W3C Speech Interface Languages: VoiceXML [Standards in a Nutshell]

VoiceXML is the most popular language for specifying audio user interfaces for Web applications, if you have ever called an automatic telephone system to reserve an airline ticket, to trade stock, or to reach an individual or department of a large company, then you have likely used a VoiceXML application. VoiceXML is part of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) speech interface languages (SILs), which are extended markup languages (XML) and are widely used for developing applications that speak and listen to people. In what follows, we discuss the main features, architecture, and applications of SILs with a focus on the VoiceXML language