If too many choices are thrown at them, consumers might have difficulty navigating the service. Another barrier could be shaky voice recognition quality. When BeVocal launched its consumer voice portal service in mid-June, it did so with the notion that it would fully test its voice recognition technology and make sure consumers would respond to a voice portal service. Although Qwest Wireless is the company's first carrier partner, Joshi anticipates more on the immediate horizon. It will be like voice mail.
Carriers see a future of convergence between voice and wireless data.
Mobile commerce is where voice portals hope to go, especially if they already have relationships with carriers or ISPs, Joshi said. We knew it was important to build applications consumers would use. Location-sensitive applications such as purchasing airline tickets or finding taxis are expected to win over customers, Hyers said. BeVocal has added the location element to its portal applications and technology, which will enable carriers such as Qwest Wireless to capitalize on customer demand for real-time services. The company's technology enables consumers to use their voices to find information about a particular city, get nationwide driving directions and use a business finder, which is similar to a voice-activated search engine.