AirTrac, Conversa Partner to Offer First Server-Based Voice Portals to Communications Carriers.Business/High Tech Editors CHICAGO and REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 19, 2000 Package allows carriers to directly provide online data to voice service customers, using speech-driven access AirTrac, Inc., and Conversa announced today they have entered into a strategic alliance to develop the first communications carrier supported server-based voice portal An interactive voice response (IVR) front end to a data retrieval system. This does not differ in core technology from traditional IVR; rather, the difference is in the application presented. Where old-style IVR was mostly a routing application (press 1 for sales, 2 for service, etc. . The partnership combines the "Everywhere Office" portal from AirTrac, a leader in multi-task, remote access voice recognition/information systems, with a pre-release version of the Conversation Server(TM) software from Conversa, a leader in enabling voice access to network-based information and services. With the combined technology, communications carriers can offer customers a turnkey voice-activated portal service to online-based information, including access to e-mail, voice mail, news, weather, travel information and more. "AirTrac was an alpha tester of the Conversation Server, and there was such great technological and cultural synergy from that testing that we came together on this strategic alliance," said David Anastasi, CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. and President of Conversa. "We really enjoy working with them and their application programming staff. We believe what we're doing together will greatly expand and enhance the deliverables that carriers bring to their customers." "Carriers always have been a pipeline for information, but with the integration of the Conversa Conversation Server software, the AirTrac `Everywhere Office' will allow carriers to greatly enhance their voice service offerings," said Clarence Friend, CEO of AirTrac. "It adds tremendous value to the service they ordinarily provide. By talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" lecture, speech rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to the portal with their mobile phone, users can access critical information without need of a keyboard or screen, directly from their communications carrier. Additionally, our voice services will reduce subscriber churn churn: see butter. for the carrier's bottom line." Conversa's Conversation Server -- scheduled for general release in July 2000 -- puts speech navigation capabilities on the server, as opposed to the "client" device (desktop computer, "smart" phone handset, set top box, handheld devices, etc.). It enables unified messaging Having access to e-mail, voice mail and faxes via a common computer application or by telephone. For example, unified messaging may send faxes and digitized voice mail to a mail server that turns them into e-mail attachments. and seamless access to information through POTTS, cellular or WAP-enabled phones. Using Conversation Server integrated with the AirTrac "Everywhere Office," communications carriers can directly offer customers access to Internet-based information, such as e-mail, voice mail, news, weather, travel information and more, that would normally be provided by other sources. About AirTrac Founded in April 1998, AirTrac is a diversified company diversified company A company engaged in varied business operations not directly related to one another. A diversified company is less likely to suffer either a collapse or a spectacular gain in earnings compared with a firm concentrating its operations in a providing comprehensive state-of-the-art services for telecommunication and Internet providers Internet provider - Internet Service Provider . AirTrac has developed a proprietary interactive voice response system called the "Everywhere Office", providing Voice Portals to the Internet, email, and personal assistant services using conversational speech. These services allow users to access personal information from any phone in the world simply by voice. AirTrac also provides additional enhanced services Enhanced service is service offered over commercial carrier transmission facilities used in interstate communications, that employs computer processing applications that act on the format, content, code, protocol, or similar aspects of the subscriber's transmitted information; with a patented real-time on-demand wireless and Internet billing system. For more information, please visit www.airtrac.net or call 312/341-0800. About Conversa Conversa (pronounced con-ver-say), founded in 1994, is dedicated to enabling seamless interactive voice access to Internet-based information, anywhere, anytime, on any device and from any network. Built on an innovative speech engine, Conversa(R) technology is speaker-independent, modular, scalable and accommodates unlimited vocabulary, making it ideally suited for embedded applications An application that permanently resides in an industrial or consumer device. Providing some type of control function and/or user interface, the software is typically stored in a non-volatile memory such as ROM or flash memory. . It also drives award-winning products including a voice browser A voice browser is a web browser that presents an interactive voice user interface to the user. In addition, it typically provides an interface to the PSTN or a PBX. Just as a visual web browser works with HTML pages, a voice browser operates on pages that specify voice dialogues. , desktop and web developer tools, and a conversational server. Conversa headquarters are in Redmond, Wash., and is located on the web at www.conversa.com. Conversa, Conversation Server and "digital conversations" are trademarks of Conversational Computing computing - computer Corp. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. |
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