Here's some news.
Company Press Release
NCTI Completes $2 Million Private Placement for New Webphone Subsidiary
Company To "Incubate" This Emerging Technology
STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 14, 2000-- NCT Group, Inc. (OTCBB: NCTI - news) today announced the formation and financing of a new webphone subsidiary. This subsidiary will focus on e-commerce and ECRM (electronic customer relationship management) applications of NCTI's proprietary Internet telephony software. The Company has secured an initial $2 million in financing for this subsidiary. NCTI will serve as an ``incubator' for the technology within this new application area, providing expertise in technology development, business services support and capital-raising resources.
``E-commerce presents a significant opportunity for NCTI technology and is an ideal area for the Company to pursue through the incubation process,' said Michael J. Parrella, President, NCTI. ``NCTI's webphone software allows the user to click a button and speak to a friend or a customer service agent while placing an online order. Our software delivers many advantages over competitive technologies including noise and echo cancellation, full duplex operation and superior compression. We believe that our webphone will become a valuable tool to consumers and businesses.'
As e-commerce is expected to achieve $41 billion in sales by 2002, analysts say the quality of online customer service may determine which sites get a consumer's business. More and more companies are recognizing the importance of Internet telephony as part of an ECRM strategy. In a Yankelovich study, for example, 63% of the respondents said they did not finish a transaction online because they couldn't find the information they needed. A Jupiter Communications survey found that 42% of 125 top-ranked e-commerce sites took longer than five days to answer customer e-mail queries, never responded at all or simply weren't accessible by e-mail.
In an effort to improve order completion rates, many e-commerce sites now offer ``click to chat' where a customer can type in questions that will be answered in real time. An even more user-friendly application is ``click to talk' where an on-line shopping customer can have a phone conversation with a customer service representative. This application requires webphone software.
NCTI is a leading technology developer with an extensive portfolio of proprietary algorithms and a wide variety of product offerings for consumer, commercial and industrial applications. The Company specializes in the utilization of sound and signal waves to reduce noise, improve signal-to-noise ratio and enhance sound quality. For more information, refer to the company's World Wide Web site at nct-active.com.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain information contained in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995 (the ``Act'), which became law in December 1995. In order to obtain the benefits of the ``safe harbor' provisions of the Act for any such forward-looking statements, the Company wishes to caution investors and prospective investors about significant factors, which among others, have in some cases affected the Company's actual results and are in the future likely to affect the Company's actual results and cause them to differ materially from those expressed in any such forward-looking statements. Investors and prospective investors should read this press release in conjunction with the Company's most recent Form 10-K and Forms 10-Q.
Visit our World Wide Web site at WWW.NCT-ACTIVE.COM
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Contact:
NCT Group, Inc.
Joanna Lipper, 203/961-0500 ext. 3506
Fax: 203/348-4106
jlipper@nct-active.com |
