by Arlene Marom

This article was written for the August 03 issue of Global Sources' Electronics Magazine, as a sidebar in a larger article on Trends in Voice Recognition Technology.

Two Israeli suppliers - Persay Ltd. (www.persay.com) and SentryCom Ltd. (www.sentry-com.co.il) - have achieved international recognition for their advanced voice authentication solutions, designed for the enterprise, financial, e-commerce, telecom, and law enforcement markets. Their unique products are gaining increased attention - as a result of 9/11 and the Iraq War - as well as due to the escalating problems of financial fraud and identity theft. Though still in its infancy, several factors bode well for the future of voice authentication: (1) A global infrastructure of landline and mobile phones already exists; (2) Speaking is a natural, stress-free act; (3) The technology offers cost-effective access control wherever remote solutions are required.

According to Jonathan Moav, Persay's Director of Marketing & Business Development, it is quite possible that, if two biometric solutions are used at a border crossing, voice authentication could easily be selected as one of them, in combination with fingerprints or iris scans. The only real impediment to the widespread use of this technology is the lack of awareness of voice verification as a solution for call efficiency, access security, and as a component in speech recognition applications. Once overcome, the technology will likely be used in myriad applications, including phone cards, mobile phones, screen savers, and laptops.

Persay's Speaker Verification Platform authenticates callers' identities during normal conversation over landline and mobile phones, IP voice - or via a vocal password. "Persay, a spin-off of Comverse Technology (NASDAQ:CMVT), is the only company offering free speech speaker verification", says Moav. "Once the voiceprint is created by the system - while operating in real time in the background - caller verification can be made in a few seconds during subsequent calls." During the recent Iraq war, Persay verified the authenticity of Saddam's tape-recorded voice for CNBC - by comparing it to a tape of a voice known to be Saddam's. In addition to security, Persay's engine is used for applications such as time-attendance. Clients include large telcos and banks in Europe and the US.

Another successful Israeli company, SentryCom Ltd., offers a unique Voice Authentication Engine that addresses known difficulties including false rejection, false acceptance, noise, voice variability, imposter playbacks, mimics, and the common cold. Using real-time random user prompting, SentryCom's engine accepts only live voice input through a challenge response system that rejects anything taped. According to Dr. Eli Talmor, CEO, " Our engine has achieved a very high level of reliability that has been documented by the Israel Standards Institute, resulting in best-of-breed status for performance."

SentryCom's applications provide secure telephone access for call centers, automatic password reset via phones, secure access to websites using PC microphones or roaming mobile phones, and secure online transactions using PC microphones. According to Talmor, " Mass acceptance probably awaits a killer application that will drive the global market - and no one knows yet what that application will be. In the meantime, if we can shave off even a few seconds from every call, and make systems truly secure - reducing exposure to security breaches and fraud reduction while increasing productivity - the savings will be significant."

Arlene Marom, the Director of Tech River Ltd., is originally from Miami, Florida. She moved to Israel in 1976, and since 1995, has been working with Israeli high tech startups. She can be reached as follows: Tel: 972-3-6419107, Cell: 972-52-4527179, E-Mail: arlene@tech-river.com