VoiceVault Achieves Certification

DUBLIN, IRELAND - VoiceVault announces that it has achieved an accredited certification under EU Directive 1999/93/EC on Electronic Signatures using a biometric technology. It gives legal significance to the use of voice verification as an electronic signing technology and it certifies VoiceVault as a trusted certification service provider. The external certification of Voicevault was carried out by Certification Europe, a standards certification company. "For the past two years, VoiceVault has worked hard, establishing a trustworthy environment, building on our certification under the BS7799/IS17799 standard in 2001 and culminating this month in our certification under EU Directive 1999/93/EC. During this period, we have established that the application of voice verification for signing is applicable as an advanced electronic signature under the EU Directive, which includes legal recognition. In addition we have demonstrated the capability to act as a Certification Service Provider by developing a "signing application" using voice verification", stated Paul Ryan, Head of IT, VoiceVault. In the area of electronic signatures and digital certificates the onus is on the certification provider to establish trust in the services it offers. It can do so by displaying that it is operating to best practice, implementing the highest levels of signature owner identity, managing signatures in a secure manner and achieving independent assessment and certification. Voicevault has demonstrated all of these through certification to the highest industry standards, BS7799/IS17799 and EU Directive 1999/93/EC on electronic signatures. Michael Brophy, CEO of Certification Europe, who are accredited by the National Accreditation Board said, "We are delighted that Voicevault has achieved this first. The organisation invested considerable time and resources to achieve conformance with the Electronic Signatures Directive. Their successful certification is testimony to the fact that the organization operates to the highest recognised standards in this field". Michael continued to say that "Certification under the EU Directive will do a great deal to strengthen user confidence in electronic signatures and promote market acceptance of the new technologies. Achieving certification through a biometric based system places Voicevault at the cutting-edge of international standards". VoiceVault will build on this achievement with a forthcoming launch of a biometric PKI offering, based on voice verification.