Text-to-speech is a trailblazing technology that helps convert one or multiple text/data chunks to perfectly comprehensible speech. Alternatively called voice computing, text-to-speech technology has witnessed some breakthroughs over the last couple of years.
At its very essence, the technology establishes a large repository of previously recorded human speech, which is later used to train one or more systems/computers. The result is strong sound waves that are almost similar to the human voice.
This is achieved through speech synthesis, and given the growing demand of the technology, data scientists are exploring better and advanced ways to perform speech synthesis.
Speech-to-text technology works vice versa and converts audio to text automatically through computational linguistics. Most sound to text converters can recognize the voices of different speakers even in noise, create automated timestamps and have in-built editors for transcripts correction.
But why exactly are TTS or STT technologies relevant for businesses, and where are they primarily used? Let’s dig deeper!
How can TTS/STT help your business?
One of the biggest applications of the TTS would be through voice assistants as available in the form of several consumer products, namely Google Nest, Siri, and Alexa among others.
These virtual assistants aren’t just limited to text-to-speech conversion. Instead, they go the extra mile by recognizing the sound of the human voice.
Several voice snippets are collected and later analyzed for meaning and context. This helps to create a response that is both synergistic and contextual. This is also the most advanced stage of this technology, where it supports effortless conversations with other humans.
Also known as chatbots, these are excellent tools to communicate with potential clients or anyone who uses your website. So, if you seek business expansion for your startup, leverage these chatbots to support simple communication on your website.
If you have a website with multiple landing pages or any other repository with large chunks of unorganized data- the TTS technology can come to your rescue! In these situations, you want to utilize the technology to convert these disorganized texts to organized audio content. This will add more context to the topic and help you glean the data more conveniently.
One of the easiest and most common applications of the STT technology for each entrepreneur would be recording and transcribing business meetings.
Since taking manual notes is not always convenient, this is a welcome change and a highly appreciated feature. Although transcriptions are AI-powered, they are mostly accurate. This way, you have more control over your data, and the speech/audio content is now better comprehensible with transcripts running in real-time.
With the STT technology, you can also add more content to your website by transcribing your audio and creating captions or subtitles to your videos. It will also boost your website’s SEO score, attracting more users.
The final and biggest takeaway of the technology lies in its ability to transcribe user interviews. Businesses would benefit from this feature because it simplifies the research process and makes it easier to find and glean data.
TTS/STT and Accessibility
As you would probably guess, the benefits of these technologies are not limited to just business growth. It also improves the accessibility quotient of your ventures. Utilizing this technology to create website content, more individuals can consume your data. The tool helps bridge learning gaps for people experiencing learning disabilities or vision and hearing impairments.
Bottom Line
The TTS and STT technologies are thriving, given their popularity and ongoing advancements. They will only get better in the coming years. These technologies are excellent for both startups and bigger enterprises, given the ease of communication and accessibility it ensures.
