Lernout & Hauspie and Ndc Joint Venture to Launch Voice Pager in Late Fall '98
OmniVoice Closes Agreement with Glenayre; TSR Wireless and Arch Communications to Test OmniVoice VoiceOver FLEX Technology
BURLINGTON, Mass. and SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 22, 1998-- Lernout & Hauspie (NASDAQ:LHSPF, EASDAQ:LHSP-ED) (L&H), National Dispatch Center, Inc. (NDC) and NDC Voice affiliates today announced the formation of OmniVoice Technologies, Inc. (formerly known as NDC Voice Corporation). This should enable OmniVoice to license voice paging technology to the telecommunications and paging industries and facilitate OmniVoice's launch into the voice paging market in the late fall of 1998.
As part of today's announcement, OmniVoice disclosed that it has signed an agreement with Glenayre's Wireless Messaging Group, the world's leading supplier of paging infrastructure, to incorporate OmniVoice's VoiceOver(tm) technology within the Glenayre GL3000 Paging Switch on FLEX(tm) networks.
OmniVoice's revolutionary multimedia paging solution combines traditional alphanumeric paging capabilities with the benefits, flexibility and added security of voice messaging. This paging solution allows users to hear messages in the caller's own voice as well as to receive messages in numeric or text format. The pager itself, manufactured by Oi Electric Corporation, a Mitsubishi-affiliated company, operates using a standard AA battery and is the size of a conventional alphanumeric pager. The pager is expected to be available later this year for the Asia Pacific region (China, Japan, Korea, etc.), United States, Canada, Mexico and South America.
''OmniVoice's advanced VoiceOver technology, powered by L&H's speech compression engine, is an example of how speech technology can offer the market a practical solution in the form of pagers,'' said Gaston Bastiaens, president and CEO of L&H. ''For instance, due to the extremely complicated nature of alphanumeric messaging and the written languages of the orient, the introduction of voice paging will provide a true solution for the use of electronic devices and further the future of mobile communications.''
Voice Pagers Enter Field Test
In furtherance of the launch of the voice pager, OmniVoice Technologies, Inc. also announced that Arch Communications Group, Inc. (ARCH) (NASDAQ:APGR - news), the nation's second-largest paging company and TSR Wireless, Inc., another of the nation's largest paging companies, will participate in OmniVoice's North America field trials for its voice and text paging solutions.
In discussing the field tests, Len DiSavino, CEO of TSR Wireless, said, ''OmniVoice's new VoiceOver technology positions the paging industry with an exciting new capability for today and a stream of products for tomorrow. We are excited to participate in this trial because we believe that this can be the technology platform for our next generation of products focused on taking our customers into the next millennium.''
OmniVoice Names CEO
In a related announcement, Kathleen Layton was named president and Chief Executive Officer of OmniVoice. Ms. Layton was formerly vice president/director of Business Development for Ameritech Corporation [NYSE:AIT - news] Consumer Services Division, and has a strong track record managing high tech ventures.
Commenting on her appointment and on the relationships with Glenayre, TSR and Arch, Ms. Layton said, ''The ability to deploy OmniVoice's combined voice and text paging technology over any FLEX network via the Glenayre paging terminal, positions OmniVoice to be the leader in the paging industry. Voice technology has already proven successful in the PC market. As CEO and president of OmniVoice, it is my mission to ensure that OmniVoice's technology proves equally as successful in the paging and overall consumer electronics markets. Accomplishing this will change the competitive landscape of the paging industry.''
About OmniVoice
Founded in July 1995 as NDC Voice and renamed OmniVoice Technologies, Inc. in June 1998, San Diego-based OmniVoice is a world class provider of advanced wireless voice messaging applications. The company offers leading edge technology for the transmission of wireless voice messages over low data-rate digital transmission systems. By combining industry expertise, innovative technology, a flexible infrastructure and entrepreneurial spirit, the company is able to provide wireless carriers with fully integrated end-to-end solutions.
About Lernout & Hauspie
Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products (L&H) is a global leader in advanced speech and language solutions for computers, automobiles, telecommunications, embedded products, consumer goods and the Internet. The company is making the speech user interface (SUI) the keystone of simple, convenient interaction between humans and technology, and is using advanced translation technology to break down cultural barriers. L&H's products and services originate in four basic areas: automatic speech recognition (ASR), text-to-speech (TTS), digital speech and music compression (SMC) and text-to-text (translation). For more information, please visit Lernout & Hauspie on the World Wide Web at www.lhs.com.
About NDC
The National Dispatch Center, Inc. is the premier gateway provider of quality wireless messaging services in the United States, including multilingual operator dispatch services, one number services, and wireless information services. The company provides paging, ESMR, PCS, DCPD, and other wireless networks nationwide with toll-free number access to these services. NDC services are device- and carrier-independent. Messages generated from the NDC system can be sent to any type of wireless receiver in the database via any of the wireless carriers linked to NDC. Messages can also be sent to virtually any computer with a PCMCIA slot via wireless PC cards.
About NDC Voice Affiliates
NDC Voice Affiliates are a combination of private investors and the Flanders Language Valley Fund who bought originally the rights to distribute the voice pager in Western & Eastern Europe, Latin America and Southeast Asia (excluding Japan).
This Press Release contains forward-looking information, including statements regarding L&H's expectations and intentions concerning the development and commercialization activities of OmniVoice and its customers. Readers are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, the ability of OmniVoice's customers to successfully develop and market products and services incorporating L&H's technology, that any of OmniVoice's customers will choose to commercialize the technology in the time frame anticipated, if at all, once these field trials are completed, or that, if commercialized, the technology will be commercially successful. Moreover, at any time, OmniVoice's technology could be rendered obsolete by new or competitive technologies. The forward-looking statements related to L&H are also subject to risks set forth in L&H's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements contained herein speak only as of the date of this Press Release. L&H expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any such statement to reflect any change in L&H's expectations or any such statement to reflect any change in L&H's expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.
The product names and trademarks mentioned herein are trademarks of L&H, NDC, OmniVoice, Glenayre, Arch Communications and TSR and their respective subsidiaries.
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