BBN Technologies Announces Latest Speech-to-Text Software, AVOKE(TM) STX 2.0 for Multimedia Search; Best in Class Software Enhances Search and Retrieval of Multimedia Data.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- BBN Technologies, an advanced technology and research and development firm, announced today the availability of AVOKE STX 2.0 speech-to-text software, which improves the relevance of multimedia search results by transforming audio into searchable text with unprecedented accuracy. Applications include enterprise search, business and government intelligence, consumer search, audio mining, video search, broadcast monitoring, and multimedia asset management. AVOKE STX 2.0 is the most recently-released development from the BBN Technologies Delta Division, which delivers technologies from BBN to market through productization and licensing.

AVOKE STX converts the speech in audio and video into text that can be searched and analyzed easily. Version 2.0 introduces a higher performance speech recognition engine for improved accuracy, support for Windows and Linux operating environments, streaming audio, and new models for processing conversational telephony, webcasts, and languages. The new Domain Development Environment available with AVOKE STX 2.0 lets developers adapt the speech recognition system to enhance performance in specific domains that have unique terminology requirements, such as sports news or financial webcasts.

"Rich media has become an important asset for many organizations. As such, there is a demand for the ability to search these assets as easily as we have been searching text-based formats," said Ali I. Riaz, President, Fast Search & Transfer (FAST). "BBN's advanced technology makes it possible to tap into rich media easily, enabling companies like FAST to deliver game-changing search solutions."

At the core of the AVOKE system is BBN's very large vocabulary speech recognition engine, which is the most accurate, speaker-independent, continuous speech recognition engine commercially available in the world. The AVOKE STX system accepts a variety of input sources, including television, radio, telephone, recorded meetings, speeches, and webcasts. AVOKE STX 2.0 separates speech from non-speech, such as music or laughter, and then processes the speech to identify additional characteristics. This information is captured, tagged with metadata, and indexed in a rich XML-formatted transcript, making it easy for any standard search engine or technology to deliver searchable information to the desktop. Because each word in the metadata is time-stamped, users can navigate easily to any point in the transcript, listen to the original audio, or watch the corresponding video, giving them immediate access to and ultimate control over their audio data.

BBN's AVOKE Suite of Speech and Language Products

BBN's AVOKE products and services are based on nearly three decades of leading research and development by BBN's speech and natural language research team. The AVOKE product suite is available through BBN's Delta Division, which delivers BBN's technologies to market through productization and licensing. For more information, visit www.bbn.com/avoke.

About BBN Technologies

BBN Technologies, an advanced technology and research and development firm, is focused on solving some of the world's most pressing problems. From national security, information security, and speech recognition, to integrating disparate systems and networks, BBN has been at the forefront of technological change for over 50 years.

Known for pioneering the development of the ARPANET, the forerunner of the Internet, BBN continues to create advances in Internet and networking technologies through its work on ad hoc networking, the semantic web, quantum communications, and advanced protocols. Building on its substantial list of firsts, BBN operates the first metro quantum cryptography network, the first real-time foreign broadcast monitoring system, and has developed the world's first stereoscopic digital mammography system. For more information, visit bbn.com.