1.40by 1.56...this today:
EDIT:...what MIGHT happen here is we get successive releases as different ILECS and CLECS install the PFVI technology.
(COMTEX) B: Minnesota Town Makes the Call: Speech Recognition
B: Minnesota Town Makes the Call: Speech Recognition
DALLAS, Aug 3, 1999 (BUSINESS WIRE via COMTEX) --
Sleepy Eye Telephone Company Becomes First ILEC To Market Preferred
Voice Speech Recognition Services
Preferred Voice, Inc. (OTC BB:PFVI) announced an agreement to install
their voice integrated platform (VIP) at the central office of Sleepy
Eye Telephone Company in Sleepy Eye, Minn. Sleepy Eye, a subsidiary of
Hector Communications (AMEX:HCT), will be the first incumbent local
exchange carrier (ILEC) to bring Preferred Voice Natural Dialog Speech
Recognition services to theircustomers.
Sleepy Eye Telephone Companyhas agreed to install the voice integrated
platform (VIP), designed and developed by Preferred Voice, at its
central offices. The VIP system which will be marketed to Sleepy Eye
telephone customers is based on Philips Speech Processing's natural
dialogue speech recognition engine, SpeechPearl(R) 99, a powerful and
flexible speech recognizer that can be used for a variety of telephony
applications.
Rick Stone, VP of Sales and Marketing at Preferred Voice, Inc., stated,
"This is the first installation for Preferred Voice using the Philips'
natural dialog speech recognition engine in the United States, and the
first application of the Preferred Voice revolutionary ILEC revenue
sharing program. Preferred Voice will provide to Sleepy Eye Telephone
Company the VIP and all related software, including customer
provisioning. The monthly revenue from the speech recognition services
will be shared between Preferred Voice and Sleepy Eye Telephone
Company. The revenue sharing program also includes all hardware and
speech recognition upgrades necessary to insure that Sleepy Eye
Telephone Company always has access to the latest speech recognition
technology."
Bob Weiss, Vice President and General Manager of Sleepy Eye Telephone
Company, said, "We are very pleased to be the first ILEC to recognize
the value of speech recognition as an important enhancement for our
traditional telephone services and to provide the unique speech
recognition enhancements from Preferred Voice to our customers. This
new technology also gives us the ability to provide voice-dialing
services to the visually-impaired and other individuals who have
difficulty accessing the telephone network. The new F.C.C. ruling
indicates that speech dialing could become mandatory for local service
providers in the near future."
"We're not surprised that a telephone company like Sleepy Eye is the
first to recognize the value of speech recognition as an enhancement to
its traditional telephone services," stated G. Ray Miller, Preferred
Voice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Once upon a time in
America", Miller said, "Telephone companies were all about
strengthening and serving their local communities and that tradition is
alive and well in places like Sleepy Eye, Minn. There are hundreds of
dedicated ILECs like Sleepy Eye that want thebest technology, and are
looking for new revenue sources."
To place a call, customers in the Sleepy Eye telephone area will dial
just two digits, speak the name of the person they are calling, and be
automatically connected. Additional benefits of the VIP System are:
EMMA, the first central office provided speech recognition auto
attendant that answers calls using Philips' natural dialog speech
recognition engine; a speech activated long distance calling card; an
enhancement to the standard business line that includes a locate
feature that finds the called person no matter where they are; a speech
recognition directory; and a call screening option, which states the
callers name and gives the called party the option to accept or forward
the call to voice mail. These speech recognition enhanced services will
be available from the Sleepy Eye central office and require no customer
premise equipment.
About Sleepy Eye Telephone Company
Sleepy Eye Telephone Company is an independent local exchange carrier
serving over 6,300 customers in southern Minnesota. The Company employs
a 100% digital network with its five exchanges.
About Preferred Voice
Preferred Voice, Inc. has developed its Voice Integrated Platform
(VIP) to deliver an expanding menu of natural dialog speech recognition
services directly from a telephone company central office. The company
has previously announced collocation agreements with Time Warner
Telecom (Nasdaq:TWTC), e.spire Communications (Nasdaq/NMS:ESPI),
Nextlink Communications (Nasdaq:NXLK) and KMC Telecom Holdings, Inc.
About Hector Communications
Hector, independently and through its 68% equity interest in Alliance
Telecommunications Corporation, owns and operates 10 independent
telephone companies serving 37 rural communities in Minnesota,
Wisconsin, South Dakota, and Iowa with 35,000 access lines; and 65
cable television systems in Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and
South Dakota serving more than 13,000 customers. The Company is also an
investor in partnerships and corporations providing wireless and
telecommunications-related services.
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 areused for banking,
travel, auto attendants speech portals and white and yellow pages
automation.
Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands is one of the world's
biggest electronics companies and Europe's largest, with sales of $
33.9 billion (US) 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 227.600 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.
Web sites:
www.preferredvoice.com www.philips.com www.hectorcom.com
Copyright (C) 1999 Business Wire. All rights reserved.
-0-
CONTACT: Company Contact:
Preferred Voice, Inc., Dallas
Rick Stone, 214/265-9580
or
Agency Contact:
Equity Communications
Ira Weingarten, 805/897-1880
or
For Philips
Porter Novelli
Bob Mullen, 770/280-8080
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