Speech Technology eWeekly - October 01, 2005

Q & A

Steve Liese, Director of Product Marketing at Carrius

According to Steve Liese, director of product marketing at Carrius, "In an ideal world, new speech applications would simply provide their services to 100 percent VoIP networks."

Steve Pollock, Co-founder and Executive Vice President, TuVox (on the NetByTel Acquisition)

Steve Pollock, co-founder and EVP of TuVox, explains that "While there has been a lot of consolidation activity in the speech market, this acquisition is the first consolidation of speech application-focused companies."

Speech Technology News

Tegic and ScanSoft Partner

SEATTLE & BURLINGTON, Mass. - Tegic Communications has signed an agreement with ScanSoft, Inc. to license its speech and handwriting technologies for use on cell phones and mobile devices.

Convergys Releases SpeechPort

CINCINNATI - Convergys Corporation added the Convergys SpeechPort™ Open Hosting Environment (OHE) to its portfolio of speech and multi-channel technology solutions.

mobilkom austria Launches Next Generation Services with the VoiceGenie VoiceXML Media Platform

BOSTON - mobilkom austria, an Austrian mobile communications provider, has deployed the VoiceGenie VoiceXML platform to deliver interactive voice response (IVR) solutions to their subscribers.

Fluency Voice Technology Appoints New Vice President of Product Development

LONDON and NEW YORK - Doctor Jacob Abboud has joined Fluency Voice Technology's executive management team as the newly appointed vice president of product development.

Chi Mei Communications Systems Selects VoiceSignal

WOBURN, Mass. - Chi Mei licensed VoiceSignal VSuite 2.0 software for implementation on Chi Mei Smartphones.

Mitchell Grocery Deploys Voxware's VoiceLogistics

LAWRENCE, N.J. - Mitchell Grocery, a wholesale grocery distribution center that serves more than 250 independent supermarkets in the Southeast, has selected Voxware's VoiceLogistics to voice-enable its logistics operations.

Genesys and IBM Expand Speech Solution Offering

SAN FRANCISCO - Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. and IBM entered a new technology and reseller agreement in which the Genesys Voice Platform (GVP) technology offering has expanded to include the addition of IBM WebSphere Voice Server (WVS) speech solutions.

SFR Deploys Mobile Speak to Visually Impaired Mobile Subscribers

SFR, a French mobile operator, offers subscribers equipped with a multimedia device free software that makes key features of the handset accessible by speech.

Empirix Awarded Patent for Component of End-to-end Testing Solution for CRM Environments

BEDFORD, Mass. - Empirix Inc. has been issued U.S. patent #6,944,799 for its Multimedia Synchronization System, an element of its end-to-end testing service for Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology environments involving products from vendors such as Avaya, Cisco, Genesys and Siebel.

NCT Integrates Voice Technologies to OSE

NCT integrated its ClearSpeech noise reduction technology with the OSE Real Time Operating System.

Nortel Appoints Mike Zafirovski to President and CEO

TORONTO - Nortel Networks Corporation's board of directors appointed Mike S. Zafirovski as president and chief executive officer (CEO).

iListen UK Features VXI TalkPro Xpress Headset

SALEM, N.H. - The UK version of MacSpeech's iListen program is bundled with the TalkPro Xpress headset from VXI Corporation.

NextiraOne and Critical Watch Partner

HOUSTON and DALLAS - NextiraOne entered a new relationship with Critical Watch, a provider of Enterprise Vulnerability Management Solutions.

WebForPhone Partners with Salesforce.com

PHILADELPHIA - NetXentry LLC's WebforPhone has become a strategic partner of Salesforce.com. WebForPhone provides a new way to access CRM via speech.

GrameenPhone Selects Kirusa to Enable Subscribers in South Asia to Send SMS Messages with Their Voice

DHAKA, BANGLADESH, and EDISON, N.J. - GrameenPhone Ltd., a mobile telecom operator in Bangladesh, launched the Voice SMS service to its customers, based upon patent-pending technology from Kirusa.

Siemens Business Services and Loquendo Partner

TURIN, Italy - Loquendo and Siemens Business Services (SBS) signed a strategic partnership establishing Siemens Business Services as a worldwide value added reseller of Loquendo Voice Technologies.

Sky High Speed Selects Angel.com's Virtual Call Center

MCLEAN, Va. - Sky High Speed has deployed Angel.com's Virtual Call Center solution.

ScanSoft's OmniPage Professional 15 Takes OCR Programs into New Territory

From PC Magazine - According to M. David Stone, "ScanSoft's OmniPage Professional 15 does so much more than optical character recognition (OCR)…Among the more significant new features is a set of image enhancement tools to improve scan quality (and thereby improve recognition results) without having to rescan; a form creation tool to let you turn paper forms into electronic versions that can be filled in on-screen; and the inclusion of Google Desktop Search, so you can find a file you've scanned in (as well as other files) by searching for words in the file."

Vivento Customer Services Expands Managed Services Portfolio with Genesys Outbound Voice

SAN FRANCISCO - Vivento Customer Services GmbH (VCS) has opted to expand its customer service portfolio for enterprises, deploying Genesys Outbound Voice as a new managed customer interaction service.

