Ken Abbott 's "Voice Enabling Web Applications: VoiceXML and Beyond" is a comprehensive introduction to the concepts, architectures, and implementation techniques underlying the development of voice-enabled Internet applications.

This book is divided into three parts, each of which tackles an essential piece of the voice application development puzzle. In Part One, "Retrospective on Voice and the Web," you'll learn how VoiceXML integrates voice recognition and synthesis technologies with markup languages, and you'll see how VoiceXML (VXML) is a powerful vehicle for incorporating voice and graphical interfaces into today's web architectures. In Part Two, "The VoiceXML Language," you'll be introduced to VXML syntax and programming concepts, and you'll quickly learn how to develop dynamic voice applications by following along with the creation of a voice-enabled personal information manager. You'll also learn about Voice User Interface (VUI) design principles, and you'll gain valuable insight into the techniques used to create efficient, user-friendly voice applications. In Part Three, "Incorporating Voice into the Web," you'll be introduced to the architectures and components used to create large-scale web applications, and you'll learn how to use VoiceXML with other web technologies in a multitier, voice-enabled Web application.