Speech Technology eWeekly - April 01, 2004

Q & A

Cheryl Alden, Marketing Director, VoiceGenie Technologies

Cheryl Alden, Marketing Director at VoiceGenie Technologies discusses the benefits of GenieSummit, the role of VoiceGenie's partners, new changes at VoiceGenie and the balance between customer service and automation.

Speech Technology News

Genesys and IBM to Deliver Enterprise-Wide Speech-Enabled Self-Service Solutions

SAN FRANCISCO and SOMERS, NY - WebSphere-based solution integrates contact centers and enterprise business processes.

Gold Systems Releases Speech Recognition Applications for Microsoft Speech Server 2004

BOULDER, Colo. - The V-Dialer application is an automated receptionist that enables customers and employees to contact companies with natural speech.

Nuance Caller Authentication 1.0 Automates Call Center Security

MENLO PARK, Calif. - Powered by Nuance Verifierä, new packaged voice authentication application speeds deployment and reduces reliance on touchtone PINs and passwords.

Wizzard Acquisition of MedivoxRx Technologies Moves Ahead

PITTSBURGH - Wizzard's management anticipates that, subject to completion of the matters described above, the acquisition will close by April 20, or sooner, as circumstances permit.

Royal Philips Electronics Appoints Allongue

VIENNA and PARIS - Royal Philips Electronics announced that it has appointed Patrick Allongue as regional director France & Benelux.

American Airlines Achieves Highest Customer Care Quality In VocaLabs SectorPulse Airline Report

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. - Vocal Laboratories issued its quarterly SectorPulse Airlines report measuring how well eight different airlines handle calls to their toll-free phone numbers.

Hataekni and Hex Reach Agreement

REYKJAVIK, Iceland - Hataekni and Hex have reached an agreement where one year's subscription to Hex Security Agent is to be included with all sales of Nokia Observation Cameras in Iceland.

MacSpeech Releases ScriptPaks

SALEM, N.H. - MacSpeech announces the release of its Mariner Write and Mariner CalcScriptPaks.

Edify Named in the Leader Quadrant in the Gartner IVR and Enterprise Magic Quadrant 2004

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Edify Corporation announced that it was named in the Leader Quadrant in the Gartner Interactive Voice Response and Enterprise Voice Portal Magic Quadrant 2004.

Toshiba Unveils Latest Developments in Automatic Speech Recognition

CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom - Toshiba Research Europe Limited unveiled the latest advances in its R&D program to produce the next version of its embedded ASR engine.

County of San Mateo Chooses Syntellect

PHOENIX - Vista Solution will provide speech-enabled self-service for human services agency telecenter.

VocaLabs Awards Liberty Wireless Highest Marks for Customer Service

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. - The BeVocal/Liberty Wireless application received the highest marks possible in customer satisfaction, call completion and call consistency.

Latest Weapon in the Road Warriors Arsenal for Fighting Traffic Battles

Voice information portal will deliver real-time traffic information via the telephone - a first in Canada.

SandCherry Announces Advanced Speech Solutions for Healthcare Providers

BOULDER, Colo. - Software platform allows healthcare providers of all sizes to utilize advanced voice solutions.

Motion Computing's M1400 Tablet PC Features Knowles Acoustics' IntelliSonic Speech Software

Knowles Acoustics announces Motion Computing has incorporated its IntelliSonic software into its M1400 Tablet PC.

Voxeo Introduces Industry's 100 Percent IVR Hosting Uptime Guarantee

ORLANDO, Fla. - Voxeo Corporation announces a new IVR hosting service level agreement.

Apptera Introduces Name and Address Capture Application

SAN BRUNO, Calif. - Solution records caller information for financial services and other industries at a fraction of the cost of live agents.

SandCherry Announces Delivery of Simplified Multimodal Solutions

ATLANTA - Cost-effective deployment of data services with integrated voice capability directly to BREW, J2ME and Symbian devices.

SoundClear Software for Mobile Handsets Provides Enhanced Speakerphone Performance

MESA, Ariz. - Acoustic Technologies now shipping ATS5500 speakerphone software.

Hex Software Announces Speech Enabled RSS Reader

REYKJAVIK, Iceland - Hex Software announced the availability of a Speech Enabled RSS reader.

Acoustic Technologies Introduces the ATH3001 IC for Hands-Free Car Kits

MESA, Ariz. - The ATH3001 provides improved speech intelligibility with high speaker volume in noisy car environments.

Voice Web Solutions Releases Voice Web Studio 1.5 for Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004

SEATTLE - New version builds foundation for adoption of SALT.

Voxify Introduces Automated Agents for Travel Industry Call Centers

Speech-driven automated call center agents have the conversational skills to handle advanced customer service calls.

Gartner's Cool Vendor Report Names Unveil Technologies

WALTHAM, Mass. - Unveil was the only voice self service platform company included in the report.

Empire Medicare Improves Provider Self-Service with Speech System from MicroAutomation and ScanSoft

MANASSAS, Va. and PEABODY, Mass. - Developed in three months, speech system effectively handles nearly 70 percent of routine incoming calls.

Aspect Communications Announces Aspect Customer Self-Service Version 7.0

From e-consultancy.com, Copyright 2004
Aspect Communications Corporation has upgraded its customer self-service solution.

