Artificial Solutions and Teneo NLP
November 30, 2011
I learned from one of my two or three readers that Barcelona was home to a natural language processing company. Several years ago, I spoke with a person familiar with the company Artificial Solutions. After a bit of fumbling around, I located a trade show at which the company was exhibiting. The company’s NLP system is called “Teneo.” The application which I recalled was the use of the NLP system for customer support. The company has expanded since I first learned about the firm. The technology has been applied to mobile devices, for example.
The company told me:
Teneo Mobile is a platform independent technology designed to enable companies, organizations, manufacturers and developers to create their own virtual assistant as a mobile app, regardless of platform, mobile device and even language. The Natural Language Interaction (NLI) engine is covered by patents. The system can currently be built in up to 21 different languages, including Mandarin and Russian.
The company, founded in 2001, is owned by its founders, the private equity fund Scope Growth II and some private investors. The company has tallied more than 200 projects in the public and private sector in 30 countries and 21 languages. In the telecommunications sector, the firm’s customers include:
The firm’s technology is based on the Teneo Interaction Engine. According to the firm, its system will:
reason like a human, using advanced linguistic and business rules to decide how best to respond to your customer’s request. Context comes into play here, such as time, date and place, as well as information picked up from previous conversations, customer data retrieved from your CRM system and transaction data from your ERP system. At this point, the Teneo will also eliminate any ambiguities from its initial analysis. Even one word can alter the meaning of a customer’s request. Teneo will instantly and dynamically re-assess content as the interaction develops, to understand what has changed and give the right answers. Natural language is full of subtle nuances, which Teneo is able to pick up and interpret. It understands idiom and slang, even dialect and SMS shorthand – and it’s also sympathetic to grammar, syntax or spelling mistakes.
For more information about the technology and its vertical applications, navigate to www.artificial-solutions.com.
Stephen E Arnold, November 30, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Metalogix Software can Migrate Google Content to SharePoint
November 30, 2011
Here’s a new toy from Metalogix Software: Migration Manager for Google Apps, which moves Google Docs and Sites content to SharePoint. The Why Microsoft Blog met with the Director of ECM Migration Products at Metalogix, Geordie Henderson, and interviewed him on his company’s new product: “Migrate Google Apps Content to SharePoint.”
When asked why Metalogix created the Google Apps to SharePoint application, Henderson explained that many customers found Google Apps lacking and they had to move to more robust solutions, like SharePoint. They also noticed that SharePoint doesn’t require an on-site server and is available to a much larger client base that wants to cut costs by outsourcing their applicant administration.
“For Metalogix, this all amounts to a nice opportunity. We’ve specialized in creating simple-to-use products for enterprises to move legacy content to SharePoint for almost 10 years. Our market analysis tells us that Google Apps was a logical migration content source to add to the long list of source systems we already support since customers are coming to realize the shortcomings of the Google platform.”
This is an amazing application since you don’t usually see two big corporate names working together in tandem, unless they are from a third party solution. Google, probably would prefer that Microsoft goes belly up, but it looks like the opposite is happening. This is a great tool for SharePoint and if you want even more great third party solutions, SurfRay is the place to go.
Whitney Grace November 30, 2011
NASA and Google Refocus on Enterprise Search Project
November 30, 2011
Researchers at the NASA Langley Research Center helped make it possible for humans to land on the moon and robots to capture far-off worlds. Information giant Google has its roots in search. That was then.
Now NASA has lost the space program and Google lost focus on search. But that hasn’t stopped the two from teaming up to improve NASA’s Enterprise search capabilities. “NASA and Google tackle a major enterprise search project” explains:
“NASA researchers had become hindered by time-consuming and relatively labor-intensive searches that often returned questionable results. NASA workers usually had to log in to multiple systems to complete the searches, and there was no common search interface that could simultaneously display results from both internal and external sources.”
The two worked together closely to set up the Google Search Appliance that is currently up and running at NASA Langley. Both sides are satisfied with the final product for NASA’s research community.
But in the fast paced information world, you need to look to innovators focused specifically on enterprise search. You may want to check out Mindbreeze and their dynamic search technologies that bring together security, mobility, and information pairing.
Sara Wood, November 30, 2011
New Google App Puts Chrome on the iPad
November 30, 2011
Clever? Stealthy? Sneaky? Cute? Smart?
Don’t know.
In the battle between Apple and Google, it appears that the search giant has come out with new way to come out on top, and search is not the primary focus. Google has created a search app that is superior to the experience of any Android tablet and puts the core Chrome elements onto an Apple product.
