IBM Corp has annnounced CallPath DirectTalk, a speech processing system claimed to combine in a single product many of the functions commonly found in separate voice response and messaging products. IBM DirectTalk products run on PS/2s and RS/6000s, and they can be installed and give callers access to information without the need to modify existing applications. They will be marketed by IBM and jointly with Rolm Co, now part-owned by Siemens AG. The DirectTalk products give callers access to spoken information from a standard push-button telephone. They can answer phone calls and ask callers, by means of a pre-recorded message, to indicate the kind of information they want by pressing buttons on the keypad and the information is supplied by playing back recorded answers or by speech synthesis. The new DirectTalk/2 and DirectTalk/6000 enable applications to connect to information in databases on System/390 and AS/400 mainframes as well as PS/2 and RS/6000; a single PS/2 version can handle four to 16 concurrent calls. The RS/6000 version handles from 12 to 72 concurrent calls and IBM is also promising a speech recognition feature on it – one day. DirectTalk also works with the NetView network management system. DirectTalk/2 is $23,450 to $49,200 depending on number of lines, next month; DirectTalk/6000, $41,000 to $149,360, October.
