Using the Speech Feature in Azure Government’s Cognitive Services

In our look at recently added Cognitive Services for Azure Government, we’re exploring individual features to show you how they’re applied in governmental agencies. After you master how to use the Voice and Language features, it’s time to look at the popular Speech feature to help you be able to augment user experiences.

With Speech, you’ll be able to convert speech to text, overcome speech recognition barriers, correct spelling mistakes, authenticate speech, and translate speech.

All of these are going to become essential in how you work on critical government projects, interact with people, and analyze information.

It all works through machine learning, giving you an automated system for more accuracy in analyzing speech. For international relations, it’s also invaluable to avoid misunderstandings during times when you need proper communication.

Speech Recognition from Bing

One of the great aspects to Microsoft’s Azure is how they integrate their other properties, like Bing. Using their Bing Speech API, you’ll be able to do speech recognition from live audio. Real-time streaming is available as well for speech recognition as it transfers to your server.

You’ll find this valuable when needing to recognize speech from an international partner or for security purposes during surveillance.

Through Azure’s Language Understanding Intelligent Service (LUIS), you can analyze speech intent on creating actions. This can range from creating an app with speech capability to taking more serious governmental actions based on live audio.

When you need to translate text into speech in real-time, you can with the Bing Text to Speech API. You may need this to save time reading complex governmental documents during time-sensitive moments.

Customizing Speech Recognition

As an addition to speech recognition above, you’ll be able to customize how you analyze speech at any time. Part of this involves customizing speaking style recognition for all your applications. It also involves acoustic models to match an application in its expected environment.

Deployment of speech recognition models is just as easy to any endpoint. The latter has easy accessibility through any mobile device, so you can analyze speech patterns on the go. When doing field work for your government agency, this is going to help immensely to save time, especially for meetings.

Spell-Check Capabilities

Most likely you noticed spell-check on the Language feature for Cognitive Services. You also get this with Speech, allowing you to correct errors when listening to your speech-to-text program.

Since proper spelling is going to prove your expertise and reputation, you need something highlighting word breaks, slang, and important names. When your agency has to send out bulletins or other documentation, you don’t want massive mistakes in these situations. Someone may think it’s a fake if you send out a grammar-challenged document via email.

Speaker Verification and Identification

Security is obviously paramount in your government office, and verifying someone’s voice might become part of keeping things secure. Azure’s Cognitive Services give you both speaker verification and identification for use in applications or other devices.

All you need to do is create a simple pass phrase as a verbal password. You also have ability to compare a voice with others to scope out an individual.

Translating Speech

During international communication, you have a real-time translator tool through the Speech feature. Having this work via automation saves you time having to hire expensive interpreters.

Microsoft Translator has become a leader in automated translation, with use in multiple digital devices. Speech translation can easily integrate into your applications, so you’ll enjoy being able to use different translation methods from partial transcriptions to audio text-to-speech.

More Information

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