ASRNews

Market, Investment and Technical News of the Emerging Speech Technology Industry

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

The Emperor is Naked!

SpeechRecoDate on SNL: www.rjauburn.com/files/SpeechRecoDate.wmv Funny and does a great job at illustrating what is wrong with personas: Despite the VUI designers thinking that they are emulating a live agent (and giving it a personality), it's obvious that they are failing. What is apparent from the skit is that: 1) personas do not talk like normal people talk to other people; and 2) this is irritating.

Julie Amtrak Doesn’t work in emergencies: This month my wife was taking an Amtrak train from Metro Park, New Jersey to Boston. She called Amtrak two hours before the train that she was ticketed for was scheduled to leave, and Amtrak’s automated system (Julie) confirmed that the train was leaving on time. She went to the train station and was informed that the train was on time but that, because of flooding in Connecticut, the portion of the trip from NYC to Boston had been cancelled. The agent at the train station was snotty and offered no assistance. My wife then had to scramble to find alternate transportation. That Julie was not able to let my wife know of the cancellation of the train between NYC and Boston was inexcusable. Amtrak should offer a service that calls a passenger with reservations and informs them of a cancellation such as this. When you purchase your ticket, they get you to provide a number where they can reach you, but then they never use it. I guess that Amtrak and ScanSoft thought that it was more important for them to spend lots of money on the Julie persona that adds very little value to the customer experience. The SNL skit showed Julie Amtrak as being irritating to callers. This experience shows that she is also dumb. The Amtrak agents also do not like Julie. When you tell them of a bad experience that you have had, they tell you that Julie is no good and that you should talk to them.

Fonix negative growth despite Deloitte award: The Deloitte Technology growth rankings are calculated by taking the companies reported revenue at a start and a stop year. Since Fonix purchased a telephone company that was approximately four times larger than its speech business, the growth calculated by Deloitte was quite large. Fonix issued a PR that attempted to give the impression that Fonix had grown dramatically in the speech area. Their CEO made the statement that: "The Fonix Speech Group continues to dominate the speech interface software and technology markets in videogames, electronic dictionaries, devices for assistive needs and mobile devices with our speech recognition and text-to-speech solutions." Unless you have a new definition of the word "dominate", this statement is just flat out wrong. In actuality, the Fonix Speech business went from over $3 million in 2002 to $1.2 million in 2004. The only growth in the Fonix Speech business during the last five years was when they acquired DECtalk in 2001 and picked up almost $2.5 million in revenue. I view what Fonix did as fundamentally dishonest and well beyond marketing hyperbole. When I confronted Fonix about this, they felt that what they did was just fine.

Verizon fumbles easy play: This last month I requested that Verizon move my DSL service from one working number that I had to another working number that I had. As a researcher, having a robust Internet connectivity and quality telephony is important to me and I avoid putting these capabilities at risk at all cost. This did seem like a relatively straightforward thing to do and I obtained assurances from Verizon that what I was requesting could be done with virtually no disruption to my service. Despite this, Verizon managed to totally disable my DSL and VoIP service for almost two weeks. Realize that everything (the phone lines, DSL, VoIP service) was from Verizon. No technical problems were involved. The entire problem was caused by incompetence in the Verizon administrative process. I hadn’t used dial-up in almost four years and had almost forgotten how long it took to download a 10 MB file. Just imagine what the future holds. Verizon can offer me a Triple-Play and manage to also take down my cable TV (with my DSL and telephone service) for a couple of weeks. Despite all of the effort on part of the carriers to become Triple-Play providers, the benefit to the customer appears to be non-existant. No technical synergy and the Verizon groups that provide TDM telephone service, DSL and VoIP are completely isolated from each other. The really scary part is that my cable provider (ComCast) is even worse. When you call them they ask you what number you are calling from. Aren’t big monopolies fun?

Speech Industry Horrible VUI Postor Child of the month: This month’s selection for the Horrible VUI Poster Child agreed that their VUI was pretty bad and agreed to repair it. Based on them promising to fix it, we will not identify who they are. Worth describing what made their VUI bad enough to be nominated, though. Most VUIs suffer from diarrhea of the mouth. They drone on endlessly, often talking about things that the caller has no interest in at all. The purpose of the greeting is simple – it should identify the organization that the caller has reached. This can be accomplished with a just a few words (the name of the organization). A simple "good morning" or "good afternoon" is okay but not needed. The downside of doing it is that as often as not it gets screwed up and you have "Good Morning" being spoken in the PM. Listen to the greeting provided by live agents - you will find a total consistency from one agent to the next. The say the name of the company and occasionally will say "Good Morning". Our Horrible VUI for this month greeted the caller with an 85 word monologue that described what the company did, hyped most of the companies products, and told them what the companies web site url was. A caller wants a quick & easy experience and these folks insist on forcing the caller to listen to their spiel. This is stealing time from caller. Worse than broadcast TV ads since the viewer can decide to get a beer or go to the pot during a commercial. Viewers also recognize that the ad revenue is paying for the show that they are watching. With the phone, the only escape is hanging up. Imagine the impact that this has on repeat callers that have to listen to this same hype over-&-over. Probably not an issue though, since an organization that treats their customers with so little respect, probably does not get many repeat callers. The instructions are a classical "for accounting, please press one". Four of the choices are for different types of sales. Imagine that – callers that want to purchase something and the Horrible VUI company jerks them around with self-service! The instructions say that you can have the instructions repeated by hitting the star (*) key but when you press it, you get the same response as when you press the one key. You get transferred to a speech-enabled automated attendant (sounded like Parlance NameConnector) that has a different male voice and the instructions to the caller are truncated. I’m looking forward to these people cleaning this mess up soon.

Table E1

Latest Speech Industry Mafia Awards

Telephone – IVR Applications

Sky High Speed Selects Angel.com’s Virtual Call Center: Sky High Speed has deployed Angel.com’s Virtual Call Center solution. Sky High Speed chose the Angel.com solution to replace its Siebel CRM OnDemand solution, and will use the Virtual Call Center to handle automated information delivery, call screening, and routing for the company’s technical support and sales call centers. Angel.com’s Virtual Call Center is a hosted call center solution that combines the call distribution capabilities of an Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) system with the data collection capabilities of a speech-enabled IVR system, all in one Web interface. Sky High Speed is a provider of Wi-Fi solutions and support to multiple industries including the hospitality industry, where it services over 25,000 rooms at over 300 locations. Angel.com’s Virtual Call Center handles requirements, including remote and at-home agent accessibility, the ability to integrate with Sky High Speed’s customer database and the ability to make changes to call flows and routing patterns. "Overall, the product has performed exceptionally well, improving our technicians’ efficiency ten-fold and making the customer experience far smoother," said John Schnipkoweit, chief technology officer at Sky High Speed. "We’re also taking advantage of the flexibility of Angel.com by integrating the Virtual Call Center with our CRM software. Angel.com is easy to try, easy to use, and reasonably priced." www.skyhighspeed.com

Contact Solutions Outsourcing works when hurricanes come: Contract Solutions provided call automation services to government agencies of states such as Missisippi and Louisiana that were hard hit by the recent Katrina and Rita hurricanes. A primary application after the hurricanes was to issue debit cards to displaced residents so that they could purchase emergency supplies such as water, food and shelter. Call volumes during and after the hurricanes were 7-8 times normal and Contact Solutions had the capacity to readily handle this increased call volume. The location of the Contact Solutions facilities in a secure facility that was located out of the geographic region where the hurricane struck, assured that telephone information services were available when people needed them most. www.contactsolutions.com 703-480-1620, Paul Logan, CEO

Fortis Investments, multi-center, multi-product asset management company, has chosen Acapela text to speech to voice-enable its Information System management tool, OpalisRobot. OpalisRobot is a powerful administration and supervision tool for Microsoft networks. It allows supervision and interaction with all services and applications running on the servers, 24/7 and easy automation of any recurrent task to simplify maintenance operations and optimize system efficiency. The main benefit of this solution is flexibility. The administrator can easily define supervision or automation tasks, through graphs. Empowered by speech capability, with Acapela text to speech, Opalis can vocalize any kind of information in real time, to deliver a message with a highly natural voice. "The implementation of Acapela text to speech allows us to cover a wider time slot, and to let opalis run with wider autonomy too. Opalis can contact us in real time to provide us with precise data with a highly natural and intelligible voice. The 'on-call' correspondent can react very quickly and solve incidents online, thus avoiding on site interventions when it happens outside office worktime" explains Franck Driancourt, I.T. Operation and support specialist from Fortis Investments. Opalis uses Virtual Speaker, the virtual recording studio solution developed by Acapela to vocalize any content, with no development or hardware investment issues. Virtual Speaker reads aloud any text, with the quality and naturalness of Acapela voices. Deployed at Fortis Investments, OpalisRobot is distributed in France by Erellis. www.erellis.com/Opalis/Opalisrobot.html As the asset manager of Fortis, Fortis Investments has EUR 95.6 billion of assets under management. The company has a global presence with both sales offices and some 15 key investment centers in Europe, the USA and Asia. Employees number 730 of whom some 200 are dedicated investment specialists. www.fortisinvestments.com

Banco Rió Selects Genesys to Transform Its Call Center: This investment will enable Banco Rió to offer current and potential customers more service options, including customer self-service. Banco Rió sought a solution that would allow them to route customer calls based on statistics and customer information, and extend self-service capabilities. Banco Rió will implement the Genesys Voice Platform (GVP) and Genesys Inbound Voice. GVP leverages open standards, such as Voice XML, to make Web-based information available to customers over any telephone. It will extend Banco Rió’s customer service capabilities to handle a range of queries in self-service. "At Banco Rió, we know our customers very well, and this has been key to becoming the industry leader in customer attention and service," stated Pablo Vispo, CIO of Banco Rió. "The Genesys platform is significant in our differentiation efforts which, in our view, is an ongoing and steady process." In addition, Banco Rió will leverage GVP’s graphic development tools, enabling the contact center technology team to create new services and customize existing ones without the need for third party intervention. The implementation, which involves 650 contact center agents and 480 ports of Genesys Voice Platform, will be headed by Interaxa, a Genesys partner. Implementation is underway by the Interaxa team and will be completed by the end of 2005. www.genesyslab.com Contact: David Radoff, Genesys, 650.466.1078, dradoff@genesyslab.com

T-Mobile Implements Genesys Platform as Part of Customer Service Strategy:: Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories Inc, an Alcatel company (NYSE: ALA, Paris: CGEP.PA) announced that T-Mobile will implement Genesys solutions as part of the T-Mobile customer service strategy. T-Mobile is one of the largest global suppliers of mobile communication tools and will use Genesys solutions in the Dutch T-Mobile Customer Service offices in The Hague and Breda. Undergoing explosive growth, T-Mobile was finding that its current contact center solution lacked amenities to keep up with its expansion. For one, the contact center needed to increase operational efficiency. T-Mobile also needed to update its routing capabilities and workforce management system - the current planning and reporting system limited the number of applications that could be running in tandem. "Due to T-Mobile's rapid growth and our customer service strategy that emphasizes a high degree of customer satisfaction, we needed a new contact center platform and workforce management system," said Joop Evers, director of T-Mobile Customer Service. "Because of our solid international experiences with Genesys routing software, and the fact that we are facing a large scale European implementation, we have chosen the Genesys 7 suite, including Genesys Workforce Management," Evers commented. The Dutch T-Mobile Customer Service offices will use Genesys software to manage the routing of all incoming calls and e-mail messages. The Genesys solution provides new benefits for T-Mobile contact center agents, including call identification and routing features that recognize the customer based on phone numbers, segments the call based on customer type (i.e. consumer or business, subscription or prepaid), and transfers the call to the appropriate agent. The Genesys Workforce Management module provides insight into all incoming and outbound e-mail and phone communication. It also allows the Customer Service unit to deploy the appropriate contact center agents at the right moment to the correct location to manage call loads. As a result, T-Mobile's Customer Service office can manage heavy volumes of incoming calls without having to add additional staff; significantly improving efficiency and customer satisfaction. Genesys developed a customized platform for T-Mobile that combines information across different T-Mobile departments to provide agents with all available customer information. During quiet moments, agents are able to work on administrative tasks such as replying to letters, faxes and e-mail messages. During peak hours, T-Mobile's administrative employees can be deployed to answer phone calls in order to keep service at a consistent level. "Our relationship with T-Mobile is very important to us and we are excited that T-Mobile in the Netherlands - and in the whole of Europe - has chosen to expand their existing Genesys solution," said Michel van Roon, vice president of Genesys Northern Europe. "Beside the quality of products and services, the quality of customer service is one of the most important differentiators among telecom providers. T-Mobile chose a scalable, open solution from Genesys, one that perfectly fits with T-Mobile's worldwide strategy to optimize service levels." Joop Evers, director of T-Mobile Customer Service, switches over to Genesys platform

Jacent Automates 1,000,000th Phone Order With Flagship Voice-Ordering Platform: Jacent Technologies announced its flagship product, Jacent Voice Center, has automated its 1,000,000th phone order. Jacent Voice Center significantly improves the performance of the telephone order process with a customizable ordering framework using the most advanced speech recognition technology. Jacent’s innovative phone ordering solution is currently used by a number of large pizza chain franchises, and due to its ability to increase efficiency and decrease costs, is quickly moving into general restaurant, casual dining and catalog sales marketplaces. "Since Jacent Voice Center is consistently taking around fifteen to twenty percent of our orders, it's been less hectic for our staff and easier for them to take every call that comes through, provide better customer service and consistently up sell," said Imran Sayeed, director of operations for the 50-unit Pizza Hut franchisee, Kurani Pizza, of Georgia. "This new efficiency also allows them to do more around the store." "Jacent Voice Center fills a real need for pizza franchise owners by helping improve operations, increase revenues, and improve customer satisfaction leading to more repeat business," stated Trevor Stout, president and CEO of Jacent. "Because of this, we’ve made huge gains in penetrating the pizza phone order business with our Voice Center product over the past few months. We are now up and running in a number of major chains across the nation including Dominos, Pizza Hut and Round Table. As a result, we have quickly hit the 1,000,000 mark for automated order numbers, and expect this number to continue to grow rapidly." Jacent Voice Center is a complete call business management system designed to be both expandable and inexpensive to deploy. The system allows managers to take complete control over their phone sales operations and minimize costly lost calls. Voice Center handles all of the call business needs and expands to add powerful additional modules that enhance and improve the entire scope of phone sales operations. Jacent Voice Center was developed exclusively for this purpose, and is currently empowering businesses to increase revenue and customer satisfaction through the speech automation of takeout and delivery orders in the restaurant industry. Current customers include a large percentage of Pizza Hut, Dominos and Round Table restaurants. www.jacent.com or call 408-327-9100.

