Voice technology is a warehouse tool that has sometimes failed to live up to its promise. One limitation has been the middleware necessary to operate the systems: because it sits between the operator and the warehouse management system, transactions are often batched back and forth rather than processed in real time. A new release of Dispatcher-WMS from LIS eliminates the middleware, letting the system communicate directly with voice technology hardware. "The result is that the headset relays picking orders in real time to the operator, and transaction data about picks is relayed back to the WMS in real time," says Bob Carver, vice president of marketing for LIS.