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Monday November 16, 8:05 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Frost & Sullivan
Frost & Sullivan - Interactive Voice Response
Systems: Open Systems Are The Standard for Success
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Nov. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Interactive voice response (IVR)
technology has emerged as an integral part of call centers, financial institutions, and the travel
industry. Businesses realize the significant savings and the efficiency that routine inquiries
take on when routed through an IVR system. This promotes growth in the industry as more
organizations discover the advantages of IVR systems.
According to new strategic research from Frost & Sullivan (www.frost.com), U.S. Interactive Voice Response (IVR) System
Market, the IVR market is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 16.2 percent from 1997-2004.
''The migration to an open-based standards system is further aiding growth,'' says Frost & Sullivan Telecommunications
Industry Analyst Suresh Joseph. ''Manufacturers are eliminating proprietary components, enabling a greater interoperability
between products from different manufacturers. This gives value-added resellers (VARs) and systems integrators (SIs) more
freedom in combining products for better solutions.''
For purposes of this study, the market has been segmented by number of ports: low-end (up to 12 ports per system),
mid-range (14 to 46 ports) and the high-end market (48 ports and above). This study also covers technologies integrated with
IVR systems including: Speech recognition, speech verification and text-to-speech software, as well as IVR boards that may
be added on to the base IVR systems.
The bulk of the competition for market share will be concentrated among the top five or six vendors. While a few small
vendors have exited the market, others have survived by providing less expensive products to small business customers.
InterVoice, Periphonics, Syntellect, Edify, Brite and Lucent comprise the major companies in the IVR market. Vendors such
as Edify Corporation [Nasdaq:EDFY - news], who have adopted open standards, experienced higher growth rates. This is
expected to impact product strategies among the vendors who continued to hold proprietary rights over the majority of their
product architecture.
Leading competitors in the speech recognition software market include Voice Control Systems and Nuance Communications.
Nuance has been able to grow its revenues through the early introduction of its high vocabulary, speaker independent, natural
language recognition engine. In the text-to-speech industry, Lernout & Hauspie has increased its market share, due in part to
acquisitions, while Compaq has entered the market as a leading competitor through purchasing Digital Equipment Corporation.
Competition in the speech technologies markets was based primarily on features and scalability of products.
Dialogic continued to hold the majority share of the market followed by Natural Microsystems. The competitive structure of the
boards market will now include Lucent, after its recent acquisition of Rhetorex.
U.S. Interactive Voice Response (IVR) System Market describes the pricing and distribution strategies adopted by leading
vendors to gain and retain their customer base. By pinpointing high-growth markets, this study provides a road map to the
industry and to the areas where companies should direct their focus.
Frost & Sullivan presents Market Engineering awards to the IVR systems industry to recognize companies that have worked
hard to make a positive contribution to the market. Winners are selected from an in-depth analysis of the market competitors
and interviews with those companies that make up the industry. The Frost & Sullivan research management team has reviewed
these awards and the criteria used to select the winners to ensure that the competition and award system are as fair as possible
given the subjective nature of market analysis and competitive assessment.
The 1997 Market Engineering Customer Focus Award was given to Edify for their superior knowledge of customer needs, as
well as the company's ability to meet and exceed customer expectations. Edify Corporation was the first company to take
some strategic initiatives to address specific customer needs and trends in the market. The first major initiative was to adopt an
''open standards'' and Windows NT-based product portfolio. While other manufacturers continued to focus on proprietary
systems architecture, Edify was able to capitalize on the high rate of customer migration away from such legacy systems.
The technologies reviewed include: Interactive voice response (IVR), IVR Platform, IVR Boards, call center, speech
recognition, text-to-speech, speech verification, speaker verification, natural language recognition, speaker independent and
continuous recognition.