Loquendo text to speech finds home in real estate industry: Loquendo and Showcase Technologies, the developer of real estate marketing products, announced that Showcase Technologies (Girardeau, MO) has selected Loquendo TTS text-to-speech technology to enhance the company's online real estate viewing experience. The internet has become the real estate agent's best friend, allowing properties to be displayed around the world with a single click. Showcase Technologies has taken real estate home shopping to a new level, offering agents a way to build narrated tours of listings in a matter of minutes. Scott Slinkard of Showcase Technologies says, "Real estate agents wanted a way to create an online marketing experience for their properties, instead of just displaying photographs. They wanted a fast way to deliver an immersive online presentation, and Loquendo's lifelike text to speech engine allows us to add incredible voice narration, without human intervention." The narrated tours can be viewed by visiting www.realtourlive.com. A friendly synthetic voice will instantly explain the technology and visitors can experience the narrated tour interface. The tours also incorporate maps and satellite imagery, along with several other useful tools for prospective home buyers. Showcase Technologies is a provider of Real Estate Marketing solutions and is based in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, USA. www.loquendo.com/en

Persay’s Biometric Speaker Verification to Assist in Monitoring ‘Hooligans’ Banned from Attending Soccer Games: Holland’s Ministry of Justice has recently passed a new law encouraging the deployment of biometric speaker verification technology, provided by Persay Ltd., to monitor ‘hooligans’ banned from attending soccer games. Persay’s system will be deployed in a number of European nations through Elmo-Tech (a subsidiary of Dmatek Ltd.) and operated by ADT Monitoring Services. The monitoring system assists the police in ensuring that hooligans, convicted of initiating and participating in violent acts and banned from attending soccer games, will comply with their detention period and will be remotely monitored from their homes during the games. The Dutch police force, notorious for its widespread use of unconventional means to tackle the ever growing violence at soccer games, chose this monitoring system following a competitive analysis. The significance of this new monitoring scheme is that fans that are banned from attending soccer games no longer need to notify the police in person during a game. Persay’s technology provides the cutting edge to ElmoTech’s electronic monitoring system presently operating in Holland, designed to deal with the criminal population. The system is programmed to randomly call the banned fans at home during the soccer games and to verify them by their voiceprint. The speaker verification system is designed to work on various telephone networks, independent of language and accent, taking into consideration various environmental scenarios such as background noise and changes in a person’s natural voice patterns. Calls cannot be redirected via "follow-me" to mobile phones and the system is able to successfully detect recording/playback attempts. Persay’s technology is designed to monitor inmates and teenagers under house arrest in additional countries such as the U.S.A., United Kingdom, Spain, and New Zealand. Persay’s technology has recently been deployed in additional applications of remote time and attendance. One of Persay’s systems is presently used by the Department of Homeland Security in the United States and replaces physical attendance with remote attendance in immigration offices for immigrants possessing temporary visas. Contact: Persay Ltd., Elinor Betesh, Marcom Manager, Tel: +972-3-767-8666 elinor.betesh@persay.com www.persay.com

Independence Blue Cross Selects WebForPhone: Independence Blue Cross selected NetXentry LLC's WebforPhone, a provider of speech recognition for accessing the Internet via any phone, to deploy its Physician Referral using speech/phone self-service. WebForPhone’s speech-based self services for Health Insurance include Eligibility, Claims, Provider-Directory-Assistance and Customer-Surveys. Providers and members can dial the WebForPhone platform. They can interact in speech, communicate needs and data, and the platform logs on to the respective Web site and executes its functions. Founded in 2000 by a group from University of Pennsylvania who recognized the enormous emerging market for innovative telephone speech recognition based browsing of the Internet. WebforPhone is a finalist for the Ben Franklin Emerging Business Award for Innovative Service. WebforPhone builds, manages and hosts services, for over 20 large enterprises, mainly in the Healthcare, Retail, Financial, and Insurance industry verticals. Clients benefit by having more satisfied customers, more productive staff, low cost of entry, fast installation and rapid ROI. www.webforphone.com Contact for WebForPhone: John Wood, Vice President Health Care Sales (215) 854-0555 x222

Telephone - IVR Products/Services/Partnerships/Financials

Angel.com and MScript launch voice-enabled CRM and transcription sollutions: Angel.com it has entered into a strategic alliance with MScript to offer three voice-enabled CRM and transcription solutions. Angel.com and MScript customers will now be able to utilize Angel.com's on-demand phone solutions to collect data from callers, transcribe pieces of information from the call, and communicate key pieces of data into existing CRM or ERP applications. Angel.com and MScript will offer the following solutions: SalesScript is MScript's phone interface into a company's powerful CRM application, which allows individuals to use voice to enter real-time data into existing CRM applications. Customers can integrate SalesScript with existing CRM applications such as Salesforce.com, Siebel and Netsuite, as well as any ERP application. SalesScript can minimize inaccurate and disparate data, increase employee productivity and increase the quantity of data entered by allowing access to the system at any time and from any location. MCare is a voice-enabled name and address capture solution offered by Angel.com, MScript and 411XML. Customers use MCare to capture lead data for high volume applications, such as direct response campaigns, class action lawsuits or surveys. The solution can be deployed immediately and offers a low-cost alternative to using live agents to capture data. Based on Angel.com and MScript's Microsoft .NET platform, IN-Voice is a billing and time-tracking solution for the mobile workforce. Callers simply phone in hours worked or completed tasks and the voice files can be converted to text and delivered to the appropriate audience. IN-Voice can be integrated with any corporate time and billing system using web services and XML. Founded in 2000, MScript is a leader in document creation and management with the ability to accept and integrate data from IVR phone systems, faxes, email, Web-based forms, scanned images, mobile devices and more. In addition to the ability to convert handwritten and voice files to text, MScript's suite of tools can also pull or push data from customer corporate databases, CRM, ERP and supply chain applications into the company's online forms using web services and XML. www.mscript.com www.microstrategy.com Mark Golino, President of MScript

Apptera Rolls out Business Intelligence for v-Business Platform: Apptera released a business intelligence solution for the company’s v-Business platform. Apptera Business Intelligence is a reporting tool that generates a summary for CIOs and business line users that provides insight into callers’ goals and behavior, with an ability to drill-down into the usage and performance of specific business transactions. Apptera Business Intelligence generates a summary or executive dashboard for highlighting the top line metrics used to illustrate the success of caller interactions. This helps business users to access useful data on caller requests, preferences and intent. Apptera enables companies to track program, product and service efficiencies, identifying new insight for how callers engage with the system and pinpointing their transaction success. www.apptera.com

Concerto Software and Aspect Communications Complete Merger and Form Aspect Software: Concerto Software and AspectCommunications announced completion of their merger. The transaction was approved by a majority of Aspect Communications' shareholders on 21 September 2005 . The new entity, privately held by Golden Gate Capital, Oak Investment Partners, company management and others, will now operate as Aspect Software. The newly formed Aspect Software brings together more than 30 years of contact center expertise and innovation with a robust, market-leading product portfolio that includes predictive dialers, automatic call distributors (ACD), unified contact center systems, self-service interactive voice response (IVR) systems, workforce management applications and performance analytics solutions, enabling the company to meet customer demand for increased functionality and reduced complexity. Aspect Software will continue to evolve and support all of its major product lines, build tighter integrations among its products and provide evolutionary methods for customers to adopt new and emerging technologies. Aspect Software anticipates in excess of $600 million in annual revenue, with more than 5,000 customers and a global presence in over 50 countries. The company also expects to maintain its strong record of profitability, demonstrating long-term viability and enabling significant investment in research and development. The executive team of the new company, led by CEO Jim Foy, includes individuals from both companies' management teams. Gary Barnett, former CEO of Aspect Communications, now serves as chief technology officer (CTO) and executive vice president of worldwide support services for Aspect Software. Other members of the new management team include: *Ralph Breslauer - executive vice president of global sales and marketing ; *Mike Provenzano - executive vice president and chief financial officer (CFO); *Alex Tellez - executive vice president of engineering. Aspect Software, the founder of the contact center industry, is the largest company 100 percent focused on providing proven, innovative products and services that enable key business processes including customer service, collections, and sales and telemarketing for in-house and outsourced contact centers. Each day, companies around the globe conduct more than 125 million customer interactions using Aspect's flexible, reliable solutions for automatic call distribution (ACD), predictive dialing, workforce management, analytics, IVR and multi-channel contact. Headquartered in Westford, Mass., Aspect has operations across the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia Pacific. www.aspect.com.

Cognitronics to Acquire ThinkEngine Networks: Cognitronics Corporation (Amex: CGN) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire privately held ThinkEngine Networks, Inc.( Marlborough, Massachusetts). ThinkEngine's VSR1000, an advanced call processing platform provides TDM to IP gateway, conferencing, media server and voice recognition functionality into one platform. The VSR1000 platform together with Cognitronics' CX Network Media Servers creates a leadership position in the Advanced Intelligent Network to Voice over Internet Protocol (AIN to VoIP) voice processing market. Cognitronics is acquiring ThinkEngine Networks in a stock, cash and note transaction aggregating approximately $4.7 million. www.cognitronics.com. Founded in 2000, ThinkEngine Networks is a leading provider of TDM and IP capable conferencing bridges and media servers. The VSR1000C includes both TDM and IP interfaces as standard equipment and is capable of processing 1000 simultaneous sessions in a compact 1U platform. The NEBS 3 certified platform has been deployed by customers to implement Reservation-less Conferencing, Prepaid Calling, and IVR applications. Michael Mitchell, chief executive officer of ThinkEngine Networks.

Convergys SpeechPort Open Hosting Environment Delivers Unique Platform for Speech Solutions
Convergys Corporation (NYSE: CVG), announces the addition of the Convergys SpeechPort Open Hosting Environment (OHE) to its portfolio of speech and multi-channel technology solutions. With this open hosting platform, Convergys clients can take as much control as they want over the development and management of their speech recognition applications to automate customer interactions, while still enjoying the many benefits associated with a hosted services environment. Convergys Speechport OHE is a VoiceXML 2.0-based, speech recognition hosting platform designed to bridge the gap between hosting and premise-based solutions by distributing system components without compromising security or performance. It provides Convergys clients with maximum flexibility in the development and management of their speech applications. Using SpeechPort OHE, Convergys clients can determine the degree to which they use in-house programming resources and maintain control of the hardware and software elements of the hosting environment, while enjoying the low total cost of ownership, scalability, security, and redundancy protection of a hosted solutions environment. Convergys SpeechPort OHE will be particularly attractive to premise-based speech vendors and packaged application providers seeking to quickly establish their brand, deploy their products and services, and expand their market presence with a hosted solution. www.convergys.com Contacts: John Pratt, Convergys +1 513 723 3333 or +1 888 284 9900 or john.pratt@convergys.com

Datria Named One of Fastest Growing Technology Companies in Deloitte's Colorado Technology Fast 50 Program for Third Year in a Row: Datria has been named to Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50 Program for Colorado, a ranking of the 50 fastest growing technology companies in the state by Deloitte & Touche USA LLP. Rankings are based on the percentage revenue over five years, from 2000 –2004. To qualify for the Technology Fast 50, companies must have had operating revenues of at least $50,000 in 2000 and $1,000,000 in 2004, be headquartered in North America, and be a "technology company," defined as a company that owns proprietary technology that contributes to a significant portion of the company's operating revenues; or devotes a significant proportion of revenues to the research and development of technology. Using other companies' technology in a unique way does not qualify. Winners of the 15 regional Technology Fast 50 programs in the United States and Canada are automatically entered in Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 program, which ranks North America’s top 500 fastest growing technology companies.

Fluency Voice Technology Secures a Second Round of Funding: Fluency Voice Technology has raised a further £3 million in equity investment underwritten by UK and European technology investors Favonius Ventures and Kennet Venture Partners. Favonius and Kennet originally injected £4 million into the business in March of 2004. Fluency's client list includes companies such as Barclays, Chelsea Building Society, Lloyds TSB, National Express, Powergen and JD Williams.

Genesys and IBM Expand Speech Solution Offering: Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. and IBM entered a new technology and reseller agreement in which the Genesys Voice Platform (GVP) technology offering has expanded to include the addition of IBM WebSphere Voice Server (WVS) speech solutions. The IBM WebSphere Voice Server functionality provides automated speech recognition (ASR) and text-to-speech (TTS) resources that enable speech-based interaction. IBM WVS is now available with GVP: Network Edition (GVP: NE) and GVP: Enterprise Edition (GVP: EE). GVP: NE is an IP-enabled software-only solution that offers standards-based development, deployment options, and integration for voice applications. GVP: EE for the enterprise is an IP-enabled, software-only solution that runs on off-the-shelf hardware. Additional benefits of the solution integration include the fact that GVP is media resource control protocol (MRCP) compatible, operating on a multitude of speech recognition and text-to-speech technologies. The IBM WVS allows for transition from proprietary application program interfaces to making MRCP interface the speech technology industry standard. In addition, the joint solution supports automatic speech recognition technology, matching spoken input to the expected grammar in a speech application. WVS currently offers eight languages, including English, Australian English, UK English, German, Canadian French, Chinese, Japanese and Spanish. This agreement builds upon the IBM and Genesys strategic alliance that delivers call center solutions and consulting services to customers since 1999. IBM runs Genesys solutions in all of its worldwide call centers, including ibm.com and IBM’s Strategic Outsourcing Delivery Service Centers.

Siemens and Genesys Integrate SIP-Based Solutions to Provide Large-Scale Enterprises with Contact Center Virtualization from a Single Platform: Siemens Communications, Inc., and Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. announced a new integration of technologies - using open next-generation session initiation protocol (SIP) standards - to bring a single, centralized platform of rich contact center and communication solutions to large enterprises. The integration includes the SIP-based Siemens HiPath 8000 Real-Time IP System and the SIP-based Genesys 7 portfolio of contact center management applications. This new approach is designed to enable enterprises using the HiPath 8000 and Genesys 7 platforms to build on existing communication infrastructure investments. The combined solution is also designed to allow the migration to SIP one business unit at a time, with continued interoperability with legacy systems to extend the reach of next-generation SIP solutions throughout an enterprise's IP network infrastructure. The two companies are building on a longstanding partnership to integrate technologies to create a complete IP contact center solution based around the HiPath 8000 voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) solution, one of the industry's first unified communication softswitches to be built from the ground-up with native SIP architecture. The HiPath 8000 communications system is also designed to provide carrier-grade reliability and with scalability to support the data, telephony and multimedia needs of as many as 100,000 users. Building upon a 10-year reseller relationship, Siemens and Genesys recently completed interoperability testing for the combined solution at the Siemens Labs in San Jose, Calif. Genesys is now completing certification tests prior to making the combined solution market available for proof-of-concept projects today and for production environments in early 2006. www.genesyslab.com http://www.alcatel.com : www.usa.siemens.com www.usa.siemens.com/communications holders. Contacts: Barry Lawrence, 703-262-2020 barry.lawrence@siemens.com David Radoff 650-466-1078 dradoff@genesyslab.com Mark Straton, senior vice president of marketing for Siemens Communications, Inc.

Sports Scores and News By Voice - By Phone From ifbyphone: Sports fans are just a phone call away from the latest scores and sports news. ifbyphone's Content on Command service is available anytime, anywhere. A special toll-free number, 866 350-9836, is now in operation. Call and you're connected to ifbyphone. ifbyphone provides custom web-like access from your telephone. You navigate by voice command without ever needing to touch the keypad or straining to read a tiny screen. By integrating sophisticated voice recognition and state of the art text to speech technologies, ifbyphone empowers your cell phone, home phone, or business phone to be your personalized play-by-play source. -- ifbyphone now provides the tools to set your preferences for your favorite teams and sports. Anytime you dial in, ifbyphone's proprietary technology recognizes a registered user and begins reporting: -- Real time scores -- Game Previews and Game Recaps -- Betting Lines including odds, spreads and total points -- BCS Rankings and Coaches Polls -- ifbyphone's league data aggregation includes: NFL, NCAA Football (I-A), NCAA Basketball (Men's and Women's), NBA, NHL, and MLB. Coming soon is NASCAR, Golf, NCAA Football(Other Divisions) FIFA Soccer and Tennis. ifbyphone's proprietary technology provides its community of registered users with not just sports but the latest news, weather, stocks, RSS feeds, Blogs plus interactive games and fiction -- all personalized. This new release (Beta 2) also includes: -- E-mail Keyword Scan and Notification: Registered users can enter any keyword. ifbyphone scans all incoming messages and will call the designated phone number to alert them when an e-mail with the keyword arrives. ifbyphone's text to speech tool can then be commanded to read the message. -- Dynamic Chat: Questions on "water-cooler" topics are available to any registered ifbyphone user. Users can share opinions and listen to what others have said anytime from anywhere. Free registration and customization is now available at www.ifbyphone.com . ifbyphone is a new media company focused on the distribution of recorded and text based information and family friendly entertainment via voice. The customizable features of the ifbyphone voice-based service are available directly to individual customers and to corporations. Use any phone anywhere to access the latest news, sports or weather, listen to your e-mail, search thousands of RSS feeds, access hundreds of Blogs, monitor your portfolio, play fun games or enjoy interactive fiction. Funding for http://www.ifbyphone.com is provided by Cogitations, Inc., a software technology incubator headquartered in Skokie, Illinois.

