BeVocal First Voice Portal to Introduce WAP Services; Consumers Can Now Receive Personalized Driving Directions and Other Services on WAP-Enabled Phones.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers Digital Living Room 2000 LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 19, 2000 BeVocal, Inc., a consumer 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. pioneer that aims to make the widest variety of voice-enabled content, commerce, communications and customer service applications accessible from any phone, today announced that it can now deliver personalized per·son·al·ize tr.v. per·son·al·ized, per·son·al·iz·ing, per·son·al·iz·es 1. To take (a general remark or characterization) in a personal manner. 2. To attribute human or personal qualities to; personify. information and services to consumers via WAP (1) (Wireless Access Point) See access point. (2) (Wireless Application Protocol) A standard for providing cellular phones, pagers and other handheld devices with secure access to e-mail and text-based Web pages. (Wireless Access Protocol) phones. BeVocal, which already gives consumers the option of receiving information via voice or email, is the only voice portal to also deliver content via WAP-enabled devices, with support for fax and text paging to be made available later this summer. Callers nationwide who dial BeVocal's toll-free number can verbally request information and then select how they would like it delivered. For example, callers can ask for driving directions, connect to BeVocal's WAP server at www.bevocal.com, and then read the turn-by-turn directions on their WAP phone WAP phone n → teléfono WAP . BeVocal will preview this new capability at Upside Events' Digital Living Room, an exclusive conference being held June 18-20, 2000 in Laguna Niguel, California Laguna Niguel is a city located in southern Orange County, California. The name "Laguna Niguel" is derived from the Spanish word "Laguna" which means lagoon and the word "Nigueli" which was the name of a Juaneno Indian village once located on Aliso Creek. that features the technologies, trends and issues behind the latest digital technologies. Stewart Cheifet, executive producer of Digital Living Room, said, "The goal of Digital Living Room is to create a program that illustrates not only how technology impacts consumers in all aspects of life today, but the ways in which technology and products will evolve to meet future demands and needs. BeVocal, with its consumer voice portal services, is an ideal demonstrator dem·on·stra·tor n. 1. One that demonstrates, such as a participant in a public display of opinion. 2. An article or product used in a demonstration. demonstrator Noun 1. for the conference because of its commitment to technological innovation." Last week, BeVocal introduced its free, voice-enabled services to callers nationwide. By dialing 1-800-4-BVOCAL (1-800-428-6225), consumers can use simple, spoken words to access voice-enabled driving directions, travel information, business locations, weather, traffic and stock information. BeVocal is the first voice portal to integrate valuable location-relevant information under a single, convenient, toll-free number. The BeVocal services currently available are just the first of many that the company plans to introduce over time. In addition, BeVocal is the first company to create an open, scaleable, voice portal platform that enables third-party developers to rapidly build and deploy their own voice-enabled applications. BeVocal is the first and only voice portal company to support both VoiceXML and SpeechObjects, two important, emerging industry standards. Developers that want to create new speech applications and have them hosted on BeVocal's state-of-the-art network infrastructure can bring their services to market by partnering with BeVocal. About BeVocal, Inc. Based in Santa Clara, California Santa Clara, California (IPA: /ˌsæntəˈklærə/) , founded in 1777 and incorporated in 1852, is a city in Santa Clara County, in the U.S. state of California. , BeVocal is a consumer V-services pioneer that aims to make the widest variety of voice-enabled content, commerce, communications and customer service applications accessible from any phone, simply by speaking. Millions of callers can dial BeVocal's nationwide toll-free number, 1-800-4-BVOCAL (1-800-428-6225), and immediately access voice-enabled information such as driving directions, business locations, travel reservations, and traffic reports. Using its patent-pending VocalBoost(TM) architecture, BeVocal is the first company to create an open, scaleable platform that allows third-party developers and companies to rapidly build and deploy their own consumer voice portal services. BeVocal's comprehensive hosting infrastructure facilitates voice-commerce transactions, service personalization, location-specific targeted advertising, secure voiceprint A sample of a person's voice to be used for voice recognition or security systems. verification, and information delivery via voice, WAP, fax, email, and text paging. BeVocal was awarded the Investor's Choice and People's Choice honors at Upside's Showcase 2000 Conference. The company received $45 million in second round funding from the Mayfield Fund Mayfield Fund is a venture capital firm located on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, California, home to many of Silicon Valley's leading venture capital firms. Mayfield was founded in 1969 by Tommy Davis, one of the first venture capitalists. , U.S. Venture Partners (USVP USVP United States Venture Partners ), Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV TCV Total Contract Value TCV Tokyo City View TCV Treasury Corporation of Victoria (Australia) TCV Temperature Control Valve (Industrial control description) TCV Total Containment Vessel ) and Trans Cosmos USA. For additional information about BeVocal, please call 408/748-8700 or visit www.bevocal.com. |
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