VoiceXML Review - Letter from the Editor

Volume 1, Issue 9 - October 2001

Dear Readers,

September 2001 was a difficult and sad month. On behalf of the VoiceXML Review's Publication Board, I extend our sincere and heartfelt sympathy to the thousands of people directly impacted by the recent terror attacks. We also commend the selfless efforts of the thousands of rescue workers, medical workers, volunteers, etc. who have responded and continue to respond with remarkable fortitude and compassion.

The VoiceXML community has also reached out. For example, several days after the attacks, I received an email from a colleague describing a free voice service deployed by Tellme (1-877-322-9438). With simple spoken commands, callers can access information such as airport status, travel briefings and security policies, from the FAA's website. A simple application, but very useful for those who were at the time stranded around the country and trying to get home to their loved ones. As technologists, many if not all of us often struggle with the potential misuse of the technologies we create. While it should be our constant goal to build and promote technologies that can be applied to improve the lives of our neighbors, it is particularly encouraging to see this occur spontaneously in times of great need.

This month our focus is on server side technologies that compliment VoiceXML. Eric Burger's article The Interface between Next-Generation Application Servers and Media Servers: SIP and VoiceXML sheds light on how the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) will compliment VoiceXML in next generation networks. Eric's article provides a brief sketch of SIP, in terms of its origins and purpose, and then goes on to establish its advantages with respect to session management for VoiceXML applications.

For those of you who come from the web development world and have just recently gotten involved in VoiceXML, all this talk about next generation networks, call control, etc. might seem rather intimidating. To get your feet wet, I'd recommend you read Rob Marchand's First Words column this month. Rob's column covers "call control 101" this month as he goes over the basic telephony support provided in VoiceXML 1.0.

In the Speak & Listen column this month, Jeff Kunins responds to your questions on mixed-initiative voice dialogues and the VoiceXML <link> tag. Jeff's discussion of mixed-initiative is thorough and well illustrated with sample code. Keep those questions coming: .

Sincerely,

Jonathan Engelsma
Editor-in-Chief, VoiceXML Review

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