Not only big corporations such as IBM and Phillips are developing speech products. Many smaller companies have specialized in speech technology.

Dragon is a little American Company that used to specialize in speech-recognition technology for the medical sector. The first program made for the general public was "DragonDictate". That program was followed by "NaturallySpeaking", which could now also recognize continuous speech.

Philips also started with speech-technology for the medical sector, but now they are also using their knowledge on that area for speech recognition-programs for general use. One of their main programs is "Freespeech 98", a program that can translate normally spoken language into written text.

IBM has often been innovative on many area's, and they continue that tradition by integrating speech technology in their operating system OS/2 Warp. Two other IBM programs: "SimplySpeaking" & "ViaVoice".

But one of the main leaders in speech technology is the Flemish company Lernhout & Hauspie. L&H recently allied with Intel, who invested 30 million dollar in L&H. L&H will use the chips produced by Intel for the use of their speech recognition-programs, and Intel hopes to develop a technology that will make it possible to order products on the internet by speech.

L&H dreams of electronical policemen who could help the police to make reports: The computer asks the police officer a few questions by radio, and when the officer arrives at the bureau, the report is printed and ready to be signed.

The same system could be use in a hospital: While he examines a patient, the doctor tells the computer his comments, and the computer could ask for more details if necessary. L&H says that within 5 years, everybody will book travels by phone, directly with a computer.