August 2005

Dear Readers,

In this month’s issue of the VoiceXML Review, Tiemo Winterkamp (VoiceObjects) introduces us to the notion of a VAMS: voice application management system. As voice applications become more popular and support increasing complexity, the enterprises that deploy them must adopt an approach that enables effective manageability. A VAMS is a middleware platform architecture that addresses this need. In his article, entitled “Turning Too Much into Just Enough: A Professional Approach to VoiceXML Application Management”, Winterkamp develops the concepts behind VAMS and identifies the characteristics of VAMS that are essentially for IT best practices in this area.

VoiceXML standards activities continue to flourish within the W3C. This summer has seen the publication of the VoiceXML 2.1 Candidate Recommendation, another CCXML Last Call Working Draft, and more recently the initial State Chart XML (SCXML): State Machine Notation for Control Abstraction 1.0 specification. SCXML is a state machine language that the W3C Voice Browser Working Group is developing in conjunction with VoiceXML 3.0. In his article, entitled “An Introduction to SCXML”, Jim Barnett (Aspect Communication), one of the SCXML specification editors has provided us with an excellent overview of this newest member of the VoiceXML family of specifications.

Our Speak and Listen columnist Matt Oshry (Tellme) provides in depth insight into implementing “pick lists” in VoiceXML. That is, how can I implement a scheme where the user can say, “Tell me more” while listening to a list of items?

In our First Words column, Rob Marchand (VoiceGenie) demonstrates how do use perhaps the most powerful new feature in VoiceXML 2.1, the element. In this column, Rob demonstrates how the element can be used to fetch XML content, without requiring a dialog transition.

We are always interested in hearing your thoughts on content we publish in the VoiceXML Review, as well as content you would like to see us publish in the future. Please feel free to send me your comments and suggestions at: .

Sincerely,

Jonathan Engelsma
Editor-in-Chief
VoiceXML Review

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