Intervoice Achieves VoiceXML 2.0 Industry Certification: Intervoice, Inc. (Nasdaq:INTV) announced its Omvia Media Server, a component of its Omvia Solutions Framework, has achieved VoiceXML 2.0 Certification through the VoiceXML Forum's Platform Certification Program. The Omvia Media Server passed more than 580 independently tested assertions in the VoiceXML Forum's VoiceXML 2.0 test suite. With VoiceXML 2.0 Certification, the Omvia Media Server provides a standards-based environment for the creation, deployment and hosting of speech-enabled services from a single platform. The Omvia Media Server is a modular and scalable platform that integrates Web- and enterprise-based data systems into speech-enabled automated solutions and allows enterprises to develop and deploy voice applications efficiently. The Omvia Media Server provides a standard Media Resource Control Protocol (MRCP) interface for Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) and Text To Speech (TTS) integration. The Omvia Media Server is the first VoiceXML browser to achieve VoiceXML 2.0 certification using MRCP for ASR and TTS integration. The Omvia Media Server is available in both TDM and VoIP configurations and also supports SALT. VoiceXML 2.0 Certification through the VoiceXML Forum's Platform Certification Program confirms that a solution is compatible with the VoiceXML standard, saving customers and partners from the ongoing burden of making and maintaining proprietary markups. The certification requirements are based on the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) VoiceXML 2.0 Recommendation and the W3C VoiceXML 2.0 Implementation Report test suite. The certification program is managed and developed by VoiceXML Forum members and utilizes independent third-party test laboratories to ensure impartiality. www.intervoice.com/solutions/technology/ Ken Goldberg, 972-454-8407 Ken.goldberg@intervoice.com

Jacent broadens phone-order lineup with Voice Center: Jacent Technologies announced the release of its new Jacent Voice Center. According to a news release, Voice Center is a comprehensive call management platform that offers two new modules, CallWise and QuickStart. Both work with Jacent’s current module, OrderStream. Voice Center significantly improves the performance of the telephone order process with a customizable ordering framework using the most advanced speech-recognition technology. The CallWise module records each phone call and delivers comprehensive reporting and analytics so that businesses can better understand all aspects of the ordering process. The OrderStream module prevents abandoned calls by giving customers the option of placing orders automatically without waiting for staff to answer. * QuickStart speeds call times by providing staff with pre-screened customer order information before they even pick up the phone. www.jacent.com

Loquendo and CreaLog Sign Partnership Agreement: Loquendo and CreaLog (Munich, Germany) have signed an agreement whereby CreaLog will integrate Loquendo's multilingual speech technologies into its flagship product CreaVoice Voice Portal. The CreaLog Voice Portal Platform is powered by Loquendo Technologies - including Loquendo TTS, Loquendo ASR and Loquendo Speaker Verification - and is the basis for application-specific and individual solutions. CreaVoice manages the caller dialogue and is responsible for coordinating all activities, including speech recognition, synthetic speech, speaker verification, voice-logging and conferencing. Loquendo offers a high quality, multi-lingual portfolio of speech technologies, including Loquendo TTS and Loquendo ASR, which enable systems integrators to provide simple, intuitive voice interaction with information. Loquendo currently supports 16 languages from around the world with additional language technologies under development. Leveraging the VoiceXML and web-controlled CreaVoice Platform, CreaLog offers advanced Solutions for "Customer-Self-Service by phone" to a wide variety of sectors, including Phone-Banking and Brokerage, Intelligent Call Center Support and Automation, Mass Calling Platforms for Carriers, Interactive TV-Auction Solutions for Media and Entertainment, Voice Portal Solutions for Retail, Industry and Travel, Voice Government and Utilities. CreaLog is the leading provider of Voice Portal solutions in Europe, with references in 15 countries. CreaLog's VoiceXML-based and web-controlled Voice Portals are running at more than 280 leading customers across 30 sectors. They use natural-language speech recognition and next generation Text-to-Speech. CreaLog's Voice Portals, Unified Messaging and CTI-Solutions for Enterprises and Carriers with more than 26.000 installed Lines, achieved the "Best of CeBit 2005 Award". CreaLog's customer Sparda Bank received the "Bankmarketingpreis 2005"-Award for their best-in-class Phonebanking Solution "CreaVoice Banking". www.Crealog.com With over 30 years R&D experience, global speech-technologies leader Loquendo provides all the technologies required for creating the ultimate speech-interaction solutions. Loquendo's best-in-breed technologies - Loquendo TTS, Loquendo ASR, Loquendo Speaker Verification - and the VoxNauta Platform enable integrators to rapidly and easily create best-in-breed solutions in 16 languages. Currently available languages include U.S. and U.K. English, Castilian, Catalan, Mexican, Chilean and Argentinean Spanish, Italian, German, French, Greek, Mandarin Chinese, Dutch, Brazilian Portuguese and Swedish - in both male and female voices. Loquendo is a Telecom Italia company headquartered in Turin, Italy and is a leading technological partner for integrators in the speech solutions field throughout Europe, the U.S. & Latin America. www.loquendo.com

Loquendo and Dutchear Announce a Strategic Partnership to Deliver Speech-Driven Telephony Applications: Loquendo and Dutchear (Delft, Netherlands) are joining forces to implement speech driven telephony applications. Through this agreement, Dutchear will integrate Loquendo's multilingual Synthetic Speech, Automatic Speech Recognition and Speaker Verification technologies in a wide range of speech technology applications for call routing, corporate and personal directory assistance and telephony self-service aimed at the Dutch speech market. Dutchear has extensive experience with developing and implementing speech driven applications for multi-nationals, mid market and small sized companies. The Dutchear solutions are aimed at short time-to-market and high ROI. Loquendo offers a high quality, multi-lingual portfolio of speech technologies, including Loquendo TTS and Loquendo ASR which enable systems integrators to provide simple, intuitive voice interaction with information. Loquendo currently supports 16 languages from around the world with additional language technologies under development.. Dutchear develops speech technology applications for call routing, call logging, corporate and personal directory assistance and telephony self-service. Dutchear offers tailor made solutions as well as pay-per-call services. In order to design and implement speech driven applications quickly and with high quality, Dutchear incorporates ready-to-use ASR/Synthesis modules (e.g.: Dutch addresses, Dutch first and last names) and ready-to-use Speaker Verification modules in her solutions. Dutchear is a spin-off of TNO, the largest R&D organisation in The Netherlands. Since 2005 Dutchear exists as a separate company, in which TNO has a 100% equity stake. With over 30 years cutting-edge R&D experience, global speech-technologies leader Loquendo provides all the technologies required for creating the ultimate speech-interaction solutions. www.loquendo.com Victor Huisman, Managing Director of Dutchear

Loquendo and Comlet Sign Partnership Agreement: Loquendo and ComLet (Munich, Germany) announced that they have entered into an agreement which enables ComLet to integrate Loquendo’s multilingual Text-to-Speech (TTS) and Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) engines into its flagship CallPro® Voice Portal solution. The CallPro® Voice Portal solution is universally applicable and will provide Comlet customers with greater speech quality for all their automated systems requirements. ComLet has a rich portfolio of integration success stories in the man-machine-dialogue systems field of the automotive-industry. Their "Embedded-Systems" division creates high-end applications in the infotainment field for leading German automotive manufacturers. ComLet uses its automotive expertise to support customers in a variety of areas, including consulting, project management and implementation. Loquendo offers a high quality, multi-lingual portfolio of speech technologies, including Loquendo TTS and Loquendo ASR which enable systems integrators to provide simple, intuitive voice interaction with information. Loquendo currently supports 16 languages from around the world with additional language technologies under development. ComLet is currently developing a range of services for customers in the E-government and Banking sectors. These services were demonstrated at the Voice Day 2005 Conference, which was held in Bonn on October 20th and 21st. www.loquendo.com ComLet GmbH was founded in 2001 by professors and alumni of the University of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern computer science department. Prof. Dr. Manuel Duque-Antòn and Prof. Dr. Manh Tien Tran are the managing directors of the company, which currently numbers 25 employees. As a typical university's spin-off ComLet is closely involved in research and development activities. Using an ongoing know-how transfer, the company has the ability to identify current trends and possibilities in the IT-environment at an early stage and transform them into innovative solutions and services. ComLet is a qualified partner in the man-machine-dialogue field and has a rich track record of successful business activity in the automotive-industry www.comlet.de Steffen Fromm, Marketing & Sales Manager at ComLet

Nexidia Launches Management Consulting Practice: Nexidia launched a Management Consulting Practice designed to help customers maximize the impact of implementing Nexidia’s speech analytics solution. The Nexidia Management Consulting team will be led by Suzy Weaver, Mike Hutchison and M.J. Lichtenberg. The group has over 60 years of experience in managing and evaluating contact center performance and implementing solutions. Weaver most recently managed Telvista’s contact center operations in Mexico and the United States. Hutchison brings 15 years of experience in customer service. Lichtenberg spent over 20 years working with American Airlines and its subsidiary where she led a multi-million dollar account spread over four call center sites. She is also trained in Six Sigma methodology. www.nexidia.com

Pronexus Inc. and Mobilio Inc. Sign LOI for Data Sharing Between Field Service Personnel and Office Using a Cell Phone: Pronexus Inc. and Mobilio Inc., a provider of Web-based service management and wireless solutions, signed a Letter of Intent (LOI). The LOI lays out the framework for the companies to enhance and extend Mobilio's existing wireless field service software, MobilioLINK, with voice capabilities via the Pronexus veoMobile platform. MobilioLINK Web-based and wireless field service management solution is a service management solution that connects a mobile and/or remote workforce with the office for sharing of information. Field service personnel and the office can now communicate mission critical information and data in via any wireless device. MobilioLINK eliminates the need for manual and paper-based systems for processing information such as work orders. MobilioLINK also transfers information electronically to the organization's existing back-office accounting or scheduling system. Pronexus veoMobile provides a voice interface to enterprise applications such as MobilioLINK for data capture and retrieval over voice networks. Organizations using MobilioLINK can deploy the solution enhanced with Pronexus veoMobile speech technology using their existing cell phones. Field service personnel will be able to access and update work-related information, such as work orders, by placing a telephone call. Pronexus veoMobile is built on the Microsoft Speech Server and integrates with existing IT infrastructure for a mobile solution. By voice-enabling MobilioLINK with Pronexus veoMobile: * Field service technicians can now update their work orders in using their existing cell phones *Dispatchers can obtain scheduling and status updates of their mobile technicians through the MobilioLINK voice-enabled system. Dispatchers will have a view of field service activity to provide information, such as expected arrival time to customers. This agreement not only provides the companies with a frame work with which to integrate Pronexus veoMobile solution with Mobilio's MobilioLINK, but it also details how the companies will conduct product demonstrations and market trials to validate customer acceptance, and to obtain technical and commercial feedback. Following market trials initiated mid Q4, it is expected that Mobilio will enter into a Value-Added Reseller agreement with Pronexus, allowing Mobilio to resell the Pronexus veoMobile solution. www.myMobilio.com Jamie Opalchuk, jamie@myMobilio.com 905-465-0933 Jennifer McDonald, Pronexus Inc. jennifer.mcdonald@pronexus.com (613) 271 8989 www.pronexus.com

Skype opens marketplace for voice services: Skype Launches Its Voice Services Program, Creating New Revenue Opportunities for Content Providers Worldwide– Skype (Luxembourg), the pioneering Global Internet Communications Company, which offers free high-quality phone calls to anyone with an Internet connection, announced the further development of its strategy, creating business opportunities for its thriving community of developers and partners by launching its Voice Services Program for third party content providers. The Skype Voice Services Program developed in partnership with industry leaders like Tellme Networks enables any content provider, large or small, to become a part of Skype’s new marketplace for either free or chargeable voice services. Content providers will join Skype’s ecosystem of more than 400 Skype developers worldwide who are already offering hardware and software products to Skype’s 53 million members. "Skype has driven a revolution in personal communications by popularizing free Internet phone calls. We are committed to opening the endless possibilities for voice by creating a marketplace for our thriving ecosystem of partners and developers to make it easy for their innovative services to be available to our millions of callers worldwide," said Niklas Zennström, CEO and Co-founder of Skype. "We challenge the world’s most creative content providers to work with us and our partners at Tellme, Voxeo and Voxpilot to develop these new and exciting forms of Internet voice services." Examples of voice services Skype callers could benefit from include live traffic reports, horoscope of the day, language learning tools, or international delivery tracking systems, available for free or for a charge to the caller. Tellme Networks, the company bringing Internet services to the telephone, is a key partner for Skype’s new program alongside Voxpilot and Voxeo. These partners will work with Skype to provide market-leading platforms and development resources with which content providers can build and charge for innovative voice services. Skype callers will pay for chargeable voice services from their Skype Credit account with a percentage of the fee going to the content provider who created the service. Content providers’ voice services will be reviewed and the most popular will be deployed and listed on the Skype website. Details about how to submit applications and the fee structure will be announced later this month. Interested content providers can access more information on Skype’s Voice Services Program at www.skype.com/partners/voice/ where they will also find links to its partner platforms: Tellme Studio (studio.tellme.com); Voxpilot (www.voxbuilder.com) and Voxeo (www.voxeo.com) to build and submit applications for deployment on Skype. Skype, the Global Internet Communications Company, allows people everywhere to make free, unlimited, superior quality voice calls via its award-winning innovative peer-to-peer software for Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, and Pocket PC platforms. Skype is available in 27 languages and is the fastest growing voice communications offering worldwide. Since its launch in August 2003, Skype has been downloaded more than 161 million times in 225 countries and territories. Over 53 million people registered to use Skype’s free services, with over 3 million simultaneous users. Skype has more than 2 million premium customers, with over 12 billion minutes served. Skype Technologies S.A. is headquartered in Luxembourg and is growing its offices in London and Tallinn. Skype Technologies is privately held and backed by top tier international venture capital firms, including Bessemer Venture Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Index Ventures, and Mangrove Capital Partners.

Telephony Fraud Prevention for Web Hosts: VariLogiX (Dearborn Heights, MI) has expanded its telephone fraud verification service for its flagship FraudCall product, with the addition of a speech recognition verification system. The service, which allows online merchants to verify their customers’ orders before their credit card is processed, saves merchants processing fees and chargeback fees if the order is fraudulent. VariLogix telephony solutions with IVR capabilities has been integrated in the past into web hosting billing software such as WHM Auto Pilot, ModernBill, and SW-Soft’s HSPComplete. VariLogix will offer the new speech recognition service for all service packages, and will allow its clients to approve roughly 45% more orders from countries whose telephones do not support touch-tone dialing. FraudCall, which online merchants use to verify orders via phone confirmation, is a scalable product that was developed in March of 2004 by VariLogix that reduces fraud orders by roughly 99 percent. To date, it has prevented over 35,000 fraudulent orders. "What we are offering is revolutionary in terms of price and scalability," said VariLogiX President James Ryan. "In our industry, fraud can make or break a company. Finally, we have a way to prevent it." VariLogix is a privately held IVR and anti-fraud solutions provider specializing in Fraud Prevention services. With a capacity to place over 2,400 calls an hour to over 200 countries, it has quickly become the leading provider of telephony solutions for hosting companies. Developed by VariLogiX, FraudCall allows e-commerce companies to place verification calls to customers via an automated system. Available in one of three packages, the system is an economical way to substantially reduce or even eliminate fraudulent orders. Contact: Dan Garon, Publicist VariLogiX / Press Advance 612-501-1586

Vocal Laboratories Report on Customer Care Among Financial Institutions Shows Washington Mutual on Top: Vocal Laboratories Inc. (www.vocalabs.com) announced the results of its SectorPulse study on the quality of customer service among three financial services companies. This study focused on Washington Mutual (NYSE:WM), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), and the Internet funds transfer company PayPal, a subsidiary of e-Bay (NASDAQ:EBAY). Washington Mutual showed substantial improvement from an earlier study published in April 2005, earning an "A" grade in Caller Satisfaction, up from a "C". But the company earned a "D" in Call Completion, which measures the percentage of customers who were able to complete their business with just a single phone call. Bank of America was also evaluated in the previous report, and showed no significant change earning a "C" in Caller Satisfaction, and a "D" in Call Completion, just as before. While not a direct competitor to the other two companies, PayPal processes millions of online financial transactions each year. We did not collect data on PayPal in our prior study, but for this report the company earned a "C" in Customer Satisfaction and a "D" in Call Completion. VocaLabs CEO Peter Leppik comments: "The poor grades for Call Completion are especially troubling in this industry. Repeat calls to complete a single piece of business frustrates customers and negatively impacts the financial performance of a customer service operation. Across all the financial services companies for which we have data, about one customer in four must call more than once, an unnecessary burden on both the customer and the company." www.vocalabs.com An Executive Summary and complete SectorPulse-Financial data reports are available by subscription. VocaLabs' SectorPulse reports compare the customer service quality for different companies in the same industry, using data and call recordings from the companies' customers. VocaLabs has recruited over 92,000 individuals to provide feedback on customer service experiences, from which we drew the participants for this study. VocaLabs panelists who are customers of one of the companies included in this study were asked to participate by having their customer service calls tracked and completing surveys before and after the call. Vocal Laboratories delivers statistically reliable feedback on the user friendliness of telephone based customer service whether delivered via traditional call centers or self-serve technology. Clients are end user enterprises, call center consultants, application providers and equipment vendors. Contacts: Vocal Laboratories, Inc., Rick Rappe', 952-941-6580 X 205, rrappe@vocalabs.com

