The price tag on an applications development tool is only one part -- and maybe a small part -- of the final cost of your telephony application. Two other important considerations are run-time fees and how many telephone ports your system will use. To determine your true costs, you'll want to figure out your expenses on a per-port basis.
The price leaders are Stylus Innovation (with no run-time fees) and SpeechSoft, while Apex Voice Communications, Cascade Technologies, Expert Systems, MasterMind Technologies, Parity Software, Technically Speaking, Telephone Response Technologies, and U.S. Telecom are higher. The differences are smaller than they appear, however, because virtually all the
vendors also sell voice-processing boards, and most bundle a board in their basic systems. If you need only a few ports, for example, you can get a starter kit from TRT, SpeechSoft, or U.S. Telecom for less than $1000. All kits include a Dialogic board.
Another difference is how options are priced. Most vendors have a laundry list of options, all priced extra. A few bundle everything in the basic product.
Voice-processing products from Edify, Big Sky, and Voicetek are at another level. These are expensive systems from total-solution suppliers. Consider them if you need a package that includes applications development, training, and ongoing support.
How Much Will It Cost?
