Speech recognition system having an application program interface

A method of adding a grammar to a speech recognition system, the method comprising:

• during operation, adding a first grammar having a first phrase format to the speech recognition system;
• decoding a first speech audio portion with the first grammar;
• during operation, adding a second grammar having a second phrase format to the speech recognition system;
• and
• decoding a second speech audio portion with the second grammar.

A speech recognition engine, comprising:

• a collection of voice channels;
• a collection of grammars;
• and
• a speech port manager that manages a plurality of audio decodes, each decode resulting from assignment of a speech audio portion to a selected grammar and a selected voice channel.

A method of executing simultaneous speech audio portion decodes in a speech recognition system, the method comprising:

• selecting a grammar from a collection of grammars;
• selecting a voice channel from a collection of voice channels;
• decoding a speech audio portion with the selected grammar;
• storing the decoded audio in the selected voice channel;
• and
• repeating the above at least one time.

A speech recognition system, comprising:

• a concept collection, wherein each concept is associated with multiple phrases;
• a decoder to decode a speech audio portion with the multiple phrases;
• and
• an interface to add a new concept and associated multiple phrases to the concept collection.

A method of adding a grammar having at least one concept and associated phrases to a speech recognition system, the method comprising:

• storing a first grammar having a first concept and associated phrases in the speech recognition system;
• decoding a first speech audio portion with the first grammar;
• comparing the decoded speech with each of the multiple phrases of the first concept;
• determining a matched phrase to the first speech audio portion;
• during operation, adding a second concept and associated phrases to the speech recognition system;
• decoding a second speech audio portion with the grammar;
• comparing the decoded speech with each of the multiple phrases of the second concept;
• and
• determining a matched phrase to the second speech audio portion.