Intervoice Announces Suite of Process-Based Applications for VoiceXML and SALT Environments

DALLAS, TX  —  As part of its strategy to provide voice solutions that assist enterprises and carriers to exceed end-user expectations through the use of speech technologies, Intervoice, Inc. (Nasdaq: INTV) has made available Omvia Voice Express applications suite which supports both leading industry standards Speech Application Language Tags (SALT) and Voice Extensible Mark-up Language (VoiceXML).

 

Intervoice identified four horizontal process areas where voice technology is best suited: general information management, customer acquisition, billing and customer care. The General Information Module allows customers to browse through products and services of interest while enabling them to generate information requests for future purchase considerations. The Customer Acquisition Module enables customers to order the product or service of their choice while also allowing their order to be fulfilled and confirmed. With the Billing Module, end users are provided with a method to pay for goods and services through the generation, collection and confirmation of relevant billing information. Finally, in the event a customer needs service, the Customer Care Module provides service requests, service scheduling, and service confirmation, returns/exchanges and account information requests.

 

"With the launch of its Omvia Voice Express suite of process-based packaged speech applications, Intervoice makes it easier for enterprises with high customer touch points to deploy speech-based applications for self-service," said SV Purushothaman, Enterprise Communications Analyst with Frost and Sullivan. "Intervoice is executing a strategy shift to better serve small to medium businesses where lower total cost of ownership and customization are paramount. The value proposition of this offering lies in its ease of customization despite being an "out of the box" solution, not to mention the inherent flexibility to support industry-leading standards such as VXML and SALT. With the introduction of such packaged applications at affordable prices, Intervoice is empowering enterprises to savor the advantages of speech technology in conjunction with a faster return on investment," added Purushothaman.

 

"Intervoice is helping customers and developers overcome several of the most challenging aspects of implementing speech applications, and by doing so will make it easier and more cost-effective for different types of companies to roll out these applications," said Blair Pleasant, president and principal analyst of COMMfusion.

 

Omvia Voice Express applications can be used as application templates, turn-key solutions, applications as a service (ASP), configurable applications and developer applications. By having this flexibility, companies can harness the power of early adoption by the developer community while taking advantage of voice applications that suit the needs of both the large enterprises and service providers as well as those of small-to-medium sized businesses.

 

The comprehensive Omvia Voice Express application portfolio includes:

• Omvia Communicator - Offers callers access to other people, places and information resources from any telephone device at anytime, using natural voice commands. Communicator is built on an architecture that supports advanced speech recognition, provides standard interfaces to the telephony network, and provides a speech-activated interface to name dialing and corporate and shared address books.
• Omvia Locator - Provides speech-enabled locational services by city, state, or zip code. Additionally, Omvia Locator with cross street finder makes finding a retail outlet, kiosk, or other services easier through speech-enabled cross-street identification. The Locator module provides generic location-based functionality that can be customized to meet a wide range of organizational requirements. The solution can be deployed, for example, to help customers find a store or a branch office from a caller-specified location such as cross streets. Locator makes giving consumers directions to any business simpler and less costly.
• Omvia Rate Quote - Offers "fast quotes" to give callers instant access to popular interest rates. The application captures information such as property value, loan amount, property type, loan type and term to provide custom quotes to callers and provides a library of mortgage questions that can be easily selected by the financial institution. Omvia Rate Quote also allows callers to perform complex calculations with quick navigation.
• Omvia Name and Address Capture - Captures first, middle and last names, zip code, city, state, street number, street name and apartment number. Name and Address Capture shortens call durations using reverse phone number lookup functionality based on a 10-digit phone number of Automatic Number Identification (ANI) and provides integrated third-party address verification and notifies callers of invalid primary and secondary address information.
• Omvia Notification - Available as a service, Omvia Notification, provides voice-enabled emergency event notifications that combine sophisticated monitoring and detection with advanced push technology to virtually any wireline, wireless, Internet-enabled or communication device, including voice telephones, pager, email, PDA, SMS-text messages or a combination of devices.
• Omvia Funds Transfer - Advises callers about account eligibility, balance minimums, transaction limits, and insufficient funds. The application verifies transfer information before the transaction is completed, allows callers to change particular pieces of transfer information without restarting the transaction and supports transfers from external financial institutions. Funds Transfer also automatically provides account balances after transfer is completed.
• Omvia Account Payment - For credit card holders, callers can pay the current balance, last statement balance, minimum payment or custom amount. For mortgages and loans, callers can choose the monthly payment or a greater custom account. The application supports mortgage and loan payoffs, payments from external financial institutions and the setup of recurring automatic payments and scheduled payments to ease the payment process.
• Omvia Survey - Allows businesses to gauge customer satisfaction and conduct tele-voting initiatives through voice automation. Once a survey or tele-voting process is created, survey answers inbound calls and queries callers for responses. Companies have the ability to capture recorded customer comments for further analysis. The user interface uses text-to-speech or pre-recorded prompts and records callers' verbal comments. Multiple surveys can run simultaneously and the caller will be directed to specific ones based on DNIS or by a Survey Identifier related to their specific caller account.
• Omvia Identifier - Delivers a method to meet the needs of clients who lose, forget or need to change their password or Personal Identification Number (PIN). The PIN and Password Reset application from Intervoice can be deployed to allow callers and subscribers to manage these key self-service system identifiers. Identifier provides a comprehensive reset solution, including a consistent Voice User Interface (VUI), caller authentication, and back-end Reset functionalities that are easily customized for use in a wide range of industries. The Identifier solution allows callers to log in and be identified and authenticated, to change their PIN or password, and then to enforce that change within the automated system, giving companies powerful flexibility in managing customer ID changes.
• Omvia Account Information - Allows callers to retrieve transaction history, balances and status of a specific check while providing filters for reviewing transaction history based on date ranges and transaction types. The application also includes optional warnings for account balance minimums and activity thresholds.

The implementation approach is a four-step process that enables enterprises to select an Omvia Voice Express application of choice, configure it to their needs via tools supporting both .NET and J2EE environments, and choose voice response technologies, through support of the Omvia Voice Framework that supports both .NET and J2EE environments and technologies such as:

 

• Microsoft Speech Server 2004, including support for the Intervoice Telephony Interface Manager (TIM) and Intel TIM,
• Intervoice Media Server for Voice XML and
• Intervoice Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) options for call center deployments.

 

Powered by Microsoft SQL Server, Omvia Voice Express applications can provide enterprises with valuable operational and business insight. Detailed call logs and out-of-box reports help managers analyze system usage, efficiency and performance.

 

Applications can be accessed by calling 1-866 TRY-INTV.

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