Speech Labs Become Astute

Astute Software today acquired Speech Labs. Astute currently uses a solution called RealDialog, which relies on a virtual assistant to answer questions. The company says the next logical step was to add voice search capabilities to the RealDialog solution.

Through this acquisition, the company gains two of Speech Labs solutions: Enterprise and Contact Center Voice Search technologies (EVS and CVS, respectively). Astute says that EVS responds to a problem many businesses face: losing information that is not written down--the company’s Web site says it can total as much as 60 percent. A company can use EVS to capture this information. For example, it can record meetings, which will be entered into a database that can then be searched by users. EVS can also record texts and calls made.

While EVS is used mainly for conversations inside the business, CVS can also be used to record and analyze customer feedback during calls. The system can listen for key words, phrases, and even a customer’s tone. CVS uses samples of the voice pitch of the caller as well as the contact center agent in the call. It measures an increase or decrease based on a standard deviation, according to Lori Angalich, vice president of marketing at Astute Software. She says Astute will use CVS to upsell to customers and improve agent performance because of the real-time data it can access.

Astute asserts that these call center and business solutions can be helpful for both vertical and horizontal businesses including: financial services, healthcare, retail, hospitality, and entertainment.

"Resolving enterprise-wide information access challenges is a critical first step to meeting the demands of today's consumers and companies," said Astute Solutions' president, Joseph Sanda, in a statement. "With the Speech Labs acquisition, we build on our tradition of simplifying access to knowledge and actionable insights."

"Our voice search technologies are a natural extension of the functionality Astute Solutions provides in its solution portfolio," said Alex George,co-principal of Speech Labs, in a statement. "Enterprises need greater flexibility, quality and accuracy when it comes to sharing and acquiring information. It is anideal time to combine forces."

Please note that in a previous version of this article, RealDialog is wrongly identified as a previous solution. This text reflects the changes. We regret the error.