Canada's Locus Dialogue Signs Distribution Agreements for Liaison Multilingual ASR System.

MONTREAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 2, 1998--

Establishment of Locus Dialogue U.S.A. and Agreements with

Leading California Distributors Mark Entry Into U.S. Telephony

Market

Locus Dialogue Inc., the Canadian developer of automatic speech recognition (ASR) technology for the telecommunications industry announced today that it has signed agreements with two leading regional distributors of telephony products, VOICEPRO in Northern California and Dial-Pro/Innovations in Southern California, for its Liaison multilingual speech activated call processing system. Sales administration and support of the Liaison ASR system will be coordinated through the company's newly-established American subsidiary, Locus Dialogue U.S.A.

Paul Lepage, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Locus Dialogue and President of Locus Dialogue U.S.A. said, "The creation of Locus Dialogue U.S.A. illustrates our commitment to establish and support a solid and efficient distribution network across the United States. It will enable us to take advantage of the huge emerging market for Locus' unique ASR technology, and to accelerate the commercialization of its application in the U.S. telecommunications industry."

"We are very proud that after a rigorous selection process, VOICEPRO and Dial-Pro / Innovations have chosen to distribute Liaison in the important California market," Mr. Lepage added. "We believe that these partnerships are a testament to the sophistication and superiority of Liaison's technology."

VOICEPRO's president, Jim de Flores, commented: "We regard Locus' Liaison ASR platform as the most exciting development in voice technology since the advent of voice mail nearly 20 years ago. Our partnership with Locus Dialogue will add an exciting new dimension to the call processing solutions VOICEPRO has been providing our customers for over 15 years."

Mac Clarke, President and CEO of Dial-Pro / Innovations said: "We have a strong tradition of delivering world-class telecommunications products and services to our customers. Liaison is an excellent strategic fit that allows us to continue providing them with affordable solutions which improve service."

Liaison, the system that will mark Locus' entry into the American market, is a multilingual speech activated call processing platform which has been installed by a number of major corporations in Canada. Liaison has won several Computer Telephony Awards including two Best of Show Awards at the Computer Telephony Expo Conference in Los Angeles in 1997 and 1998.

Liaison is a complete stand-alone automated speech recognition (ASR) application system that answers, transfers and dials incoming, outgoing and internal calls. The system's PC-based platform makes it extremely affordable with a starting price at US $6,000 for the complete stand-alone application, including Liaison telephone application and system administration tool.

Locus Dialogue Inc. is a Canadian company in the forefront of the design and commercialization of applications, solutions and tools based on its innovative automatic speech recognition (ASR) technology developed for the telecommunications industry. Locus Dialogue's ASR technology was developed over a 10-year period by its four founders and other members of the Speech Recognition Group of the Computer Research Institute of Montreal (CRIM). The company came into being as a spin-off from CRIM in February 1996. As a key part of the spin-off agreement, ownership of the technology was transferred to Locus Dialogue. Currently employing 70 people, Locus Dialogue has offices in Montreal and San Francisco.

Locus Dialogue's advanced technology allows speech to become the standard means of interaction between people and machines in telecommunications applications. ASR is an emerging market expected to grow to US$37 billion by 2003, according to a 1998 market study by TMA Associates, a California-based independent consulting firm specializing in advanced speech technology.

VOICEPRO, a privately held corporation headquartered in San Ramon, CA., is Northern California's largest independent communications technology integrator. VOICEPRO's communications technology seamlessly integrates voice, data and fax.

Founded in 1987, Dial-Pro / Innovations is a Southern California based provider of total solutions for telecommunications services. As a message integrator for the Octel Messaging Division of Lucent Technologies, Dial-Pro / Innovations sells and supports a full range of CTI (computer telephony integration) communications products and services.

The best way to experience Liaison is to try it. Liaison's demo phone number is 1 888 757-DEMO. For more information, visit the Locus Dialogue Web site at www.locus.ca.