- Understand human speech (speech recognition)
- Generate natural-sounding speech (speech synthesis / TTS)
- Translate spoken language in real time or batch (speech translation)
- Identify and differentiate speakers (speaker recognition / diarization)

- Core capabilities and terminology for AI speech services.
- Real-world scenarios and decision guidance to choose the right approach.
- Implementation patterns using SDKs and platform integrations.
- How to combine speech capabilities with generative AI to build conversational agents.
Common speech-AI scenarios and when to choose Azure AI Speech
- Transcription and closed captioning for recorded media or live events.
- Voice-enabled assistants and chatbots that accept or output spoken language.
- Real-time translation for multilingual meetings or customer support.
- Voice biometrics and speaker diarization for security, compliance, and analytics.
- Use the Azure AI Speech SDK for client or server integrations: SDKs are available for multiple languages and platforms—this is the fastest path to add speech recognition, synthesis, and translation.
- Integrate speech capabilities into automation workflows using
Power AutomateorAzure Logic Appswhen you need low-code pipelines or event-driven processing. - For low-latency interactive scenarios (voice agents, live captions) prefer real-time streaming APIs; for bulk processing of recordings, use batch transcription.
- Build speech-enabled applications with the Azure AI Speech SDK.
- Add speech to Microsoft workflows and automation via Power Automate or Azure Logic Apps.
- Create real-time voice interactions and conversational agents by integrating streaming speech APIs with dialog or generative models.
- Design agents that use speech recognition to capture user input, pass the transcribed text to a generative model for intent or response generation, then convert the model output back to speech.
- This pattern enables natural conversations, multilingual responses, and dynamic content generation with voice.
Recommended prerequisites: familiarity with basic Azure concepts and a working knowledge of a programming language (for SDK usage) will help you follow the implementation sections more easily.
- Azure AI Speech overview: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/cognitive-services/speech-service/
- Azure AI Speech SDK: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/cognitive-services/speech-service/speech-sdk
- Power Automate: https://learn.microsoft.com/power-automate/
- Azure Logic Apps: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/logic-apps/