If you are wondering why Google has suddenly decided to stop innovating for it’s own products, and has chosen to invade Apple’s, The Next Web article“Google Just Used It’s Search App to Sneak Most of Chrome OS onto the iPad” states:
The reasons why it has shipped a pack of its most potent apps in one convenient dashboard are evident if you look at the tablet landscape as we know it. Google’s “official” version of Android is losing the tablet race, flat out. Products from manufacturers that have no access to an ecosystem beyond the Android Market have proven not to work. Now, Amazon has launched the Kindle Fire, which stands to quickly attain ’2nd place’ status behind the iPad, utilizing a tweaked version of Android that Google will gain nothing from.
iOS devices account for 2/3 of mobile searches on Google’s platform, making it the largest outlet for Google’s primary product, ads. Google recognizes this fact and has created an app for its fans who use Apple products.
With such a seamless integration, it appears that Apple may not be able to separate itself from Google, no matter how hard they try. This is a certainly a clever move on Google’s part but definitely not the most innovative. Is this the new Google?
Jasmine Ashton, November 30, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
The Cloud Competition Gets Ugly Between Google and Microsoft
November 30, 2011
I recently read two articles discussing the competition that’s heating up between Google’s cloud services app and Microsoft.
According to a Wired Enterprise story “Google Vs. Microsoft: Not All Clouds are Created Equal” Google’s cloud technology has caused companies like Oracle and Microsoft, that have historically been on-premise companies to begin to change their ways. This is due to the fact that some of their chief officers have left to join Google and the company spent two days pitching its ever-growing collection of enterprise services to 350 businesses that were interested in adopting their business model.
In addition to this, the article states:
“Google is now offering round-the-clock phone support for all issues involving the core services in its Google Apps suite, and then David Girouard — the man who essentially founded Google’s enterprise operation — unveiled some new tools for managing smartphones that use Google Apps. But these additions served Google’s larger message: that its web-based services are more flexible and reliable than traditional “on-premise” software — or even the cloud services now offered by the likes of Microsoft and Oracle.”??
While this article makes Google’s cloud technology look like it’s on the cutting edge, Microsoft is trying its darndest to compete with the search giant. ??
According to “Microsoft Take a Fight to Google Over Cloud App Defections” Microsoft has come out with a team called “Google Compete” to try and convince people to stay with office and not deflect to Google cloud apps.??
Tony Tai, a senior program manager at Microsoft said:??
“In the case of Google, we find it quite common that their consumer-oriented approach falls short of meeting enterprise customers’ needs, thus providing an opportunity for us to win the customer. The wise words of Benjamin Franklin often apply: ‘The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.”??
Ouch! when did things get so ugly? and where has the civility gone?
Jasmine Ashton, November 30, 2011
Quote to Note: Role of Media and Search
November 30, 2011
Point your browser to “Max Mosley Sues Google over ‘Orgy’ Search Results.” The write up focuses on what media and search engines like Google should do. This is the woulda-coulda-shoulda logic which I find fascinating. The story concerns a “real” news story about a prominent figure, a court order, and the existence of pointers in indexes to the entities referenced in the information chain.
I don’t have a view of what is the appropriate response to the situation or the suggestions offered in the source document. Two quotes caught my attention, and I want to snag them before I lose track of the original.
Quote one:
In his written statement to the inquiry, Mosley [the individual attempting to clean up some improper references to himself] compared the internet to “a sort of Wild West with its own rules which the courts cannot touch”. He said that the “really dangerous thing” is that search engines like Google “could stop a story appearing, but don’t or won’t as a matter of principle”.
The “don’t or won’t” phrase struck me as interesting and heavy with a freight of implications. Exactly what should an algorithm centric system do? How will such a system “know” something is an issue? I sure don’t want the job of hiring editors—assuming there were enough qualified people to do the work and the money to pay them—to convert numerical recipes into tasty, more satisfying human results. Some traditional publishers would do the job if there were money in the work.
Quote 2:
Elsewhere in his Leveson [shorthand for the legal matter] testimony, Mosley reaffirmed his calls for newspapers to always warn people before publishing stories about their private lives…
I don’t know much about how the 20 somethings run newspapers and magazines, but I am not sure some of them are sufficiently well organized to inform one another about what is going on. When I read about the difficulties AOL has communicating with its writers and editors, I think that controlled chaos or no interaction is par for the course. Given the staff cuts and Twitter-driven world of journalism, who is going to inform whom of anything? AOL apparently was confused about a high profile executive’s investment fund. Now an outfit is going to have to get sufficiently serialized to put A before B and then do C?
