Loquendo Spoken Dialog System (Loquendo SDS) is a state of the art dialog manager, which enables automatic dialogue between people and machines. Thanks to Loquendo SDS, it is now possible to develop efficient and user-friendly information systems that give users the freedom to express their requests freely - using natural speech.

Standard tools for developing speech based information systems - such as VoiceXML , allows to acquire multiple information in a single dialog turn, but they do not provide explicit constructs for dealing with error recovery and multiple confirmations, and they do not provide formal frameworks where dialog knowledge (independent from natural language) can be defined and re-used for several different languages. On the contrary, Loquendo SDS keeps separately dialog knowledge from domain and language knowledge. This feature greatly reduces the time-to-market of any multilingual application.

• multiple parameter acquisition: through a single phrase spoken naturally, the system can acquire all of the available information necessary for matching the user's request.

• multiple confirmations: through a single phrase, the system can easily correct voice recognition errors, even if there are more than one.

• consistency acquisition control: the system can verify the contents of the dialog parameters, guaranteeing correct voice recognition whilst allowing the system to provide the user with the correct information.

• mixed initiative dialogs: users can speak freely and naturally, requesting relevant information in the order they choose. The system is dynamically configured to respond to the client's requests and it responds in a way that is consistent to the application domain.

• elevated flexibility: the system can guide an inexperienced user just as easily as an expert user. Using a dialog that allows the acquisition of necessary information through a single word or through a limited number of interactions, the system is capable of running an articulated conversation in which the number of interactions is increased if necessary.

• dialog development tools: dialog knowledge and linguistic knowledge for spoken dialog application can be implemented within the Loquendo SDDS, the development system of Loquendo SDS. This set of tools is integrated in the Loquendo Studio, and their use provides the application developer an intuitive yet powerful environment where to model sophisticated dialog interfaces.