The power of Xtend IVR resides in its scripting language which is simple to learn, flexible and easy to code. Complex telephony operations like call transfer, speech recognition etc. can be coded in just a couple of lines of script.

Xtend IVR implements a driver model for interfacing with voice devices. This enables Xtend IVR to support practically any voice device in the market. At present, drivers are available that support Digital (E1/T1), SS7, H323 & SIP and Analog voice devices from Eicon and Dialogic. Examples of supported devices include Diva Server PRI/E1, Diva Server Analog 4P, Diva Server V-PRI/E1, Diva Server V-4PRI, Diva Server V-PRI/T1, Diva Server Soft SS7, Diva Server SoftIP, D/4 PCI, D/4 PCI UF, D/300 JCT E1 etc. Additional voice devices are being supported on a ongoing basis, depending on customer requests and device availability.

Xtend IVR provides simple database functions to access SQL Server, DB2, Oracle, Sybase, Access and other standard databases via ADO and ODBC. In most cases, direct SQL statements can be inserted inside the script to obtain the required data. Advanced database functionality can be implemented by interfacing to any of the supported languages.

The scripting language includes the ability to call functions written in Vbscript, Javascript and Perlscript (Windows Scripting Host), functions written in C# or VB.Net (.Net Framework) and the ability to call programs written in Foxpro, Clipper, Visual Basic, C, C++ and other legacy languages.

Over 40 samples demonstrating the different capabilities and functionality of Xtend IVR are included in the developer and standard editions. Samples include tele-banking, examination result announcement, calling web services, .Net integration, streaming voice channels and many more.

Xtend IVR works right from a single port voice device to a 4000+ port T1/E1 solution with no changes in code. This means that the developer can code for a single port IVR and deploy the same for a 4000+ port IVR simply by purchasing and installing the 4000+ port Xtend IVR Runtime. All multitasking and inherent inter-process complexities are automatically handled by the toolkit leaving the developer free to concentrate on the application being deployed. Xtend IVR also supports clustering of systems to provide for higher port densities of 1000+ ports and to provide for fail-over / redundant backup.

Support of all Speech API 4.x and 5.x compatible engines for Text to Speech. UT8 strings are supported for TTS enabling support of foreign language speech engines.

All Speech API 5.x engines are supported for Speech Recognition. The ability to dynamically create and load multiple recognition grammars is supported as is the ability to perform speech cut-through on complete recognition of sentence, on recognition of the first word and in presence of speech.

The scripting language is designed from ground up for easy multi-language prompt support and enables the user to quickly implement ivr support for multiple languages without having to make any substantial modifications to code.

The extensible number to speech conversion enables any number, date or monetary value to be spoken out. Languages currently supported include English, Hindi or Malayalam. Country dependant number to speech ensures that numbers are converted correctly based on the prevailing standard of that country. At present US, UK and Indian standards are supported.

Ability to play a wave file in the background while simultaneously playing prompts enables one to incorporate background jingles or corporate tunes instantly into an ivr solution.

Voice streams from any full-duplex voice device can be streamed to any other voice device channel thereby enabling soft interconnect of voice streams. This enables functionality such as the ability to snoop ivrs calls in real time, stream ivrs conversations to a multimedia device and to conference channels to each other. For example, an incoming call in Skype could be conferenced to an incoming call on the Dialogic Diva Server voice card.

Complete voice logs for any channel can be implemented via the insertion of a single voicelog command into the script. This is useful for maintaining raw voice records of ivrs usage for official purposes or for debugging ivrs problems.

Support for general purpose ports to implement additional functionality not directly related to, but playing a supporting role to the IVR.  For example, polling a serial device every 10 seconds or for retrieving mail every 3 minutes etc. These general purpose ports run the same scripting language, enabling one to quickly implement background tasks.

Support for multimedia devices for streaming audio to multiple channels. For example, the input of the sound card mic can be taken and provided to all callers who dial into the system. Such an implementation could be used for providing a real-time radio / music channel service to callers.

Supports faxing of tiff images or HTML pages. Ability to implement fax-back systems, or dial-back fax systems. Supports color faxing under specific cards. Fax support is available as a separate software pack that must be purchased independently.

Supports the ability to send and receive SMS messages via a standard GSM modem. Comprehensive support for Unicode text, long sms and Flash messages are present. SMS support is available as a separate software pack that must be purchased independently.

Has built-in facility to implement multi-party conferences using on-board resources to minimise cpu usage. Call conference  support is available as a separate software pack that must be purchased independently.

Xtend IVR has the capability to change the logo bitmap and also set the messages that appear in the window title and its about dialog box so as to facilitate developer customisation.

Xtend IVR supports a plugin interface to enable easy extensions to its scripting language. This permits implementation of additional functionality if such customisation is required. For example, the in-built database functionality and smtp / pop3 access is implemented as plugins.

Xtend IVR supports compiled scripts, so that end user modification of script files can be prevented. To prevent any sort of tampering, Xtend IVR scripts are tokenised, encrypted and check-summed.

Unlike a conventional development environment which requires the use of two phone lines to test and debug the IVR prompts, the Xtend IVR Developer Edition simulates an incoming call in software which allows the IVR development to be done on any multimedia system. In fact the developer edition is completely free for you to try out and can be downloaded from http://www.xtendtech.com/