Verizon Wireless in the Top Spot in VocaLabs Study of Customer Service Quality: Vocal Laboratories Inc. (www.vocalabs.com) announced the results of its eighth quarterly SectorPulse study on the quality of customer service among the largest wireless phone companies during the three months ending September 30, 2005. Maintaining its lead over T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) earned an "A" in Caller Satisfaction and a "B" in Call Completion, the same grades as last quarter. T-Mobile remained close behind retaining "B"s in both Caller Satisfaction and Call Completion, also unchanged from last quarter. Cingular remained at a "B" for Caller Satisfaction, but improved to a "B" in Call Completion. But legacy AT&T Wireless (NYSE:AWE) customers not yet converted to Cingular reported a "C" in Caller Satisfaction and a "D" in Call Completion. Sprint's grades were unchanged from last quarter with a "C" in Caller Satisfaction and a "D" in Call Completion. "It is interesting how quickly Cingular has improved its service quality and closed the performance gap between itself and the leaders," commented VocaLabs' CEO Peter Leppik. "While the differences remain statistically meaningful, the top three carriers are far more equal in customer care than two years ago when we began SectorPulse to monitor customer service performance." www.vocalabs.com. An Executive Summary and complete SectorPulse Wireless data reports are available by subscription. Contacts: Vocal Laboratories, Inc., Rick Rappe', 952-941-6580 X 205 rrappe@vocalabs.com

Southwest Still at the Top in VocaLabs Study of Airline Customer Service: Vocal Laboratories (www.vocalabs.com) announced the results of its fourth SectorPulse study on the quality of customer service among major US Airlines. Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) with its reputation for quality customer care earns another "A" for Caller Satisfaction, and in fact Southwest's satisfaction scores are among the highest across all industries, not just airlines. Still, the airline dropped from an "A" to a "C" in Call Completion, a measure of the percentage of customers who had to call back more than once to complete their business. Northwest (Nasdaq:NWAC) earned an "A" in Caller Satisfaction, up from a "B" six months ago, and remained at a "B" in Call Completion. Both American (NYSE:AMR) and United (OTCBB:UAL.OB) earned "B" grades in Caller Satisfaction, unchanged from the last report. Both companies also earned "C's" in Call Completion, which was down from a "B" at American, and down from an "A" at United. Delta (NYSE:DAL) remains at a "C" in Caller Satisfaction, but improved to a "B" in Call Completion, up from a "C". VocaLabs CEO Peter Leppik comments: "The most striking industry trend in this report is the drop in Call Completion scores. Repeat calls to complete a single transaction are costly to the carriers and frustrating to consumers. Much of the data was collected before the recent hurricanes, which suggests that those natural disasters are not the cause of this shift. More likely, continuing financial pressures on airlines are resulting in staffing cutbacks that cause longer times on hold, prompting customers to hang up and call again later. Both Northwest and Delta filed for chapter 11 reorganization, after our data collection was essentially complete, and it will be interesting to see if they will be able to sustain their gains in service quality." An Executive Summary and complete SectorPulse data reports are available by subscription. Contacts: Vocal Laboratories, Inc., Rick Rappe', 952-941-6580 X 205 rrappe@vocalabs.com

VoiceObjects Establishes Worldwide Headquarters in Silicon Valley: VoiceObjects has completed the legal formalities necessary to become a U.S. company, and has established its worldwide headquarters in Silicon Valley. VoiceObjects, Inc. will become the parent organization, and Germany based VoiceObjects AG will become a wholly owned subsidiary. VoiceObjects also closed a combined equity and debt financing of U.S. $11.5 million from TeleSoft Partners, Wellington Partners, SAP Ventures, Deutsche Telekom’s T-Venture, Enjoyventure and Comerica Bank. VoiceObjects founder Karl-Heinz Land will serve as executive vice president on the company’s strategic sales and business development efforts, primarily in the United States and Europe. In addition, Kent Bridges has joined VoiceObjects as senior vice president of sales, North America. Bridges will manage the company’s enterprise, OEM and channel sales efforts in the U.S. Bridges has held senior executive sales positions at DigitalPersona, Gadzook Networks, ZeitNet, Retix and Novell. In conjunction with the company’s move to the United States, Steve West has become the interim CEO, and will serve until the company’s permanent CEO search is completed. VoiceObjects will continue to operate with its existing team in Germany supporting its customers and partners in Europe and the United Kingdom. VoiceObjects engineering personnel will continue to deliver and support the company’s voice application management system platform VoiceObjects X5 from Germany, and will expand to other locations in the future as required by the growing needs of the business.

VoiceRite announced that it will resell the IBM WebSphere® Voice Server and Applications Server in an OEM agreement between the two companies. VoiceRite will bundle the WebSphere Voice and Application Server with its SpeechSuite applications, to offer a complete, easy to order suite of speech solutions. By bundling the speech technology and applications server with the application, VoiceRite is able to deliver a turnkey product. This contrasts with other speech application vendors who have to burden customers with evaluating, purchasing and integrating speech technology from one vendor and applications servers from another vendor, and integrate these to provide a platform upon which the speech application can run. www.voicerite.com

Voxeo Launches VoipCenter 6.0 SIP Application, SIP Media and SIP Fusion Products for Voice over IP Application Delivery: Voxeo Corporation announced its VoipCenter 6.0 SIP platform, delivering standards-based Voice over IP (VOIP) application creation, integration and deployment capabilities to any enterprise or service provider. Unlike VOIP application platforms that combine open SIP telephony with proprietary application development interfaces, the VoipCenter SIP platform enables rapid, open SIP application delivery via the Call Control XML (CCXML) and VoiceXML standards. To date, Voxeo's CCXML and VoiceXML engines have been used by more than 14,000 companies to deliver over 25,000 feature-rich, highly-reliable, future-proof SIP-based telephony applications. Voxeo's CCXML and VoiceXML-based SIP product family includes: The VoipCenter SIP Application Server software is built on Voxeo's proven Call Control XML (CCXML) engine and has routed over one billion calls since its first production deployment in early 2002. CCXML lets any company create intelligent, dynamic SIP applications that can screen, route, transfer, and initiate SIP VOIP calls - including SIP redirect, proxy, and Back-to-Back User Agent (B2BUA) applications. The VoipCenter SIP Application Server also supports least-cost and multi-network call routing with the ENUM route directory standard. The VoipCenter SIP Media Server software delivers a resume even more impressive than that of its SIP call control sibling. Built on Voxeo's carrier-grade Host Media Processing (HMP) engine, the VoipCenter SIP Media Server has played, recorded and conferenced its way through over three trillion VOIP packets since 1999. The VoipCenter SIP Media Server is driven by Voxeo's certified-compliant VoiceXML IVR and speech media application engine. VoiceXML delivers features to play prompts and speak synthesized text, record audio, and receive input via touch-tone entry or comfortable speech recognition. Voxeo extensions add everything developers need to record calls and to connect callers in high-quality multi-party audio conferences. The VoipCenter SIP Media Server also bundles highly intelligent English-language speech recognition and speech synthesis engines at no additional charge, and supports a wide variety of additional speech engines via support for the IETF Media Resource Control Protocol (MRCP) standard. In fact, the VoipCenter Media Server is itself a powerful MRCP compliant media server and media proxy. VoipCenter Fusion Servers integrate both Voxeo's SIP Application and Media software into a single 1U or 3U rack-mount server. Voxeo's SIP Fusion Server is the first turnkey telephony platform to offer VoiceXML IVR, CCXML call control, speech recognition, speech synthesis, call conferencing, call recording and an optional built-in PSTN-to-SIP VOIP gateway in one integrated, rack-mount device. The VoipCenter Fusion Server integrates with both existing and new PSTN, PBX, and VOIP deployments, and is available in both 120/240 volt AC or -48 volt DC telecom power models. VoipCenter SIP products are available immediately from Voxeo as either a hosted service, software install or turnkey server. VoipCenter SIP is compatible with a wide variety of SIP vendors, devices and services, including Avaya, BroadVoice, Cisco/Linksys, Delta3, Digium/Asterisk, Global Crossing, Level(3), Lucent, Nortel, SIP Express Router (SER), Sipura, Sonus, Televolution and more. www.voxeo.com, or call +1 (407) 418-1800.

WebForPhone Becomes a Strategic Partner with Salesforce.com: NetXentry LLC's WebforPhone, announces it has become a strategic partner of Salesforce.com. WebForPhone provides a new way to access CRM via speech, easily and naturally, at any time and from any place for executives, customers and suppliers. The WebforPhone platform translates between a telephone user’s speech and the Internet, acting as a speech browser for the Internet. An executive on the move can request by speech to find or update SalesForce.com CRM data – contacts, events, products, etc. Users can register at www.WebForPhone.com/salesforce, and then dial the WebforPhone automatic operator-like Platform to execute their requirements. Also, WebForPhone allows for a fully automated contact center by providing self-service by telephone speech to customers and suppliers. Users can perform speech enabled self-service functions on a website. SalesForce.com CRM can now be automatically emulated to provide speech-based phone customer self-service. Salesforce.com is the market and technology leader in on-demand customer relationship management (CRM). The company's Salesforce family of on-demand applications enables customers to manage and share all of their sales, support, marketing and partner information on demand. Appforce, Salesforce.com's on-demand platform, allows customers to customize and integrate the Salesforce family to meet their unique business needs, and build whole new powerful applications quickly and easily. Appforce applications are available via AppExchange, salesforce.com's on-demand application sharing service. www.salesforce.com, or call 1-800-NO-SOFTWARE.

West Corporation Awarded VoiceXML 2.0 Certification: West Corporation (Nasdaq: WSTC) announced that the West VoiceXML Platform has been awarded 2.0 certification by the VoiceXML Forum. West Corporation joins an elite group of companies whose platforms have been recognized as 2.0-compliant by the Forum. www.west.com +1-402-963-1324

Telephone Messaging – Applications/Products/Partnerships/Financials

AVST Launches CallXpress 7.71 Unified Communications: Applied Voice & Speech Technologies' CallXpress 7.71 features a 30% increase in port capacity, now supporting up to 20,000 users on a single site configuration. "Our goal for CallXpress is to continue in our tradition of offering the best of UC for businesses of all sizes," said Tom Minifie, AVST Vice President of Product Management. "There is a distinct trend toward the replacement of first generation voicemail systems for UC solutions that integrate with other applications like Instant Messaging, Presence and future VoIP and wireless technologies. We are at the early stages of that trend and through this new release can support the largest installations on a single site configuration and provide users with a solution that gives second generation features supported through an interface they already know." As a UC solution, CallXpress lets users access voice, fax and e-mail messages in a single e-mail inbox.

AVST Offers Communications Solutions for Higher Education Marketplace: Applied Voice & Speech Technologies, Inc. (AVST) demonstrated its commitment to the higher education marketplace by showcasing its product line to communications technology professionals from colleges and universities around the world. AVST exhibit its industry-leading unified communications products at the 2005 ACUTA Fall Seminars conference October 30 through November 2, 2005 at the Marriott City Center in Denver, Colo. ACUTA, which stands for the Association for Communications Technology Professionals in Higher Education, is an international non-profit educational association whose core purpose is to support higher education institutions in achieving optimal use of communications technologies. Already having success in the higher education marketplace and boasting a product line that appeals to education campuses of all sizes, AVST’s technology is a natural fit for ACUTA’s audience. At ACUTA, AVST showcased its newest version of CallXpress. Just launched, CallXpress 7.71 has the largest port capacity of any UC solution in its class and enhanced user interfaces. "AVST’s CallXpress provides administrators and faculty members with anytime, anywhere access to messages from any telephone or personal computer," said the company’s Vice President of Marketing, Denny Michael. "The software can be customized for each institution and specially configured to offer innovative solutions such as Homework Hotline, Career Connection, eXpress Registration and Appointment Scheduling & Calendaring." Institutions such as John Carroll University and Seattle Pacific University are using CallXpress to provide administrators and faculty members with the necessary tools to improve time management, giving them greater command of their productivity. In particular, Seattle Pacific has experienced a great degree of success and return on investment with CallXpress. According to Dave Tindall, assistant vice president for technology services at Seattle Pacific, "The ability for our faculty and staff members to maintain, store, listen to, respond to and forward voice mails in the same manner as e-mails quickly caught on. CallXpress smoothes out the process for those that live and breath in Microsoft Outlook—when they see a voice mail, they can deal with it quickly." Having built upon one of the most mature and innovative unified communications solutions in the market, AVST has designed CallXpress to help employees communicate and collaborate more productively and effectively regardless of their physical location. CallXpress enables users to have access to voice, fax and e-mail messages in a single e-mail inbox. In addition, CallXpress supports hundreds of legacy, digital and IP switches and is designed to deliver varying levels of communications functionality on an "ala carte" basis, significantly reducing customer licensing costs while ensuring that users get the best communications technology for their individual requirements today. www.acuta.org/events/seminars/fse05.cfm. ACUTA, the Association for Communications Technology Professionals in Higher Education, is an international non-profit educational association serving colleges and universities. ACUTA represents nearly 2000 individuals at 825 institutions of higher education with members ranging from small schools and community colleges to the 50 largest U.S. institutions representing diverse Carnegie classifications in all 50 states, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. ACUTA also has Corporate Affiliate members, representing all categories of communications technology vendors who serve the college/university market. Contact: Denny Michael, VP of Marketing, 949-699-2300 www.avst.com.

Portman Building Society uses AVST'S CallXpress: Portman Building Society, one of the largest building societies and mortgage lenders in the United Kingdom, announced it has deployed CallXpress, by Applied Voice & Speech Technologies, Inc. (AVST) at its headquarters and across a network of 114 branch offices. CallXpress delivers advanced unified messaging and speech-enabled capabilities that are designed to help companies deliver first rate customer service by allowing employees to communicate and collaborate more productively and effectively. Customer service continues to be a top priority for mortgage banking, investment and insurance companies. In such a competitive business sector the challenge is to attract and retain customers. With mergers and acquisitions constantly taking place, a key communications requirement is to ensure consistency through the integration of the different types of systems including PBXs, contact centres and voice mail. In order to stay competitive, Portman decided it needed to upgrade its existing corporate communications system to include a unified messaging application that would combine all of these aspects in an affordable, easy-to-use solution. After discussing these requirements with Avanquest, an expert supplier of leading-edge, best-of-breed corporate solutions and a qualified reseller of AVST products, Portman selected AVST’s CallXpress unified communications solution. David Lincoln, group networks manager at Portman, said, "Key factors in our decision to go with CallXpress were its ability to run in a Microsoft Mail environment with a simple migration path to Microsoft Exchange, and the ability to integrate with our Lucent SDX INDeX switches." Avanquest installed a 20-port CallXpress system with DPNSS integration along with a 12-port RightFax Enterprise system. Portman’s employees now receive immediate notification and access to voice, fax and email messages from their Outlook inbox from any location. CallXpress combines voice, fax and email messages in one inbox and makes them accessible via telephone, wireless device or computer. Users do not have to be in the office or logged onto a computer to access their email. They can receive and respond to messages anywhere, anytime. That means customers aren't left waiting, mobile workers are accessible and urgent messages are available right away. This greatly increases service levels and also provides a consistent corporate interface to the customers. Lincoln continued, "First class messaging is a must-have tool for any client service-driven organisation, and CallXpress enables our team members to respond to client inquires in an efficient manner. The end users have taken to it like a duck to water, and the installation and training time investment was minimal. The installation of CallXpress was an overall success." CallXpress is available in the UK through Avanquest www.avanquest.co.uk 01962 835053, or any AVST established reseller. For more product detail on CallXpress or a list of Resellers please contact AVST UK Regional Director, Paul Donaldson on 01676 531180 or access the company's website at www.avstgroup.com Portman Building Society is the third largest building society and thirteenth largest mortgage lender in the UK. Since 2000, Portman has more than doubled in size. During this period Portman was the fastest growing top ten building society measured by the three key aspects of lending – total assets, mortgage balances and savings under management. The Society’s assets now exceed £16.5 billion and the Society and its subsidiaries employ over 2,000 staff serving 1.8 million members. Currently, Portman has a total network of 146 branches. The Society's Head Office is in Bournemouth, Dorset and it has an administration centre based in the West Midlands. Avanquest UK is an authorised AVST reseller and accredited AVST training centre, is based in Winchester, UK. It has been supplying, implementing and supporting leading-edge, best of breed, Corporate Solutions for almost twenty years. The company has an unparalleled track record in understanding a clients' business plan and providing solutions that accelerate and formalise internal processes. www.avanquest.co.uk 01962 835000.

