AIS ``Virtual Agents'' Eliminate Compliance Concerns, Maximize Collections and Agent Productivity.

OLDSMAR, Fla. -- The collections industry's arsenal of technology tools is stocked with everything from predictive dialers to VoIP, but few can match the impact of next-generation intuitive speech technology on the collections process.

"Today's intuitive collection management (ICM) systems can have a significant impact not only on the cost and rate of collections, but also on agent productivity," says Ed Barbara, executive vice president of business development for Advanced Interactive Sciences, LLC (AIS). "In particular, when Virtual Agents are programmed to handle 'low hanging fruit' such as promise-to-pay reminders and payment acceptance, live agents are freed to handle more complicated calls."

AIS offers Collex(TM), an ICM system created to help companies optimize collections by improving conversion rates and controlling associated costs. It accomplishes this by leveraging advanced speech recognition and a series of engagement applications that give collection organizations a 360-degree view of the debtor throughout the collection process lifecycle, including:

--Right party contact

--Multi-channel messaging

--Advanced voice recognition

--Seamless credit card and check collections

--Ability to hold for intended party

--Ability to schedule and facilitate call backs

--Workforce management and executive reporting tools

Advanced Collections Services, which does third-party collections for medical providers, recently switched from live agents using a predictive dialer to handle pre-collection reminder campaigns to the Collex system, which utilizes a custom-developed script to contact debtors and perform right-party verification with a social security number match. Once verified, the Virtual Agent reminds the debtor of their promise to pay and offers a number of options including accepting payment, providing a mailing address for payments or providing a phone number the debtor can call for more information.

If the right party is not available, the Virtual Agent can either transfer the call to a live agent for additional questions, or schedule and facilitate a call back.

"Since implementing Collex, we've seen a higher collection rate and a reduction in the number of days an account stays in our client's accounts receivable," says Peter Allen, manager, Advanced Collections Services. "We are also achieving a 70 percent connection rate with Collex, much higher than was possible with our previous system."

Because Virtual Agents understand human utterances and quickly translate calls into transactions, per-call costs are lower and connection rates are higher than legacy IVR and other systems. The speech quality is also such that callers often do not realize they are talking to a computer.

"Most importantly, a well-designed, well-scripted ICM system is fully compliant; Virtual Agents not only know the federal and state-by-state regulations, but they will also read the mini-Miranda warning as appropriate," adds Doug Winslow, CEO of AIS. "Best of all, they're not subject to human emotions or fallibility, so they can't be affected by moods and won't divert from their script."

About Advanced Interactive Sciences

Advanced Interactive Sciences, LLC (AIS) is the leading provider of intuitive speech technology. An industry pioneer, AIS, http://www.aisvoice.com, helps companies deal with the variability that comes with call center management by integrating artificial intelligence with advanced speech recognition and combining that with executive reporting and workforce management. The Company's ASP model also allows clients to more effectively reach their contact base without incurring any capital expenditures, thereby generating greater value to their stakeholders. Finally, by deploying AIS' "virtual agents" and other industry-tailored technologies and services, companies are realizing increased up-sell and cross-sell conversion rates, significantly reduced costs per sale and improved account resolution.