The degree of "out-of-the-box" integration success that a utility is likely to experience when implementing MultiSpeak-compliant applications is largely dependent on the thoroughness of compliance testing and the degree to which the specification matches “real-world” business processes at the utility.

Following are short descriptions of the testing methodologies for each version of the MultiSpeak specification. From here, you can search for 1.1 compliant products. Version 2.0 compliant products will be available early this summer, after testing begins.

The MultiSpeak2 standard supports both file-based (batch) and real-time data transfers. Compliance testing has begun on batch interfaces and real-time testing will begin soon. It is intended that a vendor's real time software interface will be tested against a real-time connected server (via the internet) which will accept and reply to MultiSpeak requests, and generate "real-world" requests to the vendor's software, as well as log all transactions and report inconsistencies.

The Version 2 test suite has been developed to reflect actual data requirements to implement utility business practices, thus addressing the shortcomings sometimes identified in the Version 1.1-compliant interfaces.

MultiSpeak Version 1.1 defined a model for batch file data transfers. Vendors were tested using a file of sample test data which was imported into their software. Once the data were deemed to be successfully imported into the vendor software, the data was manipulated per the tester’s instructions, and then exported back out. The data file was checked for proper XML validation and examined to ensure that the required data manipulations were handled correctly.

The thoroughness of Version 1.1 application integration depends in large extent on how completely the vendors sharing an interface implemented the specification. The Version 1.1 specification defined many data items, only a few of which were considered to be mandatory for testing purposes. If either of the vendors chose not to implement non-mandatory items required to support a real business process, the utility sometimes found the interface to be lacking.

Participating vendors of the MultiSpeak Initiative are companies that have committed their support to the project. Participating vendors may have products that can be MultiSpeak compliant or they may represent product or service providers that do not offer a product currently covered by the specification.