AVST Supports International Association of Messaging Professionals (IAMP) as Cornerstone Sponsor: Applied Voice & Speech Technologies, Inc. (AVST) announced that it is a cornerstone sponsor of the International Association of Messaging Professionals (IAMP). As a premier sponsor to this professional association, AVST is underscoring its commitment to advancing the enterprise communications market through education and awareness. At the IAMP 2005 Messaging Expo based in Houston, Texas, AVST demonstrated its unified communications (UC) product line and company executives spoke in a series of high-profile panels and breakout sessions. Targeted to professionals that manage and deploy voice messaging and unified messaging as strategic components of their enterprise communications solution set, this year’s IAMP conference is focused on the future of messaging including messaging application evolution and messaging infrastructure convergence. Breakout sessions vary from future visions, regulatory influences and speech recognition as an access technology to message security, disaster recovery and IP PBX integration. Attendees to the conference include some of the largest messaging users in the world including multinational and Fortune 1000 companies. "AVST is a perfect cornerstone sponsor of IAMP because of its innovative and educational focus in the messaging industry," added IAMP President Kyle Honadel. "Along with its market-leading products, AVST understands the needs and demands of today’s enterprise and offers them not only best-of-breed solutions but also a long term technology partner." CallXpress delivers call processing, voice messaging, unified messaging and advanced speech applications to medium and large enterprises and is designed to work with hundreds of legacy, digital and IP switches. Additionally, the platform is designed to deliver varying levels of communications functionality to different segments of the workforce on an "ala carte" basis, significantly reducing company-wide licensing costs while ensuring that employees get the best communications technology for their individual requirements today. IAMP is an independent association of technology professionals that focuses on the evolving world of enterprise communications solutions including voice messaging and unified messaging. IAMP’s primary objective is membership education which is accomplished by gathering and reporting industry news and technical information, sponsoring local member events and discussion groups, and conducting an annual conference. Incorporated as a professional organization in 1990, the International Association of Messaging Professionals (IAMP) is an "education focused" not-for-profit organization comprised of voice and data professionals that manage mission critical, enterprise communications solutions like voice messaging and unified messaging. IAMP’s moremembership includes 350 of the largest messaging users in the world including multinational and Fortune 1000 companies as well as single site and large campus concerns. contact IAMP at (310) 336-0449 or access the IAMP website at www.iampro.org www.avst.com.

Esnatech & My IP Telephone Deliver IP Voice Processing Solution for Socket Communications: Esnatech and My IP Telephone, a provider of IP telephony solutions and applications, have partnered to streamline Socket Communications’ voice network. Socket Communications, Inc. (Newark, California) provides the broadest range of network connection products for Windows-powered handheld computers, including cards with Bluetooth® Wireless Technology, wireless LAN cards, digital phone cards, 56K modem cards, and Ethernet cards. Socket also provides bar code scanning products and peripheral connection serial cards for laptops and other mobile devices. Socket Communications contacted My IP Telephone to explore a converged telecommunications solution to replace their existing, antiquated system. Socket’s corporate headquarters needed a better auto attendant system to answer their increasing call volume seamlessly. All prospective sales inquiries contact the main number for information, so the system had to deliver the finest in customer service and interaction. With the economy experiencing a vigorous surge of recovery, Socket saw the benefits of a new system that directly reflects their commitment to modern communication strategies. My IP Telephone needed a voice platform to satisfy the ambitious demands of Socket Communications to, first, manage all incoming inquiries and, second, to ease the migration out of a legacy voice mail platform. Telephony Office-LinX’s speech-enabled auto attendant delivered the goods! A simple, intuitive way to manage thousands of calls a day and process them appropriately, based on simple speech commands or requests from the caller. No more lost calls, no more frustrated sales prospects, only satisfied callers who are processed quickly and precisely through the Telephony Office-LinX platform. Socket was also not unlike many other organizations, in that it was trapped in a legacy voice mail platform that delivered no network integration, no unified messaging capabilities, and paid a high price to manage service and perform upgrades. Telephony Office-LinX allowed them to seamlessly migrate out of their legacy Octel voice mail platform into a new IP-integrated Unified messaging solution with little or no disruption. Another big issue with their Octel system was the absence of a means to back it up, presenting a major concern in case of disaster or disruption. Socket operated with the fear of losing all their messages should anything untoward happen on the existing Octel voice mail system. With the Office-LinX telephone user interface emulation, Socket could transfer their existing voice mail platform in its entirety, dramatically reducing the amount of user training that would have been required in a move to a new platform. Socket also leverages the Office-LinX solution for access to all their messages from their Microsoft Exchange accounts, including remote access via pocket PCs and cell phones. This enhances employee productivity and eliminates all barriers to easy access and staff response to messages. iA real-time communications solution for enterprise customers. Whether it’s a large campus, distributed offices or a mobile workforce, this all-in-one unified communications platform features unified messaging, wireless connectivity, CTI call control, one-number Find Me functionality, Web access, instant messaging, speech recognition, text-to-speech for e-mail reading – and even enables callers to connect to you live when you’re out of the office! My IP Telephone was developed by Pylon Solutions, an experienced team of consultants who have been working together since 1999, leading businesses into the field of Voice-over-IP and IP-PBX technology,. My IP Telephone carefully scrutinizes IP-PBX products, as well as the companies that develop them. Drawing on lessons learned in the consulting field, My IP Telephone packages solutions to fit most small-to-medium businesses - a variety of products and applications that are perfectly matched and which provide maximum productivity with minimal overhead and cost. www.myiptelephone.com Socket Communications (NASDAQ: SCKT) develops and distributes a broad range of data collection and network connectivity products for mobile devices such as PDA’s, Smartphones, and tablet notebooks. Working collaboratively with leading Strategic Vertical Integrators, world-class 3rd party software developers and OEMs, Socket's Battery Friendly products are proven to drive operational efficiencies, increase mobile workforce productivity, boost corporate performance and improve customer satisfaction. 510-744-2700 www.socketcom.com www.esnatech.com/products/enterprise/.

Fonix Telecom Now Certified in Georgia and Florida to Provide Local Exchange and Long Distance Services: Fonix Telecom, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Fonix® Corporation (OTC BB: FNIX) received its Interexchange Company (IXC) and Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) Certifications from Georgia Public Service Commission (GPSC) and Florida Public Service Commission (FPSC) to provide local exchange and interexchange, specifically intrastate long distance and associated access services. Fonix Telecom will begin providing facilities-based local telephone service and interconnection services in Georgia and Florida. As a facilities-based network provider, Fonix Telecom is able to simultaneously support traditional voice subscribers without the reliance upon the Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier (ILEC) switched services such as Unbundled Network Element - Platform (UNE-P). www.fonixtelecom.com (866) 486-4733. www.fonix.com (801) 553-6600 and say "Sales." Fonix Investor Contact: Gino De Jesus (678) 391-4596 gdejesus@fonix.com

Siemens Business Services and Loquendo Partner: Loquendo and Siemens Business Services (SBS) signed a strategic partnership establishing Siemens Business Services as a worldwide value added reseller of Loquendo Voice Technologies. Loquendo's technologies will integrate with SBS's voice applications platform. Thus customers will be able to leverage both Loquendo's TTS and ASR capabilities and SBS's voice solutions and enterprise architecture integration.

SpeechSwitch Deploying Speech Enabled Auto Attendant at Camtronics Medical Systems: SpeechSwitch, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: SSWC) announced that Camtronics Medical Systems has installed a Speech Enabled Auto Attendant. Camtronics, Inc. implemented iVoice Speech-Enabled Auto Attendant installed in conjunction with the Avaya, Definity phone systemIntroducing speech technology has led to a significant increase in business efficiency, and it has enhanced their ability to deliver top service to its customers. SpeechSwitch partner, Source, Inc, sold the Auto Attendant. Since 1986, Camtronics Medical Systems has been a leader in Cardiovascular Information Systems. Our VERICIS for cardiac Cath creates a complete digital record of images and reports for the Cath lab patient. Integrating with your Hospital Since 1986, Camtronics Medical Systems has been a leader in Cardiovascular Information System (HIS), VERICIS helps you optimize workflow, improve productivity, overcome staffing shortages, increase referrals, and control costs. Consisting of applications for Cardiac Cath Echocardiography, Nuclear Cardiography, and Vascular Ultrasound VERICIS is a comprehensive cardiology solution for any department. This scalable and expandable solution allows capacity and functionality to be added as required with new data sources and users - both on and off site - integrated seamlessly into the network architecture. 1-800-634-5151, www.camtronics.com www.speechswitch.com

Telephone Tools – Applications/Products/Partnerships/Financials

Aculab and Alliance Systems Extend Strategic Partnership; Aculab and Alliance Systems Anticipate Significant Growth Opportunities with Expanded Partnership: Aculab and Alliance Systems, Ltd., a leading provider of communications and computing infrastructure solutions, are pleased to announce they have entered into a strategic partnership to provide integrated communications solutions that combine Aculab's enabling technology products and Alliance Systems' best-in-class Intel based servers. These completely integrated and fully tested communications solutions create new and expanded market opportunities in both telecom and enterprise environments. Alliance Systems delivers a comprehensive set of outsourced services for independent software vendors (ISVs), original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and service providers. These services, which include design, manufacturing, logistics and support, help customers optimize their businesses for enhanced profitability and reduced time to market. With this new partnership, customers can leverage Alliance Systems' high-reliability communications systems with Aculab's high-end telephony products to build solutions for contact centers, IVR systems, pre-paid and Short Message Service (SMS) solutions as well as Voice over IP (VoIP), SS7 and other communications applications. Alliance Systems, Ltd. based in Plano, Texas, designs, builds, ships and supports Intel based servers. These systems provide the infrastructure for VoIP, wireless, security and other communications applications. Through its engineering, manufacturing and value-added services, Alliance Systems helps customers optimize their businesses by enhancing profitability and reducing time to market. Aculab, Jo Taylor, +44 1908 273 800 jo.taylor@aculab.com or Alliance Systems Claire Ortega, 972-633-3400 claire.ortega@alliancesystems.com

Aculab Uses CYGCOM's Speed to Market and eSupport Program: Aculab entered an agreement with CYGCOM Integrated Technologies. This agreement enables CYGCOM, through its "Speed to Market" program to integrate, test, distribute, support and co-market Aculab's Prosody PCI card and Telephony Interface Manager (TIM), for use with the Microsoft Speech Server (MSS) 2004 R2, to their extensive VAR and ISV distribution channels. Aculab's TIM allows MSS 2004 R2 based applications to be powered by Aculab's Prosody media processing resource cards and benefit from Aculab's portfolio of protocols for worldwide digital network access. Protocols include T1 and E1 interface connections, allowing prospects to be targeted in North America, Europe and Asia. The integration of the Aculab TIM with the MSS 2004 R2 specification means that all the low-level call control and resource provisioning is managed by the TIM. CYGCOM's 'Speed to Market' program delivers a go-to-market model for ISVs, OEMs and communication resellers through programmatic systems integration of Intel Server platforms, field installation and post installation support. Under this agreement, CYGCOM will develop integration for its "SpeechWatch™" product to incorporate the Aculab cards and TIM. CYGCOM's "SpeechWatch™" console also provides monitoring, alarming and e-notification for the telephony elements in a MSS 2004 R2 environment. www.aculab.com

EAS Group, Inc. Completes Acquisition of Brooktrout, Inc.: EAS Group, Inc., the privately-held parent of Excel Switching Corporation, has completed its acquisition of Brooktrout, Inc.

In Empirix survey, 4 out of 5 Contact Center Pros report that technology problems regularly impact productivity: Empirix Inc., the leading provider of testing and monitoring solutions for VoIP, contact center and Web technologies, announced the results of a survey conducted at the recent Annual Call Center Exhibition (ACCE) conference on call center technology and management. The survey focused on the impact that technology has on contact center Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) metrics commonly used to measure the efficiency and quality of service provided by a contact center. Examples of KPIs include time-to-answer, queue length and first-call resolution rate. Among the survey findings: - When asked how often technology problems negatively impact agents or the caller experience, four out of five answered "Often" or "Sometimes;" - 14 percent of respondents reported that their contact centers miss their KPIs every day, and 32 percent - nearly one in three - reported missing their KPIs at least once a week; 60 percent of respondents believe that technology problems are the primary cause behind failure to meet KPIs; and - 54 percent of respondents are first notified of technology problems by their customers. 68 percent of respondents categorized themselves as "Contact Center Management" and 18 percent categorized themselves as "Information Technology Management/Staff." The balance of respondents were Line-of-Business Management, Customer Service Representatives or Other. "The data clearly show that technology problems have a major impact on overall contact center productivity," said Frank Moreno, Director of Product Marketing at Empirix. "Most contact centers apply substantial resources toward ensuring the quality of live agent interactions, but relatively few have taken the steps to ensure the quality of the automated systems that support those agents and callers. When you consider that in some industries, up to 80 percent of calls are handled entirely within automated systems, it is clear that most quality assurance measures are insufficient to accomplish their objectives." Only 10 percent of survey respondents report using any proactive method for technology quality assurance - four percent test manually and six percent use automated monitoring systems. "Automated testing and monitoring are best practices that should be commonplace in contact centers," said Moreno. "Up-front investments in quality can result in tremendous payoff later, in the form of better service, happier agents, reduced costs and more loyal and profitable customers." For an executive summary of the survey data, including a copy of the survey questions, visit www.empirix.com/acce

Empirix Awarded Patent for Component of End-to-end Testing Solution for CRM Environments: Empirix Inc. (Bedford, MA) has been issued U.S. patent #6,944,799 for its Multimedia Synchronization System, an element of its end-to-end testing service for Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology environments involving products from vendors such as Avaya, Cisco, Genesys and Siebel. Empirix's end-to-end testing service for CRM, called Hammer Service Assurance, can test both the voice and Web components of a CRM environment. With this patented technology, the CRM testing solution can emulate both customer and agent activity to verify that the right calls and data arrived successfully at the right agents in the right amount of time. Hammer Service Assurance can evaluate the performance of a CRM ecosystem across the applications themselves, the database, the CTI servers and the ACD, as well as call routing, caller-attached variables and screen pops. Empirix's Multimedia Synchronization System methodology is applied to virtual test systems coupled to a contact center to provide time latency measurements among customer voice, data and Web interactions to the contact center and resulting self-service and agent functions. www.empirix.com

Embedded Telematics – Products/Applications/Partnerships/Financials

CEVA Xpert-Teak DSP Subsystem Powers National Semiconductor's New CP3SP33 Telematics Chip CEVA Inc., (Nasdaq: CEVA; LSE: CVA), the leading licensor of digital signal processors (DSP) cores, multimedia, GPS and storage platforms to the semiconductor industry, announced that National Semiconductor Corporation has deployed CEVA's Xpert-Teak DSP subsystem in its latest generation chipset optimized for Bluetooth and non-Bluetooth handsfree systems as well as telematics platforms (such as head sets) and automotive multimedia gateways. National's high-performance CP3SP33SMR utilizes Xpert-Teak to perform audio, modem and speech recognition functions within the chip. The Xpert-Teak subsystem is a complete, licensable, DSP subsystem for low-power, low-cost, programmable, DSP-based SoC designs targeted at low-power and high performance applications such as wireless baseband and application processing, digital cameras, consumer and professional audio, VoIP applications and other emerging markets. Built around CEVA's widely adapted dual-MAC CEVA-Teak DSP Core, it is fully synthesizable and process-independent, and can be incorporated into a highly integrated SoC. Xpert-Teak includes all required hardware peripherals and incorporates on-chip data and program memories, high-performance DMA controller, Buffered Time Division Multiplexing Port (BTDMP), high-throughput Host Processor Interface (HPI), and other interfaces. The subsystem can be used with off-the-shelf software provided by CEVA and its technology partners. Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., CEVA is the leading licensor of DSP cores, multimedia, GPS, and storage platforms to the semiconductor industry. CEVA licenses a family of programmable DSP cores, associated SoC system platforms and a portfolio of application platforms including video processing, audio and speech processing, GPS location, Serial-ATA (SATA), and serial communications. In 2004, CEVA's Silicon IP was shipped in more than 100 million devices. CEVA was created through the merger of the DSP licensing division of DSP Group and Parthus Technologies. www.ceva-dsp.com Pat Sullivan, product line director for National's Device Connectivity Division, Federico Arcelli, Vice President of Corporate Marketing, CEVA Inc., marketing@ceva-dsp.com

