Monday November 6, 12:05 am Eastern Time
Press Release
SOURCE: Ask Jeeves, Inc.
Ask Jeeves, Nuance and General Magic Create Alliance to Deliver Conversational, Natural Language Voice Applications to Corporations
Leaders in Natural Language Question Answering, Speech Recognition and Voice Applications Combine Forces to Move Beyond Menu-Driven Applications And Humanize Voice-Driven Services
EMERYVILLE, Calif., Nov. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Ask Jeeves, Inc. (Nasdaq: ASKJ - news), today announced an alliance with Nuance (Nasdaq: NUAN - news) and General Magic (Nasdaq: GMGC - news) to enable corporations to deliver information to their customers via the telephone using a conversational, question answering format. By combining the highest level of expertise in natural language processing, speech recognition and voice applications and hosting, the alliance will improve the accuracy of voice-enabled systems and provide companies with the ability to voice-enable their Web investments as well as other business-critical information. Ask Jeeves anticipates making the resulting voice applications available to companies in Q1 of next year. Ask Jeeves has also agreed to collaborate with both Nuance and General Magic to co-market the voice applications they develop to Fortune 1000 corporations including telecommunications carriers and voice portals worldwide.
The integration of Ask Jeeves' powerful natural language technology and its unique ability to understand how consumers ask questions with Nuance's leading speech recognition technologies and General Magic's voice application development and hosting services will create the next generation of voice applications for companies worldwide. The ability to voice-enable corporate Web sites and combine natural language processing with IVR systems (interactive voice response systems) presents an enormous opportunity for companies to rely less on cumbersome phone trees and to reduce customer dependence on expensive, human operated call centers. Corporations will be able to provide intuitive, voice-driven customer support using the content they have already invested in and developed. This advanced, automated voice solution will become a critical component of the next generation call centers providing higher ROI and better customer satisfaction.
Soon, customers will be able to ask questions in full sentences via the phone such as, ``Where can I find out about after hours trading?'' or, ``Where can I buy a laser jet printer?'' and get immediate and relevant answers from the companies they are calling.
``As we discovered with Ask.com and with our more than 125 corporate customers, people prefer to ask for the information, products and services they are looking for in full sentences, not keywords. With Nuance and General Magic, we will bring that same human method of interaction to the telephone,'' said Rob Wrubel, CEO of Ask Jeeves. ``By creating one knowledge base of questions and answers for corporations and enabling multiple modes of access to it through the PC, handheld devices or telephones -- we efficiently link an enterprise's employees, customers and suppliers with the information they seek anytime, anywhere.''
``This partnership has the potential to refine the accuracy of speech recognition -- and may make a significant improvement in companies' ability to voice-enable their Web investments and other business-critical information,'' said Gerard O'Shea, CRM Services analyst at the Yankee Group. ``This is an important step in liberating customers from traditional models of PCs, browsers, and search engines. With more and more people around the world using cell phones to interact with corporations for everything from m-Commerce to customer service, corporations can not afford to come to the table late.''
Connecting People with Answers
Both Nuance and Ask Jeeves currently help hundreds of blue-chip companies, such as American Airlines, Ford, Microsoft and TD Waterhouse to conduct business online. Through the combination of natural language processing and voice recognition technologies, these companies will soon be able to voice-enable access to their Internet content and other business-critical information. Their customers will be able to use the telephone to access 24-hour support and e-commerce information and to navigate information quickly and easily by simply asking questions in conversational, natural language.
``Ask Jeeves has the largest knowledge base in the world with more than five billion questions that consumers have asked over more than four years,'' said Ron Croen, president and CEO of Nuance. ``By leveraging Ask Jeeves' customer intelligence and natural language technology, we will create the de facto standard for searching and navigating large amounts of information that enterprises, portals and carriers have built using any telephone connection.''
