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The software development team work-
ing with Nico Wallmeier and Tobias
Ganzow also use the benefits of the
Lydia® Voice Suite in their own profes-
sional daily lives. “We are always trav-
eling across the world with our eyes
open, venturing something new, roll-
ing up our sleeves and straying away
from well-trodden paths,” says Tobias
Ganzow describing the successful for-
mula behind the Lydia® software devel-
opment. “The IT sector is fast-moving
and of course we always want to offer
our customers state-of-the-art solu-
tions. Therefore we have to question
processes so that we always take ad-
vantage of any improvement potential.”
The university-qualified computer sci-
entist has been a software developer at
topsystem for six years. He is mainly
responsible for server-side support and
for the further development of Lydia®
Voice. The technology-leading pick-
by-voice solution is now used by more
than 100,000 users across the world.
Together with his colleague, Nico
Wallmeier, Tobias Ganzow runs the
15-strong Lydia® development team.
“We do not conform to the typical
computer scientist cliché of the isolated
programmer who spends their entire
day in dark rooms – quite the contrary.
In addition to the traditional develop-
er activities on the PC, we also under-
take regular customer visits and on-site
commissioning, also internationally of
course. Project support assignments
in the USA or in within Europe arise
frequently,” says Nico Wallmeier. “The
team consists of genuine all-rounders
and this is what makes our collabora-
tion so diverse.” Its focus is on core de-
velopment, or in other words, product
development. The Lydia® Connector
for SAP represents a milestone in his
career to date. Lydia® Connector is in-
tegrated into the SAP standard as the
only Voice system worldwide without
Middleware. topsystem was then the
first company with whom SAP started
collaboration in relation to Pick-by-
Voice. And Lydia® is still regularly cer-
tified today.
Lydia® Connector is the standard refer-
ence implementation for SAP as far as
Voice capabilities are concerned. “I was
involved in the development of Lydia®
Connector from the very outset. There-
fore it is still a real highlight for me,”
says Nico Wallmeier. Like Tobias Gan-
zow, the 40-year old joined topsystem
immediately after his University degree
and his doctorate at RWTH Aachen.
“We also have some student assistants
and apprentices in our team and the
mix of young colleagues and old hands
is what makes daily working life excit-
ing,” say both of them in agreement.
Exchanges with teams with different
expertise are also important. Working
together with the hardware develop-
ment, quality assurance and support
teams always triggers fresh ideas and
new product developments. Voxter®
Scan Elite Edition is a good example
of this. “Of course the hardware team
took the lead in the development of
the mobile backhand scanner, but the
integrated software still plays a deci-
sive role because ultimately everything
must fit together and be customized to
the needs of our users,” explains Tobias
Ganzow.
New ideas also come about thanks to
lively exchanges with our customers.
The cohesion, reliability and flexibility
within the developer team generates a
unique spirit which also has a positive
impact on customer projects. Moti-
vation is high. This is because there
is still huge potential to be explored
for Voice. Picking with voice-enabled
smartphones and tablets along with
visual support through smart watches
and smart glasses is only the start of the
road towards Voice 4.0. for all industry
sectors. It therefore remains exciting to
see which ideas the consummate com-
puter scientists will integrate into the
future development of Lydia®.
Hands free, ears free:
22 23 Lydia
®
Voice