Microsoft Acquires Voice Recognition Pioneer Nuance Communications

As rumored, Microsoft has announced the acquisition of Nuance Communications, the speech-to-text and voice recognition pioneer, for US$19.7 billion - the second-largest acquisition in Microsoft’s history. Microsoft apparently recognized the value of Nuance's efforts in healthcare, financial services, telco, retail, travel, and government applications, and recent investments in conversational AI. How will Microsoft leverage the company's products and technologies is certainly more related to his efforts in those very same verticals and synergy with its Office and Business software suites, than any effort to revive Cortana.

Poly introduced the Savi 7300 Office Series, the latest addition in the company's lineup of Savi wireless headsets designed for high-quality voice call conversations. The Savi 7300 Office Series, designed with enhanced DECT security and Poly's best-in-class audio, is a Certified for Microsoft Teams solution that ensures security for the most critical calls. The headsets offer the highest degree of privacy, even in shared spaces like call centers and customer service hubs.

LiveVox, the customer service and digital engagement tools company, announced the acquisition of SpeechIQ, a speech recognition and voice transcription technology company. LiveVox is a one-stop-shop for cloud-based CRM, call-center, contact center and customer engagement service platforms, unifying all conversations and interactions in one place. Adding voice recognition, voice to text transcription and analytics is obviously a great add-on for LiveVox.