Fonix VoiceDial and Bluetooth Let Pocket PC Phone Edition Device Users Make Calls Without Touching the Phone: The Fonix Speech Group announces the release of Fonix VoiceDial 2.1 for Pocket PC Phone Edition devices running Windows Mobile 5.0. VoiceDial 2.1 is a convenient, user-friendly speech interface software solution for mobile phones that is compatible with Bluetooth headset technology. Original design manufacturers (ODMs) and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) can license VoiceDial for a per-unit royalty fee. End users may download the software for $15.95 at www.Handango.com or www.imate.com. Fonix VoiceDial 2.1 supports the following languages: English, French, German, Spanish and Italian. Fonix VoiceDial 2.1 is available for Pocket PC Phone Edition devices running Windows Mobile 5.0, like the new: § i-mate JASJAR § Orange SPV M5000 § O2 Xda Exec. VoiceDial improves functionality and ease of use and eliminates the need to hold the device. Now users can leave the device in a briefcase, purse, and backpack or on a desk and still make calls. Fonix speech interface software makes communication easier and easier. Fonix VoiceDial is a hands-free software application that enables users to simply speak the name or number to call, without pushing buttons or scrolling through menus. Our convenient voice interface accurately recognizes spoken names and numbers, even in noisy environments. VoiceDial confirms user commands with our easy-to-understand text-to-speech (TTS). Fonix VoiceDial offers convenient features including continuous dialing response (users speak at their usual speed and cadence), unlimited contact list size, customized pronunciation (improves accuracy where needed) and speaker independence (no voice training required). VoiceDial is available in multiple languages including English, German, French and Spanish. www.fonix.com (801) 553-6600 and say "Sales." Investor Contact: Gino DeJesus (770) 989-9885 gdejesus@fonix.com Fonix Contact: Elizabeth Sweeten (801) 553-6600 mediainfo@fonix.com

SFR and HandiCaPZéro launch Mobile Speak vocalization software, speech enabled by Acapela. SFR and HandiCaPZéro partner to ease mobile device access for the visually impaired. One of the leading French mobile operators strengthens its commitment to accessibility by offering subscribers equipped with a multimedia device, free software that automatically makes key features of the handset accessible by voice. With MobileSpeak, the use of mobile phones becomes accessible to anyone thanks to text to speech, which rises above the "all-visual" concept barriers. The end-user can easily access basic but key information such as battery or network indicators and can of course benefit from all the functionalities of their mobile phone, including SMS vocalization or access to online services. Acapela high quality text to speech ensure intelligibility and comfort by transforming menu and phone features into a voice mode. This program reinforces the partnership initiated in 1997 between SFR and HandicapZero, an association dedicated to helping visually impaired people, to improve their autonomy and safety. Mobile Speak is compatible with the following series: Nokia 6680, 6260 and Ngage QD available in SFR stores and Nokia 3230, 6600, 6630, 6670, 7610, Panasonic X 700, Samsung SGH D 720 available in specialised point of sales. The cost of Mobile Speak software will be carried by SFR and HandicapZero will ensure the installation on the end user's device, in less than 72 hours. For more information (in French only) dial 0805 80 77 77, www.handicapzero.org and www.sfr.fr Mobile Speak was developed by Code Factory, a company based in Barcelona (Spain). www.codefactory.es

Parrot Introduces the Industry's First Bluetooth Hands-Free Car Stereo: Imagine being able to make and receive phone calls through your car's radio or CD player! That's what Parrot, the world-leading innovator in Bluetooth technology car kits, has achieved with the introduction of the industry's first car stereo that enables hands-free phone calling with Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones. The Parrot RHYTHM N'BLUE features a premium AM/FM/CD/MP3 stereo receiver. In addition to tuning in your favorite radio stations, Parrot RHYTHM N' BLUE lets you listen to your CDs and MP3s while pairing with most Bluetooth mobile phones on the market, allowing the driver to make calls, take calls, and access a mobile address book totally hands-free via Parrot's renowned voice-recognition technology. A quick glance at your receiver provides Caller ID, and the radio or music source is automatically muted as the phone audio is routed through the vehicle's speakers for crisp, clear audio... and, because it's Bluetooth, you can do this all without being tethered to your phone. Parrot RHYTHM N' BLUE utilizes a detachable anti-theft faceplate that features an integrated telephone keypad. The keypad cleverly controls both phone dialing and messaging functions, as well as radio station presets in the audio mode. Address book and other personalized features from the mobile phone easily synchronize with Parrot RHYTHM N' BLUE's internal memory, allowing the driver to quickly access contacts and make calls hands-free. The audio section of Parrot RHYTHM N' BLUE is highly capable as well, loaded with key features for today's tech-savvy consumers. The CD transport has been designed to read CD, CD-R, CD-RW, and MP3 formats--and the listener has the option to activate random-play, intro-play, or repeat functions for each format. The ID3 tag will display text information pertaining to MP3 tracks, and there is a search menu for tracks and playlists as well. The Parrot RHYTHM N' BLUE also comes equipped with an AM/FM RDS tuner with a capacity for 30 preset stations in memory, and a powerful 4 x 45 watt internal amplifier. Parrot RHYTHM N' BLUE is Parrot's latest addition to its line of Bluetooth mobile phone hands-free car kits. Parrot also manufactures the Plug & Play EASY-DRIVE, as well as a full line of professionally installed car kits that include the: -- CK3000 with sleek styling and minimal dash space. -- CK3100 with easy-to-read LCD for Caller ID and visual menu prompts. -- new Parrot 3200 LS-COLOR with large color LCD for Photo Caller ID. -- CK3300 with the same functionalities as the CK3100 plus a GPS antenna compatible with most Smartphones, PDAs or laptop computers' navigation software. Parrot (www.parrot.biz) is the world's first company to develop and manufacture Bluetooth products that enable seamless integration of vehicles, drivers and mobile phones. Parrot produced the first ever Bluetooth hands-free car kit in 2001and to date has delivered more than one million worldwide. Parrot offers the industry's broadest car kit product line, which is sold online and through retail stores in 35 countries. Parrot also supplies its proprietary technology to the world's automakers and their suppliers for integrated original equipment applications and to the heavy-duty truck market for commercial and fleet management purposes. Parrot's proprietary technology is focused in four key areas: the design of Bluetooth chipsets, integrated circuit design, development of advanced voice digital signal processing, and compatibility testing. Parrot, founded in 1994 by Henri Seydoux, is a global company with offices in 35 countries. The company is headquartered in Paris, France and its U.S. offices are in New York, Detroit and Austin, Texas. Mike Hedge, 248-789-8976 mike.hedge@parrot.biz

Intelligent In-Car Navigation System from Pioneer Makes for a Better Driving Experience: Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc unveiled its most advanced in-car navigation system, the AVIC-Z1. The highly intelligent system features smart routing, enhanced text-to-speech voice guidance, sophisticated voice recognition, traffic information and Bluetooth capability making it the most dynamic route guidance system in the market. The AVIC-Z1 fulfills the needs of millions of drivers searching for entertainment and information. It simultaneously functions as a route guidance system and entertains via DVD/CD/AM/FM/satellite radio. It also can synchronize with portable devices like cellular phones and iPod players. The AVIC-Z1 employs advanced navigation functions to date offering drivers dynamic route guidance, detailed mapping and valuable road information that cross the entire United States and Canada. With its large hard drive storage capacity, the system stores the entire TeleAtlas database, including nearly 11 million points of interest (POI) organized in more than 248 categories. -- Learning capability - The AVIC-Z1 "learns" frequently traveled roads by the driver and uses it for future route guidance. In other words, driving patterns are used to calculate suggested routes. -- Smart routing algorithm - The system employs "smart routing algorithm" to analyze and assess route guidance by taking into account actual road data information such as posted speed limits, number of turns to the destination, etc., to provide the driver the most logical path to take. -- Lane Information - Available in 50 markets, the system forewarns drivers on its display of the proper driving lane they should be in for passage through interchanges and exits. -- Traffic Information - Utilizing XM NavTraffic service (GEX-P10XMT and subscription required), detailed traffic events and traffic flow data information is available in 22 major metropolitan markets. The system graphically communicates traffic incidents by means of traffic icons and traffic flow utilizing green, yellow and red lines to indicate speed (green at 40+ mph, yellow from 20-40 mph and red at less than 20 mph). -- Detailed city maps - The system assists the driver by providing a detailed city view of its mapping in 23 cities. In this view mode, mapping identifies the road and surrounding areas in its exact form presenting road islands, parks, baseball fields, city blocks, etc., helping to visually identify the area to the driver. -- Brand Icons - As users are guided along their route, points of interest are overlaid onto the map, which is particularly helpful when driving in unfamiliar areas. Easy-to-recognize brand icons are used to identify hotels, restaurants, banks, gas stations and even specific chain store locations such as Chili's, Olive Garden, 76 and Albertsons. Pioneer dramatically improved convenience and safety features of the AVIC-Z1 to help drivers focus on the road. Key hands-free features like voice commands and voice recognition were greatly enhanced, making it easier and safer to utilize navigation, audio and attachment functions. -- Advanced Voice Recognition - Engineered for utmost convenience and safety, its voice recognition features "conversational" commands to perform navigation, audio video and attachment functions. Full address searches can be done by verbally providing the city name, street name and address. It can also accept multiple commands such as "Go to LAX" and "Display San Francisco." Voice commands for audio sources and other attachments like Bluetooth phones are just as easy. -- Enhanced Voice Guidance - The AVIC-Z1 utilizes a Text-to-Speech (TTS) engine and TeleAtlas phoneme data, which enables the system to verbalize street names as they would be pronounced to the driver. The system warns the driver ahead by announcing the command and street name, i.e. "turn right on La Jolla Street," greatly improving its assistance ability. -- Bluetooth Capability - Integration with Bluetooth enabled cellular phones (optional ND-BT1 adapter required) allows hands-free operation, automatically muting the audio on incoming or outgoing calls utilizing the vehicle's speaker system. A phone book can be stored in the AVIC-Z1, which can be accessed by voice or through its touch screen display. The user can access the phone numbers associated to the POI database allowing them to call as they're guided to the location. -- Touch Screen - The system features a high-resolution 7-inch touch screen display for quick access to navigation functions and audio video sources. In conjunction with navigation information, the AVIC-Z1 provides high quality audio and video entertainment for drivers and passengers. The beauty of the system is its ability to add attachments including XM and Sirius Satellite Radio, iPod adapter, CD changer and TV tuners for rear seat entertainment. -- Music Library - 10-gigabyte of hard drive space is allocated for creating a music library, permitting the user to listen to music while simultaneously ripping and storing it as part of the music collection at 4 times speed. As an added convenience, the unit includes the Gracenote CDDB Music Recognition Service, which automatically associates information to downloaded music content including the artist name, song title, genre and album title. The AVIC-Z1's voice recognition feature allows you to directly access the music library content, by saying the artist name, song title, genre, or album title. -- DVD video playback - With an additional rear seat monitor, the AVIC-Z1 becomes the ultimate entertainment haven with its ability to play DVD video and DVD-R/RW discs for rear seat passengers while the driver and front passenger listen to AM/FM/XM/Sirius or other external sources. -- CD/MP3 - The versatile CD/DVD drive provides playback of CDs with MP3 audio files. File information attached to the music is all displayed on the touch screen with multi-line display. -- Enhanced iPod Capability - Complete control of the iPod device can be done using Pioneer's optional CD-IB100 adapter. Through the AVIC-Z1's touch panel display, operation and display are similar to the iPod making it fast and easy to access music content. The AVIC-Z1 replaces any existing factory system with a double DIN in-dash opening. The all-in-one unit includes a motorized front panel display, two-way crossover, three sets of RCA outputs, Supertuner IIID, Easy EQ and MOSFET50 X 4 amplifier. The AVIC-Z1 will be available in early spring 2006. Pricing will be announced at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, NV. Note: The optional traffic tuner, GEX-P10XMT data and audio receiver, offers both the XM NavTraffic service and XM Satellite Radio's more than 130 digital radio channels of commercial-free music and premier sports, news, talk, and entertainment programming. The subscription price will be $16.94 a month for a bundled offering of XM NavTraffic and XM Radio. www.pioneerelectronics.com. Michael Townsen, director of marketing for mobile entertainment at Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. Jaed Arzadon, 310-952-2451 jaed.arzadon@pioneer-usa.com

SouthernLINC Wireless Offers Hearing Aid Compatible Phones, Software for Visually Impaired: SouthernLINC Wireless, a Southern Company (NYSE: SO), announced the availability of four Motorola phones that are hearing aid compatible. The phones include the compact and versatile i760, the sleek i836, the i870 with a built-in Mp3 player and the multi-functional i850 camera phone. Each phone complements telephone-compatible hearing aids. SouthernLINC Wireless announced it is also offering Enhancements for the Visually Impaired (EVI) software for Motorola's i355 phone. The software includes Text to Speech (TTS) playback of names, numbers and contact types as the user scrolls through the handset's phone book. Additionally, the phone plays back the word "calling" as the user makes a call and reads off information such as signal strength, battery level, date and time. The lightweight Motorola i836 combines the sophistication of a vibrant color screen and animated icon-driven menu, with the latest in customizable cellular technology capabilities including speakerphone, speech-activated dialing and GPS capability. Available in a unique blue, the i760, comes with LINC View allowing pictures, My Info contents, and other contact information to be instantly sent via the push-to-talk button(a). The phone also includes Java technology-enabled pre-loaded programs and games. The i870, with a built-in Mp3 player and removable memory storage, offers the latest wireless technologies such as Bluetooth and advanced GPS tracking capabilities to provide even more flexibility in everyday communications. The sleek i850 camera phone boasts a large color internal display, an updated Version 7 microbrowser, LINC View(a), GPS capability and many other functions. SouthernLINC Wireless, a Southern Company (NYSE: SO), is an Atlanta-based regional wireless carrier covering the major metro and rural areas in Alabama, Georgia, southeastern Mississippi and northwest Florida. SouthernLINC Wireless bundles multiple communication options into one phone including InstantLINC Mobile-to-Mobile, cellular service, text messaging, wireless Internet access and wireless data. 1-800-818-LINC (5462) www.southernlinc.com With more than 4 million customers and nearly 39,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the premier super-regional energy company in the Southeast and a leading U.S. producer of electricity. Southern Company owns electric utilities in four states, a growing competitive generation company, an energy services business and a competitive retail natural gas business, as well as fiber optics and wireless communications. Southern Company brands are known for excellent customer service, high reliability and retail electric prices that are 15 percent below the national average. www.southerncompany.com Contacts: Kyla Tilton, 678-443-1525 katilton@southernco.com

Breaking Down Language Barriers: Much sooner than you might expect, it will be possible for an American in New York to pick up a cell phone and have a conversation with a Chinese co-worker in Shanghai--with both people speaking their native languages. Cell phones, using sophisticated translation technology, will translate the conversation in real time. One company leading the way to such a smaller world is TransClick, a systems integrator that puts together all of the technological components necessary to make real-time translation a reality. TransClick Chief Executive Robert Levin does not have modest plans; he describes his technology as breaking down barriers for international commerce. "The last barrier for global e-commerce is the language barrier," Levin says. But the service does not currently handle voice-to-voice translation. During the first quarter of 2006, TransClick will introduce real-time short-message service (SMS) for Verizon Wireless corporate customers, who will be able to send SMS messages from their cell phones to French-, Spanish-, German-, Italian- and Portuguese-speaking colleagues in Europe. TransClick plans to expand the service to Sprint Nextel and Cingular in 2006, with translated connections to Asia and Latin America. By November, TransClick will introduce a Web-based instant messaging program for $5 per month. Levin expects interoperability with popular SMS programs, like Yahoo! Messenger, by next year, as well as the introduction of translation services for mobile e-mail. Verizon's SMS service will cost users $3 per month plus 20 cents per message sent. The technology is simple to implement: Users download a small application from Verizon's Web site, which connects users to TransClick's servers. The international market for machine translation technology could be huge: 65% of the world's 800 million Internet users don't speak English comfortably--or at all--a promising statistic for companies that can get their Web sites translated automatically into as many of the world's 4,900 languages as possible. Speech-to-text and speech-to-speech translations present additional technical hurdles, because voice recognition must be added. Current voice recognition software has trouble getting even clearly spoken words correct. Just consider voice-activated customer calling menus. Nonstandard accents and background noise bring their accuracy down even further. The first systems, developed for "dirty travel survival," like using the cell phone to give cab drivers directions in Chinese, will be ready within two years. TransClick is currently working on voice-to-text translations that will allow tourists to speak a question into their cell phones. Translated Chinese text will then appear on the cell screen for another person to read. True speech-to-speech translation, albeit with limited vocabulary, will be ready by the end of the decade. Robust translation for everyday conversation, taking into account different dialects and the incredible breadth of spoken language and all of the ambiguities that currently confound computers, is far off. And as translation technology becomes more commonly used, the need for qualified human editors to tidy up translations for publishing will grow. For example, an English-Chinese translator specializing in medical texts gets paid $600 or more for the final editing of a short journal article.

