Yandex Qazaqstan has announced significant updates to its speech services for businesses

To automate call center operations, Yandex SpeechKit now offers a wider selection of speech synthesis voices. These voices seamlessly switch between Kazakh and Russian and feature emotional personas tailored to various scenarios. Additionally, Yandex SpeechSense, a speech analytics service that helps monitor operator performance, now supports the Kazakh language. Timur Shalekenov, Head of Yandex Qazaqstan, announced these updates at the AlmatyFair.ai exhibition during a visit by the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, and the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, to the company’s booth.

Two new female voices have been added to the SpeechKit speech synthesis and recognition service, making them suitable for call center automation and other tasks. Saule has been available since October 2024, and Janar joined in March 2025. Both voices speak Russian, Kazakh, and their mix equally well, switching seamlessly between languages and supporting various emotional personas: they can be neutral, friendly, or strict. The emotional tone can be selected based on business needs. For example, Janar and Saule will offer services in a friendly tone, while addressing complex issues with a restrained and serious demeanor. The whisper option is useful when a customer calls support in the evening or whispers to the assistant to avoid disturbing others nearby. This variety allows businesses to choose the right voice for any scenario.

Yandex Qazaqstan also announced updates to the SpeechSense speech analytics service. It now recognizes the Kazakh language and analyzes mixed dialogues in Russian and Kazakh, enhancing quality control efficiency.

SpeechKit and SpeechSense operate on the public Yandex Cloud platform. These services are in demand in banking and finance, retail and e-commerce, telecommunications, and the public services sector, such as citizen service centers. Voice robots improve call center efficiency with teams of 50 or more operators, while speech analytics is effective with as few as five operators.

Timur Shalekenov also noted that the Yandex Cloud team is working on updates to Yandex SpeechKit for Uzbekistan. The service has supported the Uzbek language since 2023. In April, the company plans to announce new Uzbek speech synthesis voices with different personas to increase efficiency in business scenarios.

The AlmatyFair.ai exhibition was organized by the Center for Information Technologies and Public Services (MCRIAP) and the Almaty City Akimat. The event brought together business and government leaders, investors, and developers. Participants discussed the role of AI technologies in shaping the digital future of the Central Asian region.

The public Yandex Cloud platform has been operating in Kazakhstan and the Central Asian region since 2021. In 2024, the company localized approximately 30 cloud services for businesses and developers, including ML, AI, and data services, as well as security solutions.