Nuance Voice-Activates Postal Management System for Sweden's Royal Mail.

Business/Technology Editors

MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 27, 2002

Nuance's speech recognition software expands customer services

to include automated mail forwarding, mail holding and

change-of-address registration

Nuance (NASDAQ: NUAN), the global leader in software for a voice-driven world, today announced an innovative new voice-activated postal management service for Svensk Adressandring AB (SA), a company serving Sweden's Royal Mail and other mail distributors in Sweden. The service enables mail to be redirected quickly and easily whether moving, traveling or going on vacation. The system was built using Nuance's speech recognition software in combination with Sema InfoData AB, a leading IT services company.

The system is able to handle one million calls per year and will significantly reduce call traffic during peak hours to the existing SA call center. This not only provides customers with a more convenient way of redirecting or stopping their mail -- by being available 24 hours a day, seven days a week -- but it also provides SA with a rapid return on investment.

The SA call center automatically prompts users for their social security number, name and address -- which are checked against the Swedish electoral register. The system is able to recognize 90 percent of Sweden's most common names and over 200,000 street names.

The system recognizes the caller's name from the electoral register using Nuance's speech recognition engine. As long as the customer appears on the register, he or she is then entered into the system and presented with the following three options:

-- Forwarding mail (e.g., if the caller is temporarily staying at their summer home)

-- Stopping mail (e.g., if the caller is going on vacation)

-- Address registration (e.g., if the caller is moving)

The stopping mail service was deployed in June 2001, and the other two options will follow in early 2002.

"Sema InfoData has years of experience in developing and implementing highly efficient call center solutions and this solution is no exception. Using Nuance's speech recognition technology, Sema InfoData has proven that Nuance technology even works for the relatively little used Swedish language, one of the 26 languages that Nuance currently supports," said Charles Anderson, director of business development for EMEA, Nuance. "This call automation significantly increases the number of calls that can be handled automatically for the customer."

"The integration of Nuance's speech technology into our service means we can reduce costs by encouraging customer self-service while simultaneously maintaining a high level of customer care," said Goran Crona, CEO of Svensk Adressandring. "Automating agents' work allows us to extend our opening hours and makes our customer response time faster during peak hours."

With this service, callers who register a permanent address change are simultaneously registering their new information with the Tax Office -- a requirement by Swedish law. This benefit saves the caller time by not having to register these details separately, and ensures the Tax Office is always kept up-to-date with the residential status of Swedish taxpayers.

About Nuance

Nuance's speech recognition, voice authentication and text-to-speech software is changing the way companies interact with customers over the phone. In markets around the world, leading carriers and corporations -- including British Airways, Nomura Securities, OnStar, Sprint PCS, United Parcel Service, Vodafone, and many more -- use Nuance's software to reduce costs, increase customer satisfaction and retention, create new sources of revenue and improve security. Nuance's software powers a range of innovative applications including automated directory assistance, voice-activated dialing, self-service banking, and voice-driven customer relationship management. The company is headquartered in Menlo Park, Calif. and has offices around the world. For more information, visit www.nuance.com or call 1-888-NUANCE-8.

About Sema InfoData AB

Sema InfoData AB, a wholly owned subsidiary of SchlumbergerSema, is a leader in information management systems. Sema InfoData's goal is to be the number one information provider in Sweden.

Developing more than a hundred Swedish databases and about a thousand international databases under the name InfoTorg, Sema InfoData offers a variety of services such as Electronic Commerce, EDI handling, contact center development, and direct marketing services. For more information about Sema InfoData AB, visit http://www.infodata.sema.se

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including, for example, those relating to the anticipated success, performance, and customer acceptance of the Svensk Adressandring AB application. There is no assurance that the results contemplated by any forward-looking statements will be realized. The following factors, risks and uncertainties, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described or implied in this press release's forward-looking statements: the risk that Svensk Adressandring AB will not perform as expected or will not be able to handle the anticipated call volume; the risk that customers will not accept the Svensk Adressandring AB application; the risk that Svensk Adressandring AB will not add the additional voice-enabled applications; and other risk factors described in Nuance's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to Nuance's last-filed prospectus, annual report on form 10-K and quarterly report on form 10-Q. Nuance does not undertake to update any oral or written forward-looking statements that may be made by or on behalf of Nuance.

Note to Editors: Nuance is a registered trademark of Nuance Communications, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.