Fonix Technology Deployed by Meridian

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - Fonix(R) Corp. (FNIX), a provider of speech solutions, announced that Meridian Environmental Technology, a provider of weather forecasting and analysis services, has deployed a multistate traveler information service beginning in North Dakota. The system utilizes Fonix speech technology. In July 2000, the FCC assigned 511 as the number for nationwide access to traveler information. 511 was designated as a free service and when fully implemented will cover the majority of roads in the United States, helping travelers avoid congested routes and safety hazards. Meridian and Fonix have partnered to incorporate Fonix's standards-based s.Manager(TM) integration platform into Meridian's 511 traveler information system. Meridian's 511 system using Fonix technology is currently available in North Dakota, with other states scheduled to deploy the system in the near future. Fonix licenses its speech technology to Meridian under a nonexclusive contractual agreement. Under the license agreement, Meridian can purchase additional ports as they expand their service to other states. "By adding speech technology to the 511 system, Meridian offers the state's travelers the most convenient access to advanced travel-related information," said Mark Owens, vice president, Meridian Transportation Services. "Fonix speech interfaces are particularly useful on the road; rather than dialing numbers, callers can simply speak the appropriate requests to access needed information. They don't need to take their eyes off the road or their hands off the wheel." "The system uses Fonix technology to give callers the easiest and safest interface to getting road condition and weather information," said Walt Nawrocki, vice president of Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) at Fonix. "The caller just asks for information on a specific section of highway, and the application using Fonix's speech interface queries a database for that highway and speaks the information from the database to the caller."