HTI Voice Solutions and Nuance Deliver Solution to Valero

MENLO PARK, CA and MARLBOROUGH, MA - HTI Voice Solutions Inc. and Nuance (NASDAQ: NUAN) have teamed together to deliver a Natural Language Credit Card Account Management Application on the Nuance Voice Platformä (NVP) for Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE: VLO). HTI has been a strategic Nuance partner since 2000, and is one of the first partners authorized to sell NVP. This application will allow Valero's retail credit card holders access to account information 24 hours a day, seven days a week using Natural Language Speech Recognition. Using only their voice to answer system prompts, callers will be able to activate new cards, report lost or stolen cards, make payments by phone, and more without the need for agent intervention. These services will be available to callers in English as well as Spanish on or about March 1, 2004. "Valero chose HTI to deliver this solution because of their commitment to Natural Language Speech Recognition," said Shelayne Clemmer, director of supply chain systems and store technology for Valero. "We are excited about the extensive expertise they bring to the table through their relationship with Nuance and we believe the applications provided by HTI will drive a high level of customer satisfaction and convenience for our customers."