NextUp Technologies Extends Relationship with Wizzard Software

PITTSBURGH - NextUp has extended their relationship with Wizzard Software and has selected AT&T Natural Voices Desktop edition for use in one of their assistive software applications, NextUp Talker™.

Acapela Group Enriches Its Linux Offer

MONS, Belgium and TOULOUSE, France - Acapela Group released its Linux-made applications for voice synthesis technology in the telecom, mobility and automotive industries.

Microsoft Acquires Technology Assets From Unveil Technologies

REDMOND, Wash. - Microsoft Corp. has acquired certain intellectual property assets from Unveil Technologies Inc., a developer of enterprise call center technology and the Unveil Conversation Suite.

salesforce.com and Genesys Will Extend Appforce On-Demand Platform

Genesys has been selected as one of the key computer telephony integration (CTI) platforms for Salesforce Service & Support, via a pre-built integration with salesforce.com's ATAPI 2.0 (Appforce Telephony API, formerly (STAPI), part of the Appforce on-demand platform.

Independence Blue Cross Selects WebForPhone

PHILADELPHIA - Independence Blue Cross selected NetXentry LLC's WebforPhone, a provider of speech recognition for accessing the Internet via any phone, to deploy its Physician Referral using speech/phone self-service.

Loquendo and Comlet Sign Partnership Agreement

TURIN, Italy, and MUNICH, Germany - Loquendo and ComLet, a German systems integrator, have entered into an agreement which enables ComLet to integrate Loquendo's multilingual text-to-speech (TTS) and automatic speech recognition (ASR) engines into its CallPro Voice Portal solution.

Austin's Capital Region Transit Authority Launches VoiceXML-Based Voice Response Systems From VoiceGenie and Ontira

LAS VEGAS - Austin's Capital Region Transit Authority launched Ontira's speech-enabled Transit Response Systems powered by VoiceGenie.

Message Technologies Migrates to the Latest Version of VoiceGenie Platform

Message Technologies, Inc. (MTI) migrated to the latest version of the VoiceGenie VoiceXML platform and expanded its port capacity to 276 additional ports.

Microsoft Acquires Technology Assets From Unveil Technologies

REDMOND, Wash. - Microsoft Corp. has acquired certain intellectual property assets from Unveil Technologies Inc., a developer of enterprise call center technology and the Unveil Conversation Suite.

Brooktrout and VoiceGenie Partner

NEEDHAM, Mass. - Brooktrout will incorporate VoiceGenie's VoiceXML technology into its SnowShore IP media server to help enable fixed and mobile service providers to bring to market speech-driven multimedia services.

Datria Integrates Its Voice-Enabled Ticket Management Software Applications with VoiceObjects' Voice Application Management System

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. and COLOGNE, Germany - Datria has integrated its voice-driven applications with VoiceObjects X5, the VAMS from VoiceObjects.

Nexidia Launches Management Consulting Practice

ATLANTA - Nexidia launched a Management Consulting Practice designed to help customers maximize the impact of implementing Nexidia's speech analytics solution.

Metaphor Launches SpeechOutlook

WELLESLEY, Mass. - Metaphor Solutions released SpeechOutlook, which provides voice access to Microsoft Outlook contacts over any phone.

Voxware Releases New VoiceXML Browser

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. - Voxware, Inc. released its VoiceXML Browser, VoxBrowserT, technology that voice enables Windows CE based devices for the logistics market.

Loquendo and Dutchear Partner; Loquendo Releases Kate

TURIN, Italy and DELFT, The Netherlands - Loquendo and Dutchear partnered to implement speech-driven telephony applications. Loquendo also released Kate, the new, emotional UK English persona.

VIDA Software Opens Natural Interaction Technology

MADRID - VIDA Software launched its partner program.

NCT Releases ClearSpeech for CSR's Bluetooth

NCT released its ClearSpeech technology for Cambridge Silicon Radio's BlueCore3.

Loquendo and CreaLog Sign Partnership Agreement

TURIN, Italy, and MUNICH, Germany - Loquendo and CreaLog have signed an agreement whereby CreaLog will integrate Loquendo's multilingual speech technologies into its CreaVoice Voice Portal.

Voxeo Launches Products for Voice over IP Application Delivery

Voxeo released its VoIPCenter 6.0 SIP platform. The VoIPCenter SIP Media Server bundles English-language speech recognition and speech synthesis engines, and supports a variety of additional speech engines via support for the IETF Media Resource Control Protocol (MRCP) standard.

Tuition Management Systems Selects VoiceGenie and Nuasis

LAS VEGAS - Tuition Management Systems (TMS) selected the combined VoiceGenie IVR and Nuasis IP contact center application.

VoiceObjects Establishes Worldwide Headquarters in Silicon Valley

SAN MATEO, Calif. - VoiceObjects has completed the legal formalities necessary to become a U.S. company, and has established its worldwide headquarters in Silicon Valley.

Banco Rió Selects Genesys to Transform Its Call Center

SAN FRANCISCO - Banco Rió, a subsidiary of Banco Santander in Argentina, has chosen Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. to transform the Banco Rió call center into a multimedia contact center.

