U.S. Army Uses Nuance Speech Recognition Software

Soldiers at 29 U.S. Army bases will soon be able to call fellow military personnel at home and abroad as well as friends and family members via a voice-activated dialing solution powered by Nuance.

Featuring Nuance's speech recognition software, the new Smart Speech system from Amcom Software will handle tens of thousands of phone calls per day, including "morale calls," the phone calls placed from U.S. military personnel located in the field to their loved ones at home. With Amcom Smart Speech and Nuance speech recognition software, U.S. Army personnel will be able to pick up a phone in the field, or at an Army base, access the voice-activated dialing application and request the department they'd like to reach, or type of phone call they'd like to make (i.e. "chaplain's center," "morale call," or "directory assistance.")

Before Smart Speech, Army personnel waited on hold while an overseas operator connected their call home, an expensive proposition. Speech recognition eliminates hold times and the need for operator intervention, translating to saved time and money.

"We're pleased to team with Nuance to deliver Smart Speech systems at Army bases across the country," said Jack Collins, president and CEO of Amcom. "Speech technology is a cost-effective way of allowing U.S. Army personnel to connect with fellow officers, troops overseas, or their families at home simply by 'dialing' with their voice."

"Amcom has been providing leading-edge call center applications to customers worldwide for over eighteen years. Their experience in serving the government sector is a great complement to our speech expertise, and together we can provide customers with solutions running the highest quality, most scalable and reliable speech software on the market today," said Ron Croen, president, CEO, and chairman, Nuance.

The U.S. Army's Smart Speech installations have been subcontracted to Amcom by General Dynamics Network Systems of Needham, Mass. under the Digital Switch System Modernization Program. It is scheduled to be fully deployed by December 2003.