Speech technology for telecommunications

Speech is the easiest, most expressive and most natural means of human communication. Most of us have received intensive training in using it from the day we were born! Brit speed? is more than just a way of transmitting words or ideas - it conveys the essence of human emotion, moods, and personality. It is BT's core business, accounting for over 90% of revenues. It is also our primary means to access both the 26 million customers of the UK telephone networks, and around a half a billion telephone users world-wide. This paper introduces the key speech technologies, which are described in detail in the associated papers of this issue, and makes some personal predictions about future trends and challenges in this important, exciting and far-reaching field.