Microsoft to Purchase Tellme

By Daniel Rubino
last updated

It looks like future versions of Voice Command on WM are going to be a whole lot smarter after this acquisition. Tellme Networks does voice recognition and has also been running the voice search service at 1-800-555-TELL (8355). A quick check of the service just now tells me (cough) that Tellme seems to do a better job at voice prompt recognition than most of those annoying call centers I have to use (How many times have you said "Operator. Operator! Shut up and let me talk to a human!"?).

Microsoft Corp. today announced it will acquire Tellme Networks, Inc., a leading provider of voice services for everyday life, including nationwide directory assistance, enterprise customer service and voice-enabled mobile search.

Read: Microsoft to Acquire Tellme (opens in new tab) - via Backstage at MED (opens in new tab)

Daniel Rubino
Daniel Rubino
Editor-in-chief

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central, head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007 when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and for some reason, watches. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun.