Speech Dialog Controls Overview
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Dialog Speech Controls are a set of ASP.NET Web controls designed for building Speech Application Language Tags (SALT) voice response applications using SALT technology.
Dialog Speech Controls technology requires a client device with a browser and scripting capabilities. When the user connects to an ASP.NET Web page containing Dialog Speech Controls, ASP.NET renders the page and sends it to the client browser. The user interacts with the rendered controls in the browser and does not see the Web page.
The rendered page contains information about the controls on the page and the data to be collected. A client-side scripted object called RunSpeech obtains this information and activates controls to collect the specified data and to confirm that it is correct.
Semantic Dialog Speech Controls
Semantic Dialog Speech Controls serve as containers for all data that the Web page collects from user speech and from user dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) input.
The SemanticItem control stores information about a single semantic element of collected data. The Text property contains the recognized text, and the State property indicates whether the data needs confirmation. One or more SemanticItem controls can be placed in a SemanticMap control.
SemanticMap is a collection of SemanticItem controls. One or more SemanticItem controls can be placed on an ASP.NET form, table, panel, or other container.
User-Interface Dialog Speech Controls
User-interface Dialog Speech Controls are placed in an ASP.NET form, table, panel, or other container. They are activated by the RunSpeech script and contain other Dialog Speech Controls.
The speech QA control defines a single interaction with the user, which is usually but not always a Question and Answer dialog. A QA control that collects data places it in SemanticItem controls.
The speech CompareValidator and CustomValidator controls are similar to the ASP.NET CompareValidator and CustomValidator controls. The speech validators operate on the data in SemanticItem controls and play spoken error messages.
The speech Command control performs recognition of unprompted user speech, such as the Help, Repeat, and Main Menu phrases. Command controls are not designed for data collection and do not place data in SemanticItem controls.
Applications on a Telephony Application Services server can use the speech RecordSound control to record user speech and to copy the recording from Speech Server to the Web server for playback.
Nested Dialog Speech Controls
Nested Dialog Speech Controls are always contained within one of the user interface controls mentioned previously. These dependent controls are activated by their parent controls.
The DialogPrompt control handles speech output directed to the user, usually in the form of a question. The output can consist of a prerecorded audio file or text synthesized by the speech engine. When defined in a QA control, DialogPrompt plays a message or question before recognition. When defined in a Command control, DialogPrompt plays a help message in response to recognition. In a CompareValidator or CustomValidator control, DialogPrompt plays an error message after validation failure. A prompt is required.
The Reco control configures a recognition from the speech recognition engine. It specifies grammar resources and handlers for several types of recognition error conditions. The Reco control is optional in the QA control.
The Grammar control specifies a recognition grammar resource, usually a file. At least one Grammar control is required in the QA.Reco, Dtmf, and Command controls.
The Answer control links a semantic element of recognition results to a SemanticItem control. Answer controls are optional in the QA control.
The Record control configures the recording of user speech. The Record control is optional in the QA.Reco control.
Property Setting Dialog Speech Controls
Property setting Dialog Speech Controls define collections of property settings, in a manner similar to the HTML <style> and <stylesheet> objects.
The SpeechControlSettingsItem control sets properties of other Dialog Speech Controls that reference it. One or more SpeechControlSettingsItem can be placed in a SpeechControlSettings control.
The SpeechControlSettings control is a collection of SpeechControlSettingsItem controls. SpeechControlSettings controls are optional in an ASP.NET form, table, panel, or other container.