Leveraging General Magic's expertise in building personality-rich voice user interfaces, companies will also be able to match their visual brands with auditory brands. General Magic will host these business solutions in its 24/7 Network Operations Center, allowing businesses a faster time to market. General Magic will work closely with Ask Jeeves to build an intuitive interface on its magicTalk platform that seamlessly integrates Ask Jeeves' natural language question answering technologies and services with Nuance's speech recognition technologies.
``General Magic's dedication to delivering a superior voice user experience, coupled with the natural language technologies of Ask Jeeves and Nuance, provides a powerful new solution for businesses to provide high quality customer service,'' said Steve Markman, chairman, president and CEO of General Magic. ``Customers quickly recognize the value of conversational user interfaces compared to the frustration of today's menu-driven phone systems and will value the companies who incorporate this level of service.''
Ask Jeeves' relationships with Nuance and General Magic will result in the availability of voice-driven products for the more than 125 corporate customers worldwide that rely on Ask Jeeves for essential e-commerce and e-support services. In a joint marketing agreement, the companies will co-distribute the solution to enterprises and voice portals worldwide. By utilizing a larger, combined sales force, the seamless solution will be deployable and sellable by either party. Aided by Ask Jeeves technology, Nuance will include the enhancements into its core speech recognition engine and grammars.
The Global Opportunity
While many of the world's Fortune 500 companies have made enormous investments in their Web sites, their ability to provide multiple modes of access to the content they've developed is a critical next step. For example, although Japan has the world's second-largest number of Internet users, with 14.5 percent of the total global online population, only 28 percent of Japanese households had PCs in 1999. The majority of Japanese instead rely on telephones, and in particular mobile phones, to conduct commerce and access information, products and services online. Rather than cumbersome keypad interaction, Ask Jeeves' voice applications will enable conversational telephone interaction, dramatically increasing its reach to customers worldwide.
About Ask Jeeves
Ask Jeeves is a leading provider of intuitive, intelligent question answering technologies and services. Ask Jeeves' solutions enable companies to convert online shoppers to buyers, reduce support costs, understand customer preferences and improve customer retention. Ask Jeeves also syndicates its solutions to portals, infomediaries, and content and destination sites to help companies increase e-commerce and advertising revenue. Ask Jeeves deploys its solutions on Ask Jeeves at ask.com, Ask Jeeves for Kids at ajkids.com and DirectHit.com to help companies target and acquire qualified prospects online and to provide consumers with real-time access to information, products and services. For more information, visit ask.com or call 510-985-7400.
About General Magic
General Magic is a voice application service provider dedicated to delivering customized voice applications, hosting, and professional services to leading telecommunications, enterprise and Internet companies. With its award-winning VoiceXML-based magicTalk communications platform and years of experience, General Magic offers the premier voice user interface that combines language, personality, and logic, creating a natural conversation between people and information. General Magic creates value for its customers by building voice solutions that strengthen customer relations, deliver value-added services, and provide access to content anytime, anywhere. General Magic is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. For additional information about General Magic, visit the company's web site at generalmagic.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 American Airlines, Charles Schwab, The Home Shopping Network, Lloyds TSB, Sears and United Parcel Service. Nuance is also driving the creation of the Voice Web and delivering software for V-Commerce(TM) (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.
Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements in this Press Release, including statements concerning plans, intentions and expectations, contain ``forward-looking statements'' within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 as amended. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the time the statements are made and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. The words ``believe,'' ``expect,'' ``intend,'' ``anticipate,'' ``may,'' variations of such words and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements but their absence does not mean that the statement is not forward-looking. These statements are not guaranties of future performance and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements that speak only as of the date of this announcement. Factors that could affect actual results, include, among others, the factors described in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Ask Jeeves' Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2000. Ask Jeeves undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events or circumstances after the date of this release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
NOTE: Nuance and V-Commerce are registered trademarks or trademarks of Nuance Communications, Inc.
Ask Jeeves is a registered trademark of Ask Jeeves, Inc. The ``Ask'' button, Jeeves Relevant Answers, and Ask.com are service marks of Ask Jeeves, Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
SOURCE: Ask Jeeves, Inc.
biz.yahoo.com
Ö¿Ö |
