This is the first South Jersey Spotlight to feature a high-school friend of mine, Scott Kurtz of DSP Soundware. I won’t blather on regarding the teenaged details of my friendship with Scott. I will share that I met him through a marvelous youth group for Jewish teens, B’nai B’rith Youth Organization (fondly known as BBYO).
A tech-minded person with an engineering background, Scott Kurtz has surely reached the final frontier of his professional life: entrepreneurship. Find out how DSP Soundware’s voice quality software can improve what you hear when using mobile or VoIP technology at work…
By All Writes: Why did you decide to start DSP Soundware? When did you found/start it?
Scott Kurtz: I have spent the majority of my career working in various niches of the telecommunications industry, both wireless/cellular and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).
Both of these technologies provide great benefits. However, they have also brought with them, under many circumstances, a reduction in voice quality when compared to the old-fashioned (analog) telephone technology they’ve nearly replaced.
As an engineer and as someone who uses these technologies, it’s frustrating to see a backwards step in voice quality, especially when I know it doesn’t have to be this way.
I decided to formulate DSP Soundware in 2014. My mission: to develop voice quality enhancement software and license it to equipment manufacturers and application developers whose products serve telecommunications needs.
BAW: What specific high-definition sound algorithms/software (for voice-communication applications) and technical support do you offer your current and potential clients?
SK: We offer acoustic echo cancellation, noise reduction, acoustic beamforming, and dereverberation. (Sounds kind of sound related, doesn’t it?)
We deliver the software in a library format that enables customers to integrate our software into their equipment and applications. Working closely with our customers throughout the integration and configuration process results in successful installations.
DSP Soundware also helps its customers troubleshoot problems with hardware issues that can affect voice quality.
BAW: Who makes a good client for you?
SK: A good client for us is an equipment manufacturer or application developer who intends to produce a high-end product rather than someone who wants to shave every last penny from the bill-of-materials cost (at the expense of voice quality).
A good client is also someone one who keeps the ideals of superior voice quality in mind from the top down in his or her design.
When it comes to voice quality, our software is only one piece of the puzzle. If a client’s hardware includes a low-quality microphone, speaker or enclosure, the voice quality enhancement software can only do so much.
BAW: What is your ultimate “happy moment” when working with your clients?
SK: My happiest moment is when I use my clients’ telecommunications end products and hear first-hand how great they sound. The improved voice quality confirms that DSP Soundware has contributed to their success!
BAW: If you could relocate DSP Soundware to anywhere in the world, where would you go, and why?
SK: With the availability of mobile phones, e-mail and the Internet, the world is a far smaller place than it used to be when conducting business. But there are still advantages to being able to walk into a client’s office in person, shake hands, and have a face-to-face conversation.
So my answer is Silicon Valley, because it is such a hub of high-tech companies. But I’d rather live in New Jersey…
BAW: What are your favorite books (or who are your favorite authors) to read, and why?
SK: Hands down, Michael Crichton rules supreme on my bookshelves. Back in the early 1990s, when I was in the middle of studying for mid-terms while going for my master’s degree, a friend told me, “You need to read this book.” It was Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park.
I have to admit that I don’t read all too much. I am a slow reader, so a book must be extraordinarily good to hold my attention. Once I started reading Jurassic Park, I couldn’t put it down. For two days, I completely stopped my studies and devoured the book.
Since that time, I’ve read many more of Crichton’s books. It goes without saying that he was a great writer.
But beyond that, his stories were centered around various fields of science. And although his books may have pushed into the science-fiction realm (which isn’t a bad thing), there was usually a well-researched scientific basis for the story line that made it realistic.
I had a similar experience with Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Identity, but I haven’t gone as far out of my way to read his entire portfolio.
And I’m not sure if he counts as a favorite author (because I haven’t read any of his books), but I have to include Jeffrey Kluger, who currently writes for TIME magazine.
He co-authored Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13, the basis for the movie Apollo 13. I first became a fan of his when he wrote the “Light Elements” column for Discover magazine back in the 1990s.
To this day, his 1996 “Risky Business” article still sticks with me–it reminds me that we need to put risk into perspective. And in a recent edition of TIME, I was delighted to see Mr. Kluger’s review (from a scientific perspective) of the new animated Pixar film Inside Out, making it a must-see for me.
Who’s in favor of enhanced voice quality for work-related communications systems, whether your conversations occur through mobile means or VoIP?
I realize you may not be a telecommunications equipment manufacturer or application developer. But if you know any professionals in that industry, please share this South Jersey Spotlight with them. Thank you!
For more information regarding DSP Soundware’s voice quality software for wireless/cellular and VoIP technology, please call Scott directly at 856-630-4839, or visit the company’s website.
To connect with Scott Kurtz via “the Internets,” please peruse his LinkedIn public profile, check out the company page on LinkedIn, or visit DSP Soundware’s Facebook page.
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