Market participants include: Active Voice Corporation [Nasdaq:ACVC - news], AcuVoice, Inc., ADS Communications, Algo
Communications, ALTech (Applied Language Technologies, Inc.), Analogic Corp. [Nasdaq:ALOG - news], APEX Voice
Communications, Applied Voice Technology, ARKSYS, Inc. (Arkansas Systems), Artisoft, Inc., Aspect Telecommunications,
AT&T Labs (Advanced Speech Products Group), ATS Money Systems, Aumtech, Inc., Automation Consulting, BackPack
Software/800 e-mail, BBN Corporation, BICOM, Inc., Big Sky Technologies, Inc., Brite Voice Systems, Inc., Brooktrout
Technology, Inc., Buffalo International, Inc., Carmel Connection, Inc., Cascade Technologies, Inc., CECORP, Centigram
Communications Corporation [Nasdaq:CGRM - news], Clayton I.D.S., Compaq Computer Corporation [NYSE:CPQ -
news], Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), Computer Systems Integration, Computer Talk Technology, Inc., Comverse
Technologies, Inc., Comverse/DGM&S Telecom, Inc., Copia International Ltd., Cothern Computer Systems, Inc., CTI
Information Services, Inc., D/V Technologies, DataTech Services, Inc., Dialogic Corporation [Nasdaq:DLGC - news],
DiaVox Technologies, Inc., Diesom Telecom, Digital Equipment Corporation, Digital Speech Systems, Inc., Digitcom
Multimedia Corporation, Edify Corporation, Electronic Tele-Communications, Inc., Eloquent Technology, Inc., Enhanced
Systems, Inc., Entropic Research Laboratory, Inc., EXECUTONE Information Systems, Inc., Expert Systems, Inc., Fairway
Systems, FAR Systems, Inc., Federal Communications Group, Inc., First Byte, Inc., First Franklin Bank, Frontier Confertech
International, Inc., Gasper Corporation, GE Capital IT Solutions, Hammer Technologies., Harris Corp [NYSE:HRS -
news]./Digital Telephone Systems, IBM Communications Systems Division, IdealDial Corp., Integrated Data Concepts,
Integrated Telephony Products, Intelligent Systems Design, Intellisystems, Inc., Intellivoice Communications, Inc., Interact
Incorporated, Interactive Communications, Inc., Interactive Telephone Company, Interface Electronics, International Public
Access Technology, Intertel Systems, InterVoice, Inc., ITT Industries, Inc. (A/CD Division), KDS Corporation, KeyWare
Technologies, Kizan Telephony Group, Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products USA, Inc., Linkon Corporation [OTC
BB:LKON - news], Logical Technology, Lucent Technologies, Lucent Technologies Computer Telephony Products, Maxxar
Corporation, MicroKnowledge, Music Telecom, Natural Microsystems Corporation [Nasdaq:NMSS - news], Northern
Telecom, Inc. (Nortel)., Nuance Communications, Open Computing Platforms, Inc., Open Port Technology, Parity Software
Development Corporation, Periphonics Corporation [Nasdaq:PERI - news], Philips Speech Processing, Pika Technologies,
Inc., Prairie Systems, Inc., Precision Systems, Inc., Quadis Voice Solutions, Real Time Systems, Inc., R E R Consulting, Inc.,
Rockwell-Communication Systems Division, Siemens Rolm Business Communication Systems, SpeechSoft, Inc.,
SpeechWare, Inc., Stadnik & Company, Symetrics Industries, Inc., Syntellect, Inc., T-Netix, Inc., T4 Systems, Inc., Talk
Technology, Inc., Talx Corporation [Nasdaq:TALX - news], Teknekron Infoswitch Corp., Telephone Response
Technologies, TELEQUIP Labs, Inc., Telesystems Services, Texas Instruments, Touch Tone Solutions, Inc., U.S. Telecom
International, Inc., Universal Business Systems, Inc., U.S. Audiotex, Veritel Corporation, Vocalis Limited, Voice Control
Systems (VCS), Voice Mail Plus., Voice Power Telecom, Voice Processing Plus, Inc., VoiceCom Systems, Inc., VoiceGate
Corporation, VoiceWorld, Inc., Voysys Corporation, WTS Bureau Systems, Inc. and XTEND Communications Corp.
This Telecommunications Industry research has integrated the Market Engineering consulting philosophy into the entire research
process. Critical phases of this research included: Identification of industry challenges, market engineering measurements,
strategic recommendations, planning and market monitoring. All of the vital elements of this system help the market participants
navigate successfully through the telecommunications market.
Frost & Sullivan is an international marketing consulting company that monitors the telecommunications industry for market
trends, market measurements, and strategies. This ongoing research is utilized to update a series of research publications such
as #5652-61 U.S. Operations Support Systems (OSS) Markets and to support industry participants with customized
consulting needs.
Visit the Frost & Sullivan's web site: frost.com.
Report: 2978-62 Date: November 1998 Price: $2950
SOURCE: Frost & Sullivan
More Quotes
and News:
Active Voice Corp (Nasdaq:ACVC - news)
Analogic Corp (Nasdaq:ALOG - news)
Centigram Communications Corp (Nasdaq:CGRM - news)
Compaq Computer Corp (NYSE:CPQ - news)
Dialogic Corp (Nasdaq:DLGC - news)
Edify Corp (Nasdaq:EDFY - news)
Harris Corp (NYSE:HRS - news)
Linkon Corp (OTC BB:LKON - news)
Natural Microsystems Corp (Nasdaq:NMSS - news)
Periphonics Corp (Nasdaq:PERI - news)
Talx Corp (Nasdaq:TALX - news)
Related News Categories: computer hardware, computer peripheral, computers, networking, publishing, software, telecom
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