Avaya, Inc. Licenses Gold Systems Inc.'s Vonetix 3.0 for Its CONVERSANT System for Interactive Voice Response
BOULDER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 14, 2001--Gold Systems Inc.: Vonetix Technology Will Allow Enterprise Companies to Tap into Nuance Speech Recognition
Gold Systems Inc., an independent provider of easy-to-use voice and wireless Web solutions for Global 2000 companies, today announced Avaya, Inc. (NYSE:AV) has licensed Vonetix(TM) 3.0 for its CONVERSANT(R) System for Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Version 8.0.
Vonetix, through the use of voice response, speech recognition and wireless Web technologies, makes it easier for global companies to empower their customers with instant access to vital information and transactions. Vonetix 3.0 now includes a "speech channel" that supports the use of Nuance (Nasdaq:NUAN) speech recognition software.
Vonetix allows voice applications and platforms to work together
-- regardless of their origin -- due to its single infrastructure for integrating speech recognition, interactive voice response and wireless Web technologies with a company's existing customer communication interfaces. Vonetix accelerates application deployment and time-to-market by leveraging a corporation's existing infrastructure due to its standards-based Java architecture. This open, scalable development environment will help expand and unify the now fragmented IVR application market.
Vonetix's new features include a "speech channel" which allows the CONVERSANT System and other leading IVR platforms to operate on Nuance's speech engine and VoiceXML Interpreter. The ability to run on Nuance's VoiceXML Interpreter, along with its speech recognition engine, makes CONVERSANT System a robust IVR, capable of supporting any voice application written in the VoiceXML standard. The first Vonetix 3.0 customer implementation will take place at an undisclosed site in Europe.
Future Vonetix speech engine plug-ins are being planned that will enable enterprise customers to use different speech engine providers without rewriting their existing speech recognition applications. In addition, Vonetix 3.0 will include an "application channel" that allows for a Java application development environment.
"Gold Systems' technology is constantly expanding to respond to the growing needs of enterprise customers," says Gold Systems CEO Terry Gold. "Our customers expect versatility and flexibility in their voice and data applications and want more choices. Our Vonetix technology is an extremely cost-effective way to capitalize on this trend because it brings together different Web, wireless and voice recognition technologies in a common environment."
"Avaya has made it clear that we will continue to provide our customers greater value and flexibility by licensing Gold Systems' Vonetix 3.0 for the CONVERSANT platform," says Darren Stordahl, Director CRM Solutions Marketing. "With the addition of Vonetix's speech channel, our customers can quickly access the latest natural language speech recognition technologies to help strengthen their own customer relationships and more quickly create effective eBusiness solutions."
According to Gartner's DataQuest, one of the biggest barriers to widespread use of mobile e-commerce has been the lack of uniform standards. Technologies that bring together the use of voice, Web and wireless data will be instrumental to eliminating this barrier and helping to propel e-commerce as the norm for business communications.
Vonetix, which has been standard on the CONVERSANT System Version 8.0 since May 2000, provides telephone access to Web-based content, eliminating the need for companies to duplicate their Web sites' back-end infrastructure for automated telephone access. Without Vonetix, companies frequently must develop expensive, application-specific code to communicate with such databases.
Companies using Vonetix on the CONVERSANT System can enhance their customer service initiatives by offering a full range of voice recognition and automated response applications that free their end-users from desktop PCs. Now customers of banking and finance, healthcare, utility and other services can conduct business, such as transfer funds between checking and savings accounts, check 401k status, pay utility bills, check health insurance claims, and countless other applications, virtually whenever and wherever they want.
Current Vonetix customers and prospects include companies across industries such as financial services, insurance, retail, e-commerce, utilities, healthcare and government. Gold Systems has alliances with Avaya, InterVoice-Brite, Nuance, Philips Speech Processing and SpeechWorks.
Vonetix capabilities will be expanded in the future through a full suite of popular connectivity plug-ins that will support standards such as CORBA and .NET, as well as enterprise software packages such as Siebel, PeopleSoft and SAP, helping preserve companies' investments in their existing information systems architecture.
About Avaya's CONVERSANT System for Interactive Voice Response (IVR) -- V8.0
CONVERSANT System V8.0 is a sophisticated, highly robust and reliable solution for building winning call-routing and self-service applications. These applications can be easily integrated with Web site and back-office systems for a true end-to-end eBusiness solution. The CONVERSANT System for IVR provides the flexibility and power that today's customer contact centers demand, enabling companies to deliver customers a more responsive and personalized enterprise-wide customer relationship experience.
About Gold Systems, Inc.
Gold Systems, Inc., an independent provider of user-friendly voice and wireless Web solutions, makes it easier for Global 2000 companies to empower their customers with instant access to information and transactions when and where they need it. Using standards-based technology for speech recognition and Wireless Web interfaces, its flagship product, Vonetix(TM), simplifies business-to-customer communications and data access while leveraging existing infrastructures. Gold Systems counts 11 of the Fortune 20 companies as clients and was named to the 1998 Inc. 500 and Deloitte & Touche Fast 500 lists of fast-growth, privately held companies. Information about Boulder, Colo.-based Gold Systems can be found at www.goldsys.com or by calling 303/447-2774.
About Gold Systems Europe Ltd.
The company's U.K. office is based at Wyvols Court, Swallowfield, Reading, RG7 1WY. Tel: +44 118 988 0792, Web: www.goldsys.com.
About Nuance
Nuance develops, markets and supports a voice interface software platform that makes the information and services of enterprises, telecommunications networks and the Internet accessible from any telephone. Every day, millions of people interact with Nuance systems at blue chip companies like BeVocal, Lycos, Merrill Lynch, Nomura Securities, Sprint PCS and Tellme Networks. Nuance is also driving the creation of the Voice Web and delivering software for V-Commerce (voice-enabled e-commerce) services and applications. Nuance is headquartered in Menlo Park, Calif., with global sales offices and partners supporting solutions in multiple languages around the world. For more information about Nuance, visit www.nuance.com or call 888/NUANCE-8.
Vonetix is a trademark of Gold Systems, Inc.
All other company and product names are used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.
CONTACT:
Gold Systems, Inc.
Julia Freund, 303/447-2774
jfreund@goldsys.com
www.goldsys.com
or
Metzger Associates (for Gold Systems)
Linda Lidov, 303/786-7000, ext. 241
linda@metzger.com
KEYWORD: COLORADO CALIFORNIA UNITED KINGDOM INTERNATIONAL EUROPE
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