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(COMTEX) B: LOCAL PHONES BECOME 'VIP LINES' THANKS TO SPEECH RECOGNIT
B: LOCAL PHONES BECOME 'VIP LINES' THANKS TO SPEECH RECOGNITION KMC TELECOM
TAPS PREFERRED VOICE AND PHILIPS SPEECH PROCESSING FOR FIRST U.S., Large-Scale
Offer of Access to Speech Recognition Technology Via Local Phone Service
DALLAS, Jun 16, 1999 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- In an effort to be the
first local phone service provider to offer select U.S. markets access
to speech recognition technology as part of their basic phone service,
KMC Telecom Holdings, Inc. signed a $12 million, multi-year licensing
agreement with Preferred Voice, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: PFVI).
Based on a robust speech recognition technology developed by Philips
Electronics NV, (NYSE: PHG) KMC has been granted a license by Preferred
to purchase and install its proprietary Voice Integrated Platform (VIP)
in 39 markets throughout the United States.
Scheduled to begin service in 23 markets by the end of 1999, with an
additional 14 markets to follow shortly thereafter, the agreement can
be expanded to include a total of 120 markets, which would increase the
valueof the deal for Preferred Voice to over $35 million.
"As one of the fastest-growing and most innovative competitive local
exchange carriers, KMC Telecom is committed to delivering the best new
services and applications to customers in smaller cities throughout the
United States," said Michael A. Sternberg, President and CEO of KMC
Telecom.
"Preferred's Voice Integrated Platform is without question one of
themost significant new service enhancements since the advent of
voicemail," Sternberg added. "We believe it will enhance our service
portfolio, offer new functionality that benefits customers and make KMC
even more competitive in themarketplace."
As a result of a recently concluded agreement with Phillips Speech
Processing, Preferred Voice will enable KMC to gain access to Philips'
advanced Natural Dialogue Speech Recognition technology. The Philips
technology coupled with the VIP Platform will enable KMC customers to
perform a number of convenient tasks such as dialing a number or
routing a call simply by speaking aname.
"Speech recognition technology is a perfect extension of basic
telephone service and is one of the ways Philips is working to bring
power to the human voice," said Ron van denBos, President and CEO of
Philips Speech Processing. "In light of the intense competition that
characterizes the introduction of enhanced services to the
telecommunications industry, Philips views this agreement as a positive
example of the benefits of speech recognition for carriers currently
examining speech enhanced services for theirnetworks."
Preferred Voice has chosen to call the cyber space voice that delivers
all of its services "EMMA," in honor of Emma Nutt, the first telephone
operator hired by Alexander Graham Bell on September 1, 1876. Based on
natural dialog understanding technology from Philips, EMMA supports a
comprehensive menu of enhanced speech recognition services that are
available to the customer via a central office concept.
EMMA is the first central office based, remote access, automatic speech
attendant platform. Using Philips' speech recognition technology, EMMA
answers your phones, routes your calls, dials your long-distance calls,
and performs all call accounting. Because it is a central office
service, there is no equipment to buy and customers can enable or
disable EMMA at their convenience.
"Telecommunications service providers are realizing that speech
recognition is an enhanced telephony service offering that's easy to
use and extremely beneficial to customers," said G. Ray Miller,
Preferred Voice President and Chief Executive Officer. "Powered by
natural dialog speech recognition and understanding from Philips, the
VIP Platform has helped to make speech recognition an affordable and
easily implemented enhanced telephony service. There now can be little
doubt that speech services will soon be in easy reach of millions of
people around the world."
About the VIP Platform The Voice Integrated Platform (VIP) developed by
Preferred Voice is a specialized applications processor providing
unique and superior call processing along with a number of enhanced
speech recognition services, including:
Voice Dialing is a service that can be offered to residential or
business customers which allows the person placing the call to access
the KMC Telecom dial tone, dial ** on the keypad and speak with EMMA
who prompts the caller to speak a name from their directory.
EMMA Telephone Receptionist is the first central office based remote
accessed, automated attendant service. Utilizing natural dialog speech
recognition technology. TR answers your phone and listens as the caller
speaks a name, and department or location from the directory, then
routes the callto the person, department or location requested. There
is no equipment, costly software to purchase and most important, no
maintenance.
EMMA Smart Business Line gives any businessperson the competitive
edgeby offering a portable, on the go business line that rings you at
any phoneno matter where you go, locally or anywhere in the United
States. The automatic selective call screening allows KMC customers to
work from their office, home, or cellular phone, never missing an
important phone call again.
EMMA 1 Special Number -- In order to find their parents, children today
may have to remember a list of multiple area codes and phone numbers.
With 1SN children are able to find their parents, quickly, at anytime,
and anywhere.
KMC Plans to launch EMMA in the following markets by the end of this
calendar year:
Ann Arbor, Mich. Longview, Texas Augusta, Ga.
Madison, Wis.
Baton Rouge, La. Eden Prairie, Minn. Brevard, Fla.
Pensacola,
Fla.
Corpus Christi, Roanoke, Va. Daytona Beach,
Sarasota,
Texas Fla. Fla.
Fayetteville, N.C. Savannah, Ga. Fort Myers, Fla.
Shreveport,
La.
Fort Wayne, Ind. Tallahassee, Fla. Greensboro, N.C. Topeka,
Kan.
Hampton Roads, Va. Winston-Salem, N.C. Huntsville, Ala.
Clearwater/St.
Petersburg,
Fla.
Lansing, Mich. Charleston, S.C. Dayton, Ohio Akron,
Ohio
Toledo, Ohio Spartanburg, S.C. Monroe, S.C.
Montgomery,
La.
Columbia, S.C. Biloxi, Miss. Chattanooga, Johnson
City,
Tenn. Tenn.
Bethesda/Chevy Chase, Md.
KMC Telecom will also offer EMMA in the following new Tier IV markets:
Wilmington, N.C. and Hickory, NC.
About KMC Telecom KMC Telecom Holdings, Inc., a privately owned
facilities-based competitive local exchange carrier, operates
state-of-the art local fiber optic networks in 23 cities throughout the
Midwest and South, with plans to enter an additional 15 markets in
1999. Founded in 1995, the company offers superior alternatives in
local telephone and data communication services. Visit their web site,
www.kmctelecom.com for more information.
About Preferred Voice Preferred Voice has developed the Voice
Integrated Platform (VIP) to deliver an expanding menu of natural
dialog speech recognition products and services directly from a central
office facility. The company has previously announced co-location
agreements with Time Warner Telecom and Nextlink Communications
covering approximately 65% of tier 1 markets throughout the United
States.
About Philips Philips Speech Processing is a pioneer and one of the
global market leaders in speech recognition, natural dialogue and
language understanding technologies. A developer of voice enabled
telephony applications, Philips has a large installed base of speech
recognition and natural dialogue systems in Europe and is a major
speech technology provider in North America. Its natural dialogue
platform SpeechMania(R) and SpeechPearl(R) speech recognition engines
are used for banking, travel, auto attendants speech portals andwhite
and yellow pages automation.
Philips has more than 40 years experience in the development and
marketing of speech products and developed the first commercially
available PC based natural, continuous speech recognition engine for
speech to text applications in 1993. Philips' line of end user software
(FreeSpeech 98 and FreeSpeech 2000 for SoHo and consumer markets, and
SpeechPro for the professional dictation users) is available in 13
languages and its VoCon speech recognizer for embedded systems has been
successfully integrated in consumer electronics products and devices.
Philips has set up SpeechSolutions Design Centers around the globe,
supporting R&D and the establishment of industry standards, and is a
member in various standardization bodies such as ECTF, SAPI, HAVi,
HomeAPI, VXML, W3C and VoiceTIMES. Internet: www.speech.philips.com .
Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands is one of the world's
biggest electronics companies and Europe's largest, with sales of US$
33.9 billion in 1998. It is a global leader in color television sets,
lighting, electric shavers, color picture tubes for televisions and
monitors, and one-chip TV products. Its 228,800 employees in more than
60 countries are active in the areas of lighting, consumer electronics,
domestic appliances, components, semiconductors, medical systems,
business electronics, and IT services (Origin). Philips is quoted on
the NYSE (PHG), London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and other stock exchanges.
News from Philips is located at www.news.philips.com .
News about Philips can also be found on the U.S. web site
www.philipsusa.com .
This press release contains forward-looking statements. These are risks
and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
fora variety of reasons, including but not limited to, the introduction
of competitive products and services by companies with far greater
financial resources than Preferred Voice, Inc., and/or the ability or
failure of Preferred Voice, Inc. to raise the additional capital
necessary to install its platforms in other cities, the inability of
the Company to attract distributors, and the possibility that there are
other products and services on the market, or being developed now to |