Chi Mei Becomes First Taiwanese Company to License VoiceSignal's Innovative Speaker-Independent Speech Recognition Solutions VoiceSignal, the leading provider of speech solutions for mobile devices, announced that it has licensed its VSuite 2.0 software to Chi Mei for implementation on Chi Mei Smartphones. VoiceSignal's VSuite 2.0 is a speaker-independent "one-step" speech recognition application that features voice-activated name dialing, message addressing, contact lookup and menu navigation. The VSuite application is speaker-independent, allowing users to dial any name or number stored in their phonebook, with no recording or 'voice tag' training. The VoiceSignal dialing application also enables users to use their voice to dial any number without using the keypad, for hands free/eyes free dialing. With the VoiceSignal solution, users are able to launch main menu applications on the handset, simply by speaking a command into the phone, eliminating the multiple button pushes normally needed to place calls and address text messages. Chandler Liang, manager of product planning at Chi Mei said, "We have worked with VoiceSignal on other projects and selected them to be our partner because of the high quality of their solution and the excellent support they have provided us." Liang concluded, "VoiceSignal's high quality solution and variety of available languages, combined with Microsoft's Windows Mobile technology and Chi Mei's design create a truly cutting edge mobile phone. We are looking forward to developing many exciting projects with VoiceSignal in the future." www.voicesignal.com. Contact: Mira Genser, VoiceSignal Phone: 781 970 5223 Email: mgenser@voicesignal.com Chandler Liang, manager of product planning at Chi Mei, www.chimei.com.tw TEL:886-6-2663000.2665000 Ext. 1372 service@mail.chimei.com.tw

Samsung SCH-a970 Announced by Verizon Wireless: The innovative new SCH-a970, announced by Verizon Wireless and Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung), will have trendsetting customers in a whirl with its wide array of multimedia functions, including V CAST and MP3 capabilities. The a970 is not just another camera phone; it also supports certain Bluetooth profiles giving busy consumers the ability to multi-task and work on the go. This clamshell phone supports Bluetooth profiles for headsets and hands-free accessories.* The a970 opens and swivels to reveal a compact, yet professional-looking video recorder, as well as a two megapixel digital camera that has 2x optical zoom, auto focus, multi-shot and brightness adjustments. The discerning gadget-lover will love the a970's brilliant 262K-color LCD screen and use it to view all the action at their fingertips. Customers can shoot videos, personalize their FLIX Messages with text or save personal videos and pictures as their phone's wallpaper. The a970 offers camera-happy Verizon Wireless customers the flexibility to either save their user-generated photos or videos using the phone's internal memory or store them on a removable TransFlash memory card. It's all work and all play with the a970's built-in MP3 player that enables customers to take their favorite music on the road when they use their removable TransFlash memory card (sold separately) to load music from their computer directly onto their new a970. Opening up a whole new avenue for listening and managing music on wireless phones, music fans can select, change or delete individual songs or create their own playlists on the memory card -- each card can store a bunch of tunes to keep customers moving for hours. The newest addition to Verizon Wireless' array of V CAST-enabled phones, the a970 is a multimedia powerhouse allowing subscribers access to the first wireless broadband consumer multimedia service in the country. With $15.00 monthly access added to their Verizon Wireless calling plan, customers can view crystal clear video clips on demand including current news, weather, sports and entertainment programming. Or, customers can download and play cutting-edge 3D games as well as watch music videos and concert performances from favorite artists. With the a970's VoiceMode speech-to-text dictation technology, customers can give their thumbs a rest by speaking instead of typing their TXT Messages. This technology adapts to the user's voice and allows consumers to speak text messages directly into the handset. In addition, advanced speech recognition technology from VoiceSignal allows for one-step voice commands that make voice-enabled dialing and TXT Messaging a breeze. Even checking the phone's battery life or signal strength is as simple as giving one-step verbal commands to the phone. The Samsung a970 is available today in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and participating Best Buy locations. Customers can purchase the Samsung SCH-a970 for $299.99 after a $50.00 mail in rebate and two-year customer agreement. TransFlash memory cards are sold at participating retailers, including Best Buy locations. www.verizonwireless.com * The Samsung a970 does not support object exchange (OBEX) profiles. For vehicle/accessory compatibility, go to www.verizonwireless.com/bluetoothchart www.samsung.com/wireless

Sprint and Samsung Launch the Sprint Power Vision MM-A940 Bringing the Sprint Music Store With Full-Track Music Download Purchasing and Live Broadcast Television from Sprint TV to Life: Sprint (NYSE:S) and Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung) announced the Sprint Power Vision Multimedia Phone MM-A940 by Samsung. The MM-A940 by Samsung is compatible with the Sprint Power Vision network- Sprint's EV-DO (Evolution Data Optimized) wireless high-speed multimedia network. The new services supported by the MM-A940 include the newly announced Sprint Music Store, which allows users to immediately buy and download complete songs directly to their phone; 30 channels of live and on demand video and audio from Sprint TV and On Demand, a personalized resource guide to news, traffic, weather, sports and entertainment. The MM-A940 by Samsung is also the first two-megapixel, 2.0 optical zoom camera phone with a rotating screen introduced to the U.S. by Sprint. The phone is available now nationwide at Sprint Stores and online (www.sprint.com) for $399.99 or $249.99 after rebate. When customers are in Sprint Power Vision coverage areas, they will experience an accelerated and enhanced wireless Internet experience, including fast Web browsing, email, and company network access, as well as a richer multimedia experience on the third screen with content from Sprint TV, Sirius Music and other live TV and on demand subscription channels. The MM-A940 by Samsung is also compatible with the enhanced Nationwide Sprint Network (CDMA 1XRTT), so customers will have access to Sprint's standard wireless data services. In addition to accessing the new Sprint Music Store, the MM-A940 by Samsung features unique external access to all stored music files. With the three music control keys, customers can play, pause, skip forward and backward through their stored music without having to open the phone. The handset also has built-in stereo sound and comes with a stereo headset in the box and 32 MB TransFLASH memory card for additional digital file storage. One of the key features of the MM-A940 by Samsung is the built-in two-megapixel camera with 2.0 optical zoom and rotating screen. The phone also is equipped with auto focus, flash, color adjustments, self-timer and multishot feature. Customers also can take advantage of the embedded camera to capture a business card image and transfer the contact information directly into the device's internal contacts. The phone's camcorder capabilities allow customers to shoot 30-second videos for sharing via email or extended video for storage on the TransFLASH memory card. This TransFLASH card provides customers with ample memory to store their favorite video clips and digital music files. The device comes packaged with a TransFLASH memory card and TransFLASH to SD adapter, plus a USB cable for printing photos directly from the phone to any PictBridge-enabled printer. The device supports Picture Mail and Sprint PCS Video Mail. The Sprint Power Vision Phone MM-A940 is an all-in-one device. The phone's built-in media player and high-speed data access, plus faster processing power deliver streaming video and audio from Sprint TV at a smooth and seamless rate of up to 15 frames per second. The 4.9 ounce device features rich 3D graphics and Samsung's 1.56" x 1.25" TFT LCD 262K-color main screen. Adding to its user-friendly consumer benefits, the MM-A940 by Samsung includes Bluetooth wireless technology. With Bluetooth, customers have access to fast, secure short-range, radio transmission between two devices without having to be in line of sight. The MM-A940 by Samsung supports the most common Bluetooth profiles, such as headset, handsfree, file transfer and printing as well as dial-up networking. In addition, the phone offers two popular features from VoiceSignal Technologies - VoiceMode speech-to-text dictation, which allows users to dictate text messages, and advanced voice recognition, which allows users to dial phone numbers, check status reports of the phone's coverage, signal, and battery strength all with simple voice commands. www.sprint.com www.samsung.com www.voicesignal.com Peter Skarzynski, senior vice president, Samsung. Oliver Valente, senior vice president product development for Sprint Nextel Contacts: Sprint, Richard Pesce, 703-433-4927
Richard.Pesce@sprint.com

Embedded Appliances – Products/Applications/Partnerships/Financials

Acapela speech empowers DIOTEK latest software for PDAs: Acapela has been chosen by DIOTEK, a leading provider of mobile solutions based in Korea, to voice enable its high-end dictionary software for PDAs. Through PowerDic, Acapela high quality text to speech will now give the say in English to a wide range of PDAs, to help travellers, students and business users with their daily use of English, whatever the context. Acapela will give immediate feedback to the PowerDic end users to help them with issues such as pronunciation and support them either in learning processes, travelling situations or business contexts, whenever needed. They will hear the exact pronunciation of the English words or sentences included in the dictionary database. "Now, along with Acapela's high quality English TTS engine, DIOTEK's brand new PDA dictionary, PowerDic will be a necessity to learn English for the students, adult-learners, travelers and business professionals." said Jung In-Doh, President of DIOTEK. PowerDic full scale dictionary software suite for PDA and Smartphones provides comprehensive dictionaries of Korean, English, Japanese and Chinese. Advanced search and an easy to use interface are part of the key advantages that allow users to take full benefit of their dictionaries, turning the mobile device into a powerful speech-enabled tool for an enhanced learning and usability experience. PowerDic is mainly distributed from DIOTEK's web site directly to customers and will also be distributed soon via e-commerce partnerships. PowerDic will also be bundled with PDA/smart phones as well by separate distribution agreements with handheld manufacturers. Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Pantech, Pentech & Curitel, Motorola Korea, VK, SKY Teletech, KTF Teletech, HP Korea, Cyberbank, DELL, Fujitsu Korea, NEC Korea, SK Telecom and Tegic Communications are already part of Diotek customers. www.diotek.co.kr/english

Sunflower Broadband Tests Voice-Led Remote: Sunflower Broadband announced a "pre-deployment rollout" of AgileTV's Promptu, a voice-enabled remote and navigation device. Beginning next month, Sunflower will offer Promptu to about 300 of its subscribers in northeast Kansas, with a market-wide launch slated for summer 2006. The operator will market the service with a print campaign featuring Food Network star Rachael Ray entreating subs to "Talk to Your TV." Sunflower will also demo the device at special kiosks at its payment centers and will send sales reps door-to-door armed with handheld DVD players and other marketing material. Promptu recognizes more than 100,000 English-language phrases and can search by a number of parameters. For example, if a user wants to find a movie starring a certain jilted comic actress, he would press Promptu's "talk" button and say, "find Jennifer Aniston." The device can also search by network ("find MTV"), sports team ("find the New York Yankees") or genre ("find movies"). Smallish Sunflower, which serves some 300,000 subs in the Lawrence, Kan., area, is not the only operator who's been kicking the tires on the voice-recognition product. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts singled out Promptu for praise on CNBC during the 2004 National Show, and Insight Communications is also said to be interested in the product. AgileTV is the leader in voice navigation services for the cable industry enabling digital cable customers a simple, fast way to search for programs on broadcast television, On Demand and content they have recorded using DVR technology. AgileTV's large-scale, server centric voice recognition technology enables cable operators to increase the use and value of digital cable. AgileTV was founded in April 2000 and is privately held. The company is based in Menlo Park, California, and is led by a senior executive team with extensive backgrounds in cable television, voice recognition, consumer products, hardware and software development and system integration. The company's major equity holders include Valence Capital Management LP, Insight Communications, Lauder Partners and private investors. www.promptu.com David Hanson, senior vice president of Business Development, AgileTV info@agile.tv 650.859.5800

Pocket Hal in final stages of testing: Pocket Hal is a full screen reader, based upon the desk top edition of Dolphin's Hal screen reader. Pocket Hal offers users full speech support, as well as Braille support for the PDAs. This allows blind and low-vision users to access the same mainstream technology as that enjoyed by fully sighted users. Pocket Hal users will be able to access a word processor or spreadsheet, send and receive email or check their schedules on a calendar whilst away from the home or office and on the move. Pocket Hal gives access to Pocket Word®, Pocket Excel®, Pocket Outlook® and Pocket Internet Explorer®, as well as many other applications including MSN and phone services. Recently reviewed within AccessIT, Pocket Hal is currently in the final stages of beta testing and will be formally released next month. When released, Dolphin and Dolphin dealers will be offering a range of PDA packages and Bluetooth devices for customers and incentives to existing Dolphin customers. In preparation for the release of Pocket Hal, over the last few weeks Dolphin has been pleased to welcome many dealers to their Worcester offices for product training. info@dolphinuk.co.uk, www.dolphinuk.co.uk

New Maps released for Dolphin Screen Reader: The latest set of new and updated maps for versions 6.01, 6.02, 6.50 and 6.51 software are now available via the Internet Updater. They can also be obtained from: www.dolphincomputeraccess.com/downloads/index.asp new maps are available for update from the Internet updater this month. These include: New maps: MSN Messenger 7 V1.001 · MSAA Application V2

Swedish for Dolphin TTS: Dolphin Pronouncer, Dolphin's own naturally sounding speech synthesiser, is now available with a Swedish voice, Anders. This will be incorporated into the next release of Dolphin Pronouncer. Reduced file size options of all voices are becoming available for Windows Mobile applications, giving a greater range of voice options for Pocket Hal. Dutch voices will be the next in development for Dolphin Pronouncer.

Mattel rolls out Elmo that "Knows Your Name": This holiday season, the latest toy version of Elmo, the furry red creature based on a "Sesame Street" character, will do much more than sing, dance or giggle when tickled. Mattel's (MAT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Fisher-Price unit is undergoing a full rollout to store shelves of its "Knows Your Name Elmo," a doll that can greet a child by name when it is unwrapped this holiday season, even before being taken out of its box. The new Elmo comes with a CD-ROM and a USB cable that lets parents download personal information about a child -- like his or her favorite color or birthday -- into the plush doll. The doll, also available in a Winnie the Pooh version, shows how toy makers are using increasingly cheap and sophisticated technology to extend sales of their brands. The "Tickle Me Elmo" doll, which included a computer chip that made it giggle and shake when its stomach was touched, became one of the hottest toys of the 1996 holiday season, flying off retailers' shelves in the face of overwhelming demand. With kids outgrowing traditional toys at an increasingly young age, toy makers are hoping that adding advanced technology to traditional toys will boost sagging sales or lead to a blockbuster "must have" item of the season. Tech toys dominated Toy Wishes magazine's "Hot Dozen" list, unveiled at a New York news conference earlier this month. The annual list forecasts which toys will be the most popular during the holiday season -- and perhaps the hardest to find. This year's "Hot Dozen" selections include a bilingual talking kitchen based on "Dora the Explorer," the popular Nickelodeon TV character, also from Mattel's Fisher-Price unit, and an updated version of Furby, the 1990s craze, this time with facial expressions, from Hasbro Inc., the No. 2 U.S. toy maker. The Leapster L-Max Learning Game System, a dual-screen handheld educational video game system from LeapFrog Enterprises Inc., also made the list. The latest incarnation of Elmo can be programmed to speak a child's name, tell stories, sing songs, or even remind a child when it is time for breakfast. There is a list of more than 15,000 names to choose from to download. If a child's name cannot be found, the toy's prospective buyer -- parents, grandparents or someone else -- can submit the name to Fisher-Price to request that it become available for download. The "Knows Your Name" dolls, targeted at children 18 months and older, are priced at $39.99. "For the amount of things that this toy does, we think this is a very, very good price," Friedman said. Some other high-tech toys hitting toy store shelves this season are priced much higher. For instance, Amazing Amanda, an interactive baby doll with voice-recognition technology, is listed at $89.99 on ToysRUs.com. The doll, designed for girls age 5 and up, is marketed by Playmates Toys Inc., a division of Playmates Holdings Ltd. of Hong Kong.

