Wireless communications tools have a number of disadvantages, and some of these are small screens, weak processing power, and a lack of sufficient input abilities. It is these three factors that have greatly limited the scope of many wireless devices, and it is hoped that VoiceXML will remedy many of these problems. One of the reasons why many wirless devices have maintained a great deal of success is because the public at large has accepted them as tools that will deliver information.

Many industry insiders are looking at the possibility of using IVR, or Interactive Voice Response, as an alternative to tools like WAP. The only problem with older technologies such as IVR is that they may not be suitable for web based projects. VoiceXML is currently being used to define "trees" that will take the user through a process of selection. The industry name for this process is voice dialogs. The end user will make a connection with the voice dialogs by using their voice as an interface. High end speech recognition software will be available on the server, and it will be responsible for transforming the selection of the user into a selection that is based on text.

This process could be likened to clicking on a hyperlink which is present on the page of a website. Dialog selections will deal with the playback of response files that are based on audio. The response files may be prerecorded or created in a dynamic manner, and this can be accomplished by utilizing a server text to speech conversion system. There are a number of industry uses for VoiceXML in the field of business. One of the most lucrative applications of VoiceXML is the increased time people will spend talking on their phones. Advertising can also become a very lucrative industry on wireless phones, and some have said that it will reach a level that is very similar to television or radio.

Voice services can be added to traditional phone plans customers are already paying for, and pay as you go services may become popular as well. It is very likely that consumers will be willing to listen to a short advertisement in exchange being given free access to specific voice services.

As the name implies, VoiceXML is a XML based system, and XML is a separate technology that is altering the way that content is distributed over the Internet. VoiceXML is expected to make a number of changes in the voice services industry over the next two years. Many experts believe that content providers will utilize the power of both WAP and websites which are accessible by voice. In order for this to become feasible, industry insiders must be able to produce an XML structure that is easy to maintain.

VoiceXML is an application of XML that will produce a structure that is called a "tree." The end user can move through this tree via the use of their voice. The most important part of any VoiceXML program is the text to speech engine, which must be run from a server. Some of the companies which offer text-to-speech engines are Motorola and IBM.

Another company called SpeechWorks is also responsible for producing these products. Developers who have worked with tools such as WML should notice the similarities between it and VoiceXML. One reason for this is because both of these languages are based on XML, and they are also used for the purpose of defining collections of elements that will allow end users to move through specific types of information.

Some of the basic tags that are used for VoiceXML are <var>, <menu>, and the <form> tag. Each VoiceXML document must always start with the tag <vxml>, and they must end with this tag as well. VoiceXML has become a powerful tool that is very likely to change the face of both the wireless and Internet community. Many experts believe that it will play a role in both the evolution of the web based and wireless technologies.