Wow.
In Beyond Search, we rely on open source content for inspiration. We then offer comments. In this particular pair of quotes, we will remain silent. A gentle “honk” is the best we can offer.
Stephen E Arnold, November 30, 2011
Microsoft and Video Search
November 29, 2011
the revolution in video search continues to arrive, just slowly. Google’s video search continues to improve. The Google TV findability function is due for enhancement. The first go-round was a baffler to many people. Now Engadget reports that “Microsoft Acquires VideoSurf, Promises to Bring Better Video Search and Discovery to Xbox Live.”
VideoSurf, founded in 2006, discovers and analyzes content by focusing on frames of video. Microsoft plans to use its technology to drive search on its Xbox 360’s entertainment platform, accessed via XboxLIVE.
This bid for speedier, more efficient search comes as Microsoft continues to push its console into the center of the living room. We learned from the write up:
In the coming months, Microsoft will bring nearly 40 world-leading TV and entertainment providers to Xbox LIVE. . . . With Kinect, users will be able to easily search and discover content across multiple entertainment providers within Xbox LIVE and then interact with and enjoy content in extraordinary ways using voice search powered by Bing on the Xbox 360.
I have to wonder whether success on the console will spur growth of video search in other quarters. I don’t like video search myself, but it is a big deal for the non-reading, attention deficit crowd. We have to accommodate them, right? Video is a serial information experience. Search is tricky in text. Toss in moving images, and task becomes harder. Text search remains a baffler for many. Video is a step beyond. We’re hopeful.
Channel surfing may not be productive, but it is easy to explain. Finding a specific program remains a challenge. Getting a specific program to display without payment hassles, start and stop rendering, and without time consuming dead ends are hurdles which must be overcome. Maybe Microsoft can resolve the issues which are evident to me.
Cynthia Murrell, November 29, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Improve SPServices on SharePoint
November 29, 2011
It’s been awhile since we visited Marc D. Anderson’s Blog, our favorite knowledge management zealot, and checked out his nifty SharePoint tips. To our joy we discovered that a recent post provided information on, “Managing SharePoint Site User Memberships in Multiple Groups Using SPServices.” He explains a situation where a colleague was having troubling getting new users on board with SPServices. The interface was slow and cumbersome. The colleague came up with a solution:
“Using the SPServices libraries, I was able to create a simple interface to add/remove a single user to/from multiple groups at once. When you identify/select a user, it will show you two select lists. The right side will list all of the groups the current user is a member of while the left box shows all the groups the user is NOT a member of. Between the two select lists are buttons to ‘move’ the groups from one side to the other for the identified user (while modifying their memberships appropriately in the process). The select boxes are configured to allow multiple select so you can usually perform the maintenance in just a couple clicks. The code fits neatly into a CEWP.”
This solution solves a business problem better than out-of-the box SharePoint and it doesn’t even need to be added onto the server. Anderson provides the code and instructions how to adjust SharePoint for it to work. Strike another point on the scoreboard for third party software that delivers increased user satisfaction, like SurfRay.
Whitney Grace November 29, 2011
What Is Hot: SharePoint Semantics Nov 18 – Nov 25
November 29, 2011
“An easy-to-use interface is a must if you’re going to expose employees to relevant business intelligence. SharePoint and SQL make this possible by employing a familiar interface that easily exposes the information to your employees, including the often majority that are not trained in the backend systems.”
“The shortcomings of SharePoint’s taxonomy include: a very small set of allowed taxonomy attributes, nearly non-existent tracking of term changes, no synonyms, and a maximum of ten lines of display. Due to all these limitations, many experts are recommending using a third party solution.”
These predictions are: Microsoft will break their neck NOT to release SharePoint vNext in 2013, Steve Ballmer will announce the release of SharePoint vNext at the Las Vegas conference, and SharePoint vNext will be metro style.
Access Control and Enterprise Search Capabilities
November 29, 2011
Nuances of enterprise search and the challenges some searchers face are discussed in “Why is Enterprise Search more complex than web or desktop search?”
“Access control to the data is a big difference between Enterprise search and the other 2 search types. On the Web, everybody is allowed to see the data. On your desktop you are allowed to see all data, because you are the owner. Web and desktop search can index all the data without to take access control into account.”
In an enterprise, access control is very important. But we prefer to spend more time finding than searching. To get the results you want, you need the right solution and the right search structure and support.
Access control is not an obstacle for Mindbreeze. Their search technology maintains user rights while searching all company-relevant information within the enterprise and in the cloud.
Sara Wood, November 29, 2011
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