InternetSpeech Launches Voice i-Mode Service in Japan

TOKYO, JAPAN - InternetSpeech, a voice Internet technology provider based in San Jose, California, announced the Japanese launch of Voice i-Mode using its netECHO technology. netECHO is the voice Internet solution that provides anywhere, anytime Internet access using any phone. The Japanese version of netECHO was launched in February 2002 to give consumers and businesses access to Japanese and English web site contents, email access and on-line ordering of products, by picking up the phone. The new i-Mode service expands that to let users talk and listen to any i-Mode site; a service that is accessed by over 40 million I-mode phone users. Developed and deployed in the U.S. in 2000, netECHO empowers users by enabling them to navigate the Internet and listen to information from any web site, using voice commands and any telephone. NetECHO technology provides content from any Web site in real-time. Customers can also search by key words and perform e-commerce transactions. "InternetSpeech is devoted to offering true Internet access through a simple telephone interface," said Dr. Emdad Khan, founder, president and CEO of InternetSpeech. "Because of i-Mode's high popularity, we have voice enabled i-Mode sites to extend true Internet access to many more people in Japan. InternetSpeech also plans to voice enable other sites so that all available standards in Japan are unified allowing a j-Phone user to listen to i-Mode contents and vice versa, for example." NetECHO also supports business applications. The technology automates the voice-enabling process, making Web content accessible in real-time in an interactive audio format for customers who call from a phone. Depending on the site's content, customers can hear company news, as well as product and pricing information, check their order or account status, purchase products, obtain product support, and more, by using their own voice. Voice-enabling with netECHO happens on the fly, without any re-coding.