Avaya Selects Babel's BrightSpeech

MONS, BELGIUM - Babel Technologies S.A, a developer of speech processing technologies, announced that Avaya, the developer of Interactive Voice Response systems, has deployed Babel's BrightSpeech text-to-speech (TTS) engine on its R1 Avaya Interactive Voice Response system. The Avaya R1 now features both Babel Technologies' French language version and the newly released Dutch (B) language version of BrightSpeech, Babel's text-to-speech solution. Avaya Interactive Response R1, is a sophisticated platform for the development of advanced customer self-service solutions. By adopting the BrightSpeech speech server, developers are able to implement the latest speech engine technology, pre-built speech tasks and VoiceXML programming tools. Avaya comments: "Avaya is pleased to add support for BrightSpeech, particularly in the Belux Region, as BrightSpeech offers surprisingly high quality speech in the Dutch, French and German languages versions. BrightSpeech gives our customers new options for delivering cost savings and creating new revenue-generating automated services on the award winning Avaya Interactive Response platform." Babel's BrightSpeech offers application opportunities for software developers wishing to use synthetic speech as an information carrier for their products or services. Based on Unit Selection technology, this TTS engine can be integrated into telecoms servers and multimedia applications, making it a suited speech solution for voice portals, interactive voice response systems, unified messaging (including e-mail reading), educational software and interactive kiosks. The software has been released in Dutch (B), French, German, Spanish, Swedish and US English, and an on-going development effort ensures that it will progressively cover Babel's full range of 18 languages. In the course of 2003, BrightSpeech will also be adapted to mobile platforms. Commenting on the announcement, Vincent Fontaine, CEO of Babel Technologies said: "Since its release, BrightSpeech has enjoyed considerable demand from organisations that want to quickly and easily add speech to their applications. Central to BrightSpeech's appeal is that it offers a near-human sounding voice in multiple languages, combined with unlimited application opportunities."