That would be good news for Mattel, the No. 1 U.S. toymaker, which posted a 12 percent decline in quarterly profit earlier this month, with U.S. Barbie doll sales falling 30 percent. Barbie has lost some market share in the past few years to the pouty and multicultural Bratz dolls, introduced in 2001 by privately held MGA Entertainment.

VOS International Provides Corporate Update: VOS, Intl. (OTC Bulletin Board: VOSI) is entering into the final stages of testing the Voice Activated Ceiling Fan Controller in conjunction with a leading U.S. appliance manufacturer. This innovative controller will operate both the fan and its lighting with simple voice commands. It is scheduled for introduction into the retail market in 2006. VOS continues to expand its penetration into the wholesale/retail markets, including the geriatric and physically challenged markets, with its Voice Activated IntelaVoice Product Line. VOS' Media Marketing Division's latest product, the Park 'N Place -- a garage parking accessory -- is also selling well through several catalogs including SkyMall, Solutions, Taylor Gifts and Auto Sport. The Company is scheduled to test its 2 minute infomercial on this product later this month with an attractive $19.95 selling price. About VOS International, Inc. (VOSI) is a technology company involved in the design, development, manufacturing and marketing of consumer electronic products, platforms and services which operate via Voice Operated Switching (VOS). VOS Systems, Inc. specializes in the development of embedded processor speech recognition applications. VOS is a premier provider of products that utilize its patented voice recognition based switching applications. In addition, VOS licenses its proprietary technology to other manufacturers and realizes royalties on their product designs. VOS International, through its Media Marketing Division, creates and launches direct response television (DRTV), various print, radio, and wholesale/retail marketing campaigns for both proprietary and non-proprietary products. This division will operate as a product lifecycle management company. www.vossystems.com. CONTACT: BCGU, Business Consulting Group Unlimited Investor Contact (760) 230.2300 Allan Ligi, President of VOS International

Desktop – Products/Applications/Partnerships/Financials

Vocada, Commissure Link Up to Offer First Integrated Solution for Medical Communications and Documentation: Vocada and Commissure, have linked up to offer the first integrated solution for medical communications and documentation. Commissure provides a state-of-the art software platform that enables radiology departments to boost their productivity. Vocada’s VoiceLink critical test results management solution is the only hospital enterprise solution for communicating critical test results from diagnostic departments to the entire ordering physician community. Using a patented system, VoiceLink automates the distribution of critical test result communications in a real-time, assured and trackable solution. By integrating these two solutions, radiology departments for the first time will be able to fully automate the entire clinical workflow for ordering, documenting, communicating and reporting radiological examinations, thereby setting new benchmarks for physician productivity and patient safety. The companies will present their integrated solution at the upcoming annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America, Nov. 27 – Dec. 2, 2005 in Chicago. Commissure’s RadWhere Suite provides a host of services for radiologists by improving the means by which reports are created, decisions are made and communications completed. Its real-time speech-reporting component uses patented natural language understanding algorithms to speed the reporting process and ultimately reduce how much the radiologist must say to complete a report. It also enables automated knowledge access for mining clinical data as the radiologist speaks, allowing for intelligent access to relevant data in the diagnostic decision support process. In addition, key clinical content is added to the radiology report. Vocada recently introduced a major upgrade to VoiceLink, Version 2.0, which provides a complete Critical Test Results Management (CTRM) system. The new version of VoiceLink incorporates many of the recommendations of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Prevention of Medical Errors, www.macoalition.org/Initiatives/docs/CTRbates.pdf. VoiceLink 2.0 enables hospitals to implement strategic critical test results management capabilities across their entire health care delivery system. The patented VoiceLink system is an easy-to-use, hosted solution that enables a reporting clinician, such as a radiologist or clinical lab technologist, to create and send real-time reports of a critical patient finding to an ordering clinician. The ordering clinician can easily retrieve critical reports by phone or online. VoiceLink ensures that every critical rest result is retrieved in a timely manner by the ordering physician. VoiceLink 2.0 supports a robust set of escalation rules that automatically forward critical test results to backup contacts and to other critical destinations within the hospital. The reporting clinician can monitor the process and status of his or her reports via the Internet. The entire process, including the original voice message of the critical test result, is archived and remains searchable for 10 or more years. Vocada offers VoiceLink as a hosted, on-demand solution. It requires no customer investment in hardware or software. It can be accessed from any telephone and/or Internet-connected web browser. The growing list of major hospitals now using or about to implement the VoiceLink system include leading academic, community and governmental healthcare institutions (www.vocada.com/customers.asp). RadWhere Suite is also capable of analyzing radiology reports and coding them with the proper ICD9 codes, eliminating the need for manual coding. RadWhere's enterprise tele-radiology component solves the problems associated with servicing multiple sites and using multiple applications by intelligently connecting to all sites and providing a single workstation in which to access studies. Vocada is a Dallas-based company that has created the first fail-safe medical communications system for hospital based diagnostic departments to communicate critical test results to ordering clinicians. VoiceLink automates the distribution of critical test result in a real-time, assured and trackable solution, simultaneously enhancing patient safety and boosting physician productivity. The company’s first product, VoiceLink, was introduced in 2004. www.vocada.com. Commissure is a provider of medical documentation and communication solutions. The company’s products and services drive efficiencies in information management through innovative structured speech recognition technology that closes the loop on the creation and communication of medical documentation. RadWhere Suite is designed to improve the efficiency of radiologists by enhancing the critical areas of speech recognition reporting, ICD-9 coding, enterprise tele-radiology, quality assurance, and critical findings communication. RadPort Suite supports clinicians by aiding them in such areas as decision support, order entry and multimedia results viewing. www.commissure.com Contact: regory Graze Vocada, Inc. 214-665-9440 Michael Mardini, CEO and founder of Commissure, Peter White, CEO and co-founder of Vocada

St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamulton selects Dictaphone Dictation, Transcription and Speech Recognition: St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, one of Canada's premier academic health science centers, will use Dictaphone dictation, transcription and speech recognition technologies to improve the turnaround time and quality of its clinical documentation. The extensive implementation, which will affect the documentation process of nearly 500 physicians, will address a growing problem in healthcare: how to keep up with escalating medical documentation volumes. According to Marnie Fletcher, director of health information management at St. Joseph's Healthcare, Dictaphone's technology will help the organization meet its published goals for report turnaround. "Even though we were throwing an enormous amount of resources at the problem and outsourcing as much as possible, we just couldn't keep up with the demand. It's critical that care procedures and diagnostic results are documented and shared with the care team as quickly as possible. Not only will Dictaphone's technology allow us to meet our turnaround goals, it will also improve the quality of our documentation." St. Joseph's Healthcare will use Dictaphone's Enterprise Workstation, PowerScribe, EXSpeech and Enterprise Express applications. Physicians will be able to dictate their medical notes from anywhere, and speech recognition technology will turn those notes into electronic documentation, allowing transcriptionists to shift their emphasis from document generation to document quality. All Dictaphone applications will integrate with the organization's hospital information system to facilitate timely information sharing. Two St. Joseph's Healthcare sites (a total of 200 seats) will be speech recognition-enabled, employing both transcription-assisted and physician self-complete modes. In addition, 28 radiologists will have dedicated workstations, integrated with a picture archiving and communication system (PACS), where they can move from dictation to final report without the costly and time-consuming intervention of transcriptionists. St. Joseph's Healthcare provides integrated clinical services across three major sites: St. Joseph's Hospital, the Center for Ambulatory Services and the Center for Mountain Health Services. As a teaching hospital affiliated with McMaster University, St. Joseph's Healthcare educates and trains hundreds of healthcare professionals every year, and the organization is also home to world-renowned research facilities in the Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health, the Centre for the Evaluation of Medicines and the new Brain-Body Institute. Through the integration of speech recognition and natural language processing within existing health information management workflow, Dictaphone systems are helping healthcare organizations save money and improve patient care by increasing the speed, accuracy and usability of their medical documentation. www.dictaphone.com 888-350-4836. Contact: Don Fallati, Dictaphone Corporation, 203-381-7218 don.fallati@dictaphone.com

Dictaphone announces new contract wins for mdEssential: Dictaphone has entered into agreements with two physician organizations for the use of mdEssential, Dictaphone's alternative to traditional electronic medical record (EMR) software. Introduced just this past July, mdEssential is the first software designed to automate the clinical documentation process in clinic and physician group practice settings through a combination of voice dictation, speech recognition and natural language processing (NLP) technologies. With mdEssential, physicians continue to record information from patient encounters using dictation, their preferred method. Speech recognition technology converts the dictation to text documents, which speeds turnaround time while it improves completeness and accuracy. Voice-driven templates, standard text blocks and the ability to reuse previously dictated information lend even greater efficiency to the process. Finally, Dictaphone's proprietary NLP software "reads" the documents, finding and extracting important medical facts such as allergies, medications, diagnoses and procedures. These facts are stored in a database that physicians can easily access, search and organize. In short, clinical documentation, reports and notes are transformed into an EMR-like resource without manual data entry. For Western Medical Associates, a 10-practioner multi-specialty clinic in Grand Junction, Colorado, mdEssential was the best choice for a practice that will soon need to interface with a community-based health record. The clinic, which had already been using Dictaphone's dictation software, was able to fund its mdEssential lease by eliminating transcription costs all 10 practitioners will now self-edit their documentation. In the process, it gained a "right-sized" EMR. "With our new community health information network, we simply don't need an expensive and cumbersome EMR," explained Greg Coren, the clinic's administrator. "mdEssential will allow our practitioners to push important information out to the network, streamline our transcription and billing systems, and reduce our medical records costs. All of this can be accomplished without changing what our practitioners do best, which is care for patients without getting bogged down in implementation." Mid-State Cardiology Associates, which has six locations in the Nashville, Tennessee, area, has also signed on to use mdEssential. According to executive director Bob Lloyd, mdEssential will form a necessary bridge between old and new processes at the 15-physician practice, acclimating physicians to greater technology use while respecting the way they currently prefer to document patient visits. "We know we'll eventually move to a more complete EMR down the road, but that will require significant change," said Lloyd. "What we saw in mdEssential was first a way to go from voice to text in a very efficient manner something our physicians really wanted to see happen without changing the basics of how they function. Second, we're accumulating the data elements that are important to the practice and necessary to form an EMR, an added bonus that will begin building the foundation of our future EMR." www.dictaphone.com 888-350-4836. Contact: Scott Collins, ARiA Marketing, Inc., 617-332-9999, x238 scollins@ariamarketing.com

New NASCAR racing game focuses on team play and communication: Thanks to its new voice recognition and squad-based racing system, the Electronic Arts video game (rated E for everyone for PlayStation 2 and Xbox) aims to keep the pedal to the metal from the get-go. A headset allows the gamer to hear instructions from the computer-controlled crew chief. You can use the headset microphone to ask your crew chief when to pit, change strategy or apologize to a rival you have irked. The voice recognition even allows you to alter the look of the screen, toggling the rear-view mirror on and off, for example. This year's version of the game also allows you to swap between different cars on your team in mid-race. This addition adds to the depth of the challenge - you can work one car to the front and then order it to block others behind it as you swap to another team car to move it up through the ranks. Game producer Sean Wilson says the changes were made to reflect the team aspect of the sport. "It comes through a lot when you watch the sport on TV," he explained from Orlando, Fla., home to EA's Tiburon Studio. "It's not just a single guy riding around there. It's how the guy interacts with his teammates, how the guy interacts with his team chief, how his car gets set up. "You see people letting people by to get (series) points all the time if they're on the same team. And we wanted to capture some of that." Roush Racing, for example, has five drivers (Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Mark Martin, Jeff Burton and Greg Biffle). Hendrick Motorsports also can send out five cars (Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Terry Labonte and Brian Vickers). The voice recognition, while not perfect, is pretty nifty. Barrelling along a straightaway, a voice in your ears warns "The No. 8 (car) is coming up quick," or chastises you if you err on a turn and scrape the wall. It's still a work in progress in some ways. "You will occasionally run into some hiccups," Wilson said. To have the voice recognition work well, it's best to be in a quiet room. Don't sit too close to the TV, for example. If you don't want to go the headset route, you can always play without. "You don't have to do anything," Wilson said. "You can race it just like you raced it in 2005 (NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup). You can leave the communicator off, you don't have to touch it." But since everyone in the sport wears a headset and talking over the radio is part of the NASCAR world, EA producers wanted to create a similar world for the gamer. "There's an initial 'I feel kind of strange doing this' (feeling) . . . Just sitting in your living room, especially when you're by yourself talking to your game," Wilson said. "But it is realistic," he added. "It does need some tweaking but I think in future years as the technology gets even stronger, we can branch out further and add more commands and add more things to make it even more realistic."

Tool may help deaf with webcasts: Speech-recognition system could make captioning quick, less expensive: Sending a friend a link to a humorous or quirky Web site is one of the Internet's social pleasures. So when Dimitri Kanevsky learned his colleagues with the Human Language Technologies team at IBM Research in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., were circulating a humorous Honda ad, he was eager to watch it, particularly since he helped invent an interactive speech recognition system for the carmaker. But Kanevsky says he didn't enjoy the ad as much as he hoped he would. Because he is deaf, he couldn't hear the sound. If he had been watching television, Kanevsky could have simply turned on closed captioning to read the words on the screen. But captioning on the Internet is lagging behind a boom in audiovisual content that's expanding the Web beyond its roots as a text-based medium. Today's Web is much more visually stimulating than it was a decade ago. It's also a lot noisier, thanks to everything from advertising jingles to music videos to webcasts of news events, college lectures and corporate meetings. That's terrific, unless you're deaf or hard of hearing. That includes 28 million Americans, says Bill Stark, project director of the National Association of the Deaf's Captioned Media Program, who would like the hearing to try watching a webcast or TV show with the sound off. "You don't get a lot out of it. That's what the deaf get," Stark says. "We're talking about people being deprived of equal opportunity to learn, enjoy and appreciate." Unlike most of his deaf peers, Kanevsky has the skills and opportunity to do something about the problem. A Russian immigrant who became deaf at age 1, Kanevsky has spent much of his career as a mathematician inventing speech-related technologies. Kanevsky, who holds 78 patents and has the title of master inventor at IBM, is part of a team researching ways to make captioning easier, cheaper and faster by automating the process using voice recognition software. That's critical for the Web because online audiences generally aren't large enough to justify the high labor costs associated with TV captioning, which is performed by specially trained stenographers who can transcribe spoken language at a rate of 225 words a minute. It's expensive to transcribe every webcast, especially when there is no guarantee a deaf person might want to view it, says Sara Basson, IBM's program manager for accessibility services. "Imagine an agency has 500 hours of webcasts. Sending that off for stenographic transcription and getting it realigned with the video and so on is something that will cost between, depending on where you go, $500 to $1,000 per finished hour. That is daunting for an agency and even a corporation," she says. The IBM research team started a project called CaptionMeNow to create a tool that would caption a webcast only when a deaf person asks for it. "When someone who is deaf or hard of hearing comes across that webcast and wants it captioned, they click a CaptionMeNow button," she says. The video is processed through IBM's speech recognition system and automatically captioned. Because speech recognition software still isn't perfect, the transcript then could be routed to a human editor for quick fixes before posting online. Alexander Faisman, a software engineer who works closely with Kanevsky, says a human translator needs to be in the loop in part because the English language has so many words that sound exactly the same. "We know that the technology is not perfect. There are many situations when you need a very accurate transcript, