We propose using cascaded classifiers for a keyword spotting (KWS) task on narrow-band (NB), 8kHz audio acquired in non-IID environments -- a more challenging task than most state-of-the-art KWS systems face. We present a model that incorporates Deep Neural Networks (DNNs), cascading, multiple-feature representations, and multiple-instance learning. The cascaded classifiers handle the task's class imbalance and reduce power consumption on computationally-constrained devices via early termination. The KWS system achieves a false negative rate of 6% at an hourly false positive rate of 0.75

Voicera today announced it has acquired Wrappup to expand its meeting assistant Eva to the AI note-taking app for Android and iOS smartphones and tablets. Voicera has raised $20 million from some of the biggest names at the intersection of enterprise and AI, including Microsoft Ventures, Cisco Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, and GV, formerly Google Ventures. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Cisco and Microsoft both shared plans last year to bring Spark Assistant and Cortana into the workplace and meeting rooms. With millions of G Suite customers and Alexa expanding into the workplace as well, Google Assistant may join other tech companies that want to bring their assistants into offices and meeting rooms.

We're taught from an early age to take notes. I believe the first time I recall starting to take notes was when I entered junior high. In fact, I can even recall being required to take a class on how to take notes – Roman numbers, indentation, etc. The act of taking notes is one of the few activities that has stood the test of time as I continued to do this not only in junior high, but throughout my education and it is something that I continue to do regularly today in my professional career. The reason why notes continue to be so prevalent in all of our lives is not because our teachers were so effective at influencing our young impressionable selves, but it's because taking notes is an extremely useful practice. It allows us to capture the highlights of a class, meeting, or event and serves as a tool to help us recall information or re-enforce learning.

Blue Jeans Network Inc. and Voicera have partnered to offer an in-meeting transcription service within the Blue Jeans platform. The transcription technology uses Voicera's artificial intelligence assistant, Eva. Blue Jeans, a cloud-based video conferencing provider based in Mountain View, Calif., initially announced support for Eva in November for features such as note taking and identifying key moments in the meeting. The partnership has expanded Eva's capabilities to include full-meeting recordings with a searchable transcript. The transcription technology integration with the Eva assistant is available to all Blue Jeans users.

A few months ago, BlueJeans announced support for Eva--the in-meeting artificial intelligence (AI) "bot" that takes notes, creates action items, and helps identify key moments for later follow up. Since we first announced support for Voicera, the creators of Eva, hundreds of you have taken advantage of its AI capabilities and experienced better meetings with Eva's help. Today, we're excited to announce that Eva has become even more advanced and now provides fully searchable, complete in-meeting transcription with BlueJeans Meetings. "We wanted to offer BlueJeans meeting customers the first chance to have full meeting transcriptions," said Omar Tawakol, CEO of Voicera. "This is a service we now offer through Voicera, but it works best with partners who provide higher quality audio streams. The audio that comes from BlueJeans with Dolby Voice is delivered in a crisp 16k format which lends itself very well to transcription. In addition to the transcripts, Eva can create a highlight reel that is error corrected and delivered with much higher accuracy."

Voicera (formerly Workfit) is the creator of Eva, an intelligent voice facilitator to make meetings more productive. Are you tired of taking notes in meetings? Put down your pen and paper and let Eva do it for you! Voicera has created Eva to connect your meetings to the rest of your day. You simply add eva@voicera.com to any meeting invite and Eva will dial in, announce itself and start taking notes.