translate the vibration from the voice of the users into an electrical signal, then convert it into a digital signal. This digital signal will then be analyzed by the speech recognition program and classified into words or sentences that are recognized by the program. Speech recognition programs use the relationship between the linguistic units of speech and the audio signal, with the aim of matching the sound with the word sequences programmed in the system to determine similar-sounding words. In more sophisticated programs, Speech Recognition also includes hidden Markov models to identify patterns of the speech and therefore increase accuracy. Not only that, many Speech Recognition programs also include methods such as natural language processing (NLP) to make the process more efficient by creating a probability distribution for a sequence. To improve accuracy in terms of grammar, structure, syntax, and composition, many advanced Speech Recognition programs also implemented AI and machine learning.

Applying Speech Recognition to support your business

There are three most common applications for Speech Recognition, dictation system, navigational or transactional system, and multimedia indexing system. Dictation systems enable Speech Recognition technology to transcribe the words spoken by a user to be transcribed directly into written text. It can be used for texting, writing letters, having business correspondence, or even developing reports. Navigational or transactional system is commonly used to initiate transactions such as purchasing items, reserving services, or checking transaction status. Last but not least, Speech Recognition technology can be utilized in multimedia indexing systems to search for information from audio or video using text keywords.

With more and more people using smart devices, Speech Recognition technology is now on the rise. Understanding what is Speech Recognition, how it works, and why it is important for your business will help companies make wise decisions in including this technology in their CPaaS Indonesia investment. Since most people speak faster than they write, this technology will bring effectiveness and convenience for users and therefore bring more meaningful interaction with your customers.