Toshiba Accentuates the Natural with New Text-to-Speech Solution

CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom - Toshiba Research Europe Limited has pioneered a new solution that will improve embedded TTS technology.

Witness Systems Adds Speech Analytics Solution to Its eQuality Workforce Optimization Suite

TORONTO and ATLANTA - eQuality CallMiner application analyzes interactions for further assessment.

General Voice Releases New P2P Call/Conferencing Software

DUDLEY, Mass. - General Voice releases P2P call/conferencing software that instantly provides automatic text transcripts with full audio record.

MapQuest and NetByTel Partner to Add Speech Recognition to Location Finder

DENVER, Colo. and BOCA RATON, Fla. - Companies now offering customers the ability to locate businesses on the Web or over the telephone.

Archway Marketing Services Implements Software from Witness Systems

ATLANTA - Archway Marketing Services® has deployed the eQuality® customer interaction recording software from Witness Systems.

AVST Launches Second-Generation Enterprise Communications Application

FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. - CallXpress 7.0 Addresses Growing Requirement for Anytime-Anywhere Access to Corporate Voice and Data Infrastructure.

IBM in the Leader Quadrant in IVR and EVR Solutions Magic Quadrant

SOMERS, NY - The study indicates that the most important product selection criteria are vendor vision, product features, platform scalability and ease of integration.

Kurzweil 3000 Offers New Voices

NEW ORLEANS - Kurzweil adds NeoSpeech VoiceText TM natural sounding voices option to assistive technology reading software.

First European Speech Group Unveils New Name: Acapela Group

BELGIUM, FRANCE and SWEDEN - Following the merger in January of Babel Technologies, Elan Speech and Babel Infovox, the newly formed company is called Acapela Group.

Verizon Wireless Achieves Highest Scores In VocaLabs SectorPulse Wireless Report

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. - Vocal Laboratories issues its SectorPulse quarterly report for mobile phone-carriers comparing the quality of customer care.

Voice.Trust Expands Management Team

MUNICH, Germany - Voice.Trust announces the appointment of Avery Glasser as vice president of product management.

Ericsson Launches "Talking Intranet" for Ericsson Employees

OLTEN, Switzerland and DUBLIN, Ireland - Ericsson employees in Germany, Austria and Switzerland are now able to access internal company information via "Outspoken" service.

Eicon Networks Integrates with Envox 5 Communications Development Platform to Provide Advanced Application Development and Management Capabilities for Diva Server

MONTREAL, Canada - Integration enables solutions for voice, speech and conferencing.

Knowles Acoustics and MEMSCAP Form Strategic Partnership

ITASCA, Ill. - Knowles Acoustics announced it has chosen MEMSCAP as a source for the manufacture of its silicon microphones' MEMS wafers.

Hex Signs Greater Reykjavik Transport

REYKJAVIK, Iceland - Hex Software has signed Greater Reykjavik Transport for a voice enabled information service based on Hexia MC, Hex's Mobile Content platform.

Tell-Eureka Launches LevelOne Virtual CSR Voice Self-Service Application on Microsoft Speech Server 2004

NEW YORK - Tell-Eureka extends its commitment to open standards with support for SALT.

Intervoice Enhances Capabilities of Speech-Enabled Retirement Services Application for Diversified Investment Advisors

DALLAS - Diversified Investment Advisors increases customer service levels and decreases call volumes with improved Intervoice solution.

Genesys Listed in the Leader Quadrant in Analyst Firm's 2004 IVR Report

SAN FRANCISCO - Genesys announced that Gartner has named them as a leader in the 2004 IVR and Enterprise Voice Portal report titled, "IVR and Enterprise Voice Portal Magic Quadrant 2004."

724 Solutions' X-treme Alerts Platform Enables Enhanced ALTELL Customer Messaging Experience

From TMCnet.com, Copyright 2004SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Application for seventh largest United States wireless company instantly generates actionable, time-sensitive alerts on subscribers' wireless phones.

CR Technologies' Wildfire Virtual Assistant Soon Available to USA Datanet Customers

CR Technologies signed a long term agreement with USA Datanet.

Empirix Announces Latest Siebel Systems Validations

CANNES, France - Empirix integrates Service Assurance for Siebel Call Center with Siebel 7.

MacSpeech Clarifies iListen and Apple's Spoken Interface

SALEM, N.H. - In response to customer e-mails MacSpeech Inc. releases a statement clarifying how Apple's recent announcement of a forthcoming "spoken interface" will relate to its flagship product, iListen.

City Cabs Beat Telephone Queue Blues

EDINBURGH, Scotland - Edinburgh taxis deploy home-grown TTS.

BBN Technologies' Avoke Named Best New Speech Technology

AVIOS recognizes BBN for successful large-scale commercial deployment of semantic speech.

New Empirix Service Benchmarks Contact Center Performance from Customers' Perspective

WALTHAM, Mass. - Empirix Baseline summarizes quality of service provided by automated systems, including response times, speech recognition rates and transaction failure rates.

Open Source Call Control XML Platform Integration Kit Unveiled by Phonologies

MUMBAI, India - Phonologies announces the availability of its Call Control eXtensible Markup Language Browser Platform Integration Kit, Oktopous™.