One of the questions I hear most from VoiceXML developers relates to audio control features in VoiceXML. VoiceXML does not natively support the ability to “rewind” or “fast forward” through audio files, but some vendors provide this functionality as extensions on their platforms.
Does this mean you can’t implement audio control in a VoiceXML application? No, it doesn’t.
Over 2 years ago, I wrote a post describing how to achieve audio control in VoiceXML in a way that was portable and platform agnostic. I continue to think that this is the right approach for achieving audio control in voice applications.
VoiceXML is a markup language that can be used in conjunction with any number of server side languages: PHP, Perl, Java, C#, Ruby, etc. If it can be used to build a traditional web app, it can be used to build a VoiceXML app as well.
I think it’s great that other platforms are providing innovative ways to provide language-specific methods for achieving audio control in voice applications.
But the true power of VoiceXML is that it is standards based, runs on a large number of platforms, and won’t shoehorn you into a programming language that may not be right for you.
VoiceXML = Flexibility, Portability, Opportunity!