Akimeka and VoxGen Join Forces

VoxGen was awarded a contract from Akimeka LLC, a US developer of medical applications and information displays for situational awareness.

Cisco's New Tool for Emergency Communications

From ZDNet - According to Marguerite Reardon, "Cisco's communications system, called the Internet Protocol Interoperability and Collaboration Systems, or IPics, uses software to connect existing radio and cell phone networks over an IP network. Radio and cell phone conversations from various networks are converted into IP packets, and that traffic is sent over the existing IP-based data network. The packet data is then converted back to voice so that it can be heard over any and all of the participating networks."

Voxeo Acquires Vocomo Customer Base and VoiceXML IVR Platform Technology

ORLANDO, FL - Voxeo Corporation acquired the customers, support contracts, and VoiceXML platform products of Vocomo Software Corporation.

VoiceGenie and varetis Partner

MUNICH, Germany - VoiceGenie Technologies Inc. and varetis solutions GmbH partnered to deliver voice-automated directory assistance services.

Aculab Uses CYGCOM's Speed to Market and eSupport Program

MILTON KEYNES, U.K. - Aculab entered an agreement with CYGCOM Integrated Technologies.

TuVox Acquires NetByTel Speech Applications and Hosted Business Customers

CUPERTINO, Calif. - TuVox acquired NetByTel's hosted speech application business.

VIVO Selects Convergys

CINCINNATI and SAO PAULO - VIVO, a wireless carrier in the southern hemisphere with more than 28 million subscribers, signed a new five-year contract to receive professional and consulting services from Convergys Corporation.

Pronexus and Mobilio to Share Data Between Field Personnel and Office Using a Cell Phone

Pronexus and Mobilio, a provider of Web-based service management and wireless solutions, signed a Letter of Intent (LOI).

Aculab and Alliance Systems Extend Strategic Partnership; Aculab Launches Online Ordering System

MILTON KEYNES, U.K. and PLANO, Texas - Aculab and Alliance Systems, Ltd. partnered to provide integrated communications solutions that combine Aculab's enabling technology products and Alliance Systems' Intel-based servers. Aculab also launched an online ordering system for customers to purchase Prosody S, its host media processing (HMP) product.

AVST's Katrina Aid Highlighted in Frost & Sullivan Report

Frost & Sullivan took note of AVST's involvement through the donation of its call processing, voice messaging, unified messaging and advanced speech solutions to major relief organizations as well as the enhancement of the communication capabilities of existing customers in the region to increase their relief efforts.

Middlesex Savings Bank Selects S1 Enterprise Online and Voice Banking Applications

ATLANTA - Middlesex Savings Bank, a $3 billion financial institution, selected S1 Enterprise online and voice banking solutions from S1 Corporation as its next-generation customer interaction solutions.

Nortel Receives Frost & Sullivan 2005 Market Leadership Award for IVR Solutions in India

MUMBAI, India - Nortel was presented the 2005 Market Leadership Award by Frost & Sullivan for demonstrating leadership in India's IVR (Interactive Voice Response) systems market in 2004.

VoiceObjects X5 Certified to Run on SAP NetWeaver Platform

VoiceObjects' X5 release 5.2 Voice Application Management System (VAMS) has been certified by SAP.

LXE Selects Voxware's VoxBrowser to Voice-Enable Wireless Computers

LXE has selected Voxware's VoiceXML browser, VoxBrowser, to voice-enable its entire line of Windows CE-based wireless computers.

Angel.com and MScript Launch Voice-Enabled CRM and Transcription Solutions

MCLEAN, Va. - Angel.com entered into a strategic alliance with MScript to offer three voice-enabled CRM and transcription solutions.

Apptera Rolls out Business Intelligence for v-Business Platform

SAN BRUNO, Calif. - Apptera™ released a business intelligence solution for the company's v-Business platform.

Advanced Control Systems Partners with Envox 6

WESTBOROUGH, Mass. - ACS, a privately-owned provider of utility information systems, will provide the Envox-based voice solutions to its customers as additional modules for PRISM, the company's outage management system that is currently being used by more than 200 utilities worldwide.

Captain D's Launches Phone-Based Customer Satisfaction Survey with Angel.com

MCLEAN, Va. - Captain D's, a chain of 600 seafood restaurants, has selected Angel.com to build and deploy a phone-based customer satisfaction survey.

Verizon Wireless in the Top Spot in VocaLabs Study of Customer Service Quality

MINNEAPOLIS - Vocal Laboratories Inc. released the results of its eighth quarterly SectorPulse study on the quality of customer service among wireless phone companies during the three months ending September 30, 2005.

SER Releases Latest Version of CPS Enterprise Edition

DULLES, Va. - SER Solutions, Inc. released CPS Enterprise Edition 2.0 (CPS E2™), the latest version of its next-generation outbound call management solution.

Lawsuit Filed by Motorola Against Mike Zafirovski

TORONTO - Motorola, Inc. filed a lawsuit on October 18, 2005 in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois against Mike Zafirovski, who was recently appointed as president and chief executive officer of Nortel effective November 15, 2005.