AT&T EXPANDS CAPACITIES, OPENS INTERFACE TO RESPONSE SYSTEM ALSO ADDS TOOLS TO DEVELOP VOICE VOCABULARIES.BASKING RIDGE, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 17, 1995--To better meet the needs of larger businesses, AT&T today announced it will double the call handling capabilities of its interactive response system. It will also open the system's architecture to software developers by offering an applications programming interface (API) and provide customers with a toolkit for building their own speech recognition vocabularies. The INTUITY(TM) CONVERSANT CONVERSANT. One who is in the habit of being in a particular place, is said to be conversant there. Barnes, 162. (R) V5.0 system doubles the call handling capacity of prior models, allowing up to as many as 96 simultaneous conversations. The expanded capacity allows businesses to present even more applications for their callers and additional network connections to their existing system. It also assures customers calls will be handled promptly whenever they want to do business. The company also published an API for the INTUITY CONVERSANT V5.0 system which allows applications to be written in the widely used UNIX UNIX Operating system for digital computers, developed by Ken Thompson of Bell Laboratories in 1969. It was initially designed for a single user (the name was a pun on the earlier operating system Multics). (R) C programming language. The API eliminates the need to be On-Line with the system, allowing software developers to write application scripts and code on their own workstation. "We're opening our systems to increase the variety of applications available to accelerate the flow of information between businesses and their customers," said Marty Parker, marketing director-multimedia messaging and information processing information processing: see data processing. information processing Acquisition, recording, organization, retrieval, display, and dissemination of information. Today the term usually refers to computer-based operations. for AT&T Global Business Communications Systems. "The API provides opportunities for software developers to write customized applications to automate and enhance customer services." The company is also delivering a toolkit for its INTUITY CONVERSANT FlexWord Automatic Speech Recognition software package to give customers the freedom to easily build extensive speech recognition vocabularies directly on the system -- themselves. FlexWord software offers vocabularies of up to 2,000 words and phrases Words and Phrases® A multivolume set of law books published by West Group containing thousands of judicial definitions of words and phrases, arranged alphabetically, from 1658 to the present. and provides callers with a natural, intuitive and quick means of interacting with the system by permitting them to say their responses instead of using the telephone keypad A telephone keypad is a keypad that appears on a “Touch Tone” telephone. It was standardised when the Dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) system was introduced in the 1960s, and replaced the rotary dial. . The toolkit has a graphical user interface graphical user interface (GUI) Computer display format that allows the user to select commands, call up files, start programs, and do other routine tasks by using a mouse to point to pictorial symbols (icons) or lists of menu choices on the screen as opposed to having to that displays 44 phonemes -- the smallest sound unit in a language capable of conveying a distinct meaning, such as the b of bit -- which are used to build words and phrases in the INTUITY CONVERSANT system's vocabulary. It can also build sound variations so the system recognizes different pronunciation of words, such as using either the hard "a" or the soft "ah" sound in speaking the word "tomato". The process of using phonemes to develop vocabularies is patented by AT&T Bell Laboratories. The new release enhances speech recognition capabilities, upgrades the system database to ORACLE(TM) V7 and provides support for a variety of LAN (Local Area Network) A communications network that serves users within a confined geographical area. The "clients" are the user's workstations typically running Windows, although Mac and Linux clients are also used. connections in a networked computing environment. INTUITY CONVERSANT systems are designed to work as stand alone units or with any brand of manufacturers' telephone system. AT&T also announced an operating system operating system (OS) Software that controls the operation of a computer, directs the input and output of data, keeps track of files, and controls the processing of computer programs. upgrade for the INTUITY CONVERSANT system -- based on UnixWare -- which provides advanced features that can be used to develop and run voice applications. The UnixWare platform supports ethernet and token ring networking and Veritas software Veritas Software Corp. was an international software company that was founded in 1983 as Tolerant Systems, renamed Veritas Software Corp. in 1989, and merged with Symantec in 2005. It was headquartered in Mountain View, California. which minimizes system downtime. Multiple Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI SCSI in full Small Computer System Interface Once common standard for connecting peripheral devices (disks, modems, printers, etc.) to small and medium-sized computers. SCSI has given way to faster standards, such as Firewire and USB. ) peripherals and network management capabilities based on the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) A widely used network monitoring and control protocol. Data are passed from SNMP agents, which are hardware and/or software processes reporting activity in each network device (hub, router, bridge, etc. ) are also supported as open interface options. The company said there is tremendous growth in the sale of interactive response systems. One reason is that businesses are making them an integral part of their marketing programs because they bring people and information together. "We are continuing to extend our range of interactive response solutions from pre-packaged software See software package. such as our Call Center and Account Inquiry applications to improving our graphical applications development tools," said Parker. "Advanced software, like FlexWord, that allows callers to speak naturally to these systems make interactions easier, faster and more convenient for callers and more valuable to businesses." Enhancements for the INTUITY CONVERSANT system are available immediately in the United States and Canada. For information on pricing, installation and customization of applications for these systems, customer can contact their AT&T account executive or call 1-800-325-7466. CONTACT: AT&T, Basking Ridge Ritch Blasi, 908-953-7514 (office) 908-469-6801 (home) or Glynnis Woolridge, 908-953-7526 (office) 908-247-0839 (home) |
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