Day-Timers, Inc. Enhances Order Process with New Speech Recognition System; Makes Ordering Faster, Easier for Customers During Busy End-of-Year Season.

Business/Technology Editors

LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 17, 2001

Day-Timers customers will experience a major improvement in the way they place their phone orders this year, thanks to a revolutionary speech-enabled interactive voice response unit (IVRU) now live in the call center. Day-Timers, a leading provider of time management and organizational solutions, has implemented the new IVRU using specialized speech recognition software from SpeechWorks International, Inc. (Nasdaq: SPWX), a global leader in speech recognition and text-to-speech (TTS) technologies and services.

Day-Timers expects the new IVRU to be especially helpful in handling the annual high volume phone order traffic traditionally experienced during the winter months. In the past, during heavy calling hours, customers sometimes had to wait an indefinite amount of time on hold for the next available representative. Day-Timers recognized an opportunity to enhance customer service, especially for those who simply want to renew their current planning calendars for the following year. So they teamed with SpeechWorks to develop an IVRU system that's capable of taking orders 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Now, customers aren't dependent on having a live contact representative to place the order, making the order process simpler, easier, and far more convenient. All customers need to do is speak into any phone and the IVRU will understand the request and process the order automatically.

"As a time management company, we're very conscious that people value how they manage their day," said Steve Addy, Customer Contact Center Project Manager. "During our end-of-year busy season, we can receive tens of thousands of orders on an average day. That's obviously a lot of call traffic to handle. With the implementation of the new IVRU system from SpeechWorks, we now have a remarkable way to ensure that customers' orders are responded to quickly without making them wait on the phone."

Day-Timers and SpeechWorks designed the IVRU to automate the reminder mailings that allow customers to simply check off the products they want to renew from the previous year. If the customer wants the same planner items purchased last year, the IVRU can take the order and save the customer time in the process. Every customer's call is answered within 5 seconds, which helps promote prompt service and continued customer satisfaction. The customer then enters his account information on the reminder mailing and simply answers a few questions to renew the order. The total order time takes an impressively quick two minutes, thirty seconds, but customers also have the option of speaking with a call representative if they have questions about the order or products.

In addition to placing orders, the IVRU also assists the customer service side of the business. Day-Timers can use it to give account balances, pay account balances, give return instructions, and mail or fax copies of invoices.

"Customers ordering organizational solutions typically have time on their minds, and we are pleased to launch a system for Day-Timers customers that saves significant time," said Steve Chambers, vice president of worldwide marketing, SpeechWorks. "The Day-Timers application exemplifies the power of speech in a retail environment, particularly during the end-of-year season when many people purchase dated planners and other organizational supplies."

About Day-Timers, Inc.

Day-Timers, Inc., a leading provider of time management and organizational solutions, offers more than 100 paper-based systems and computer products for business, school, and home use. Day-Timer products are available through select retailers, office supply dealers, the Day-Timer catalog, and the Day-Timer webstore, www.daytimer.com. Day-Timers is part of ACCO North America, which is an operating company within the Home and Office group of Fortune Brands, Inc. (NYSE-FO), the international consumer products company.

About SpeechWorks

Through the power of SpeechWorks' technologies, the human voice is all a caller needs to access instant information and conduct transactions from any landline or wireless phone. Around the world, customer service innovators such as America Online, First Union National Bank, and Microsoft are realizing returns on SpeechWorks applications that consistently delight and serve customers 24 hours a day. With over 100 partners, SpeechWorks delivers natural language speech recognition, speaker verification, and text-to-speech (TTS) to leading corporations, telecommunications providers, and government organizations worldwide. For a description of their products, services, and unique customer programs such as the SpeechWorks Here(TM) Guarantee call 617.428.4444 or visit www.speechworks.com.

SpeechWorks Here is a trademark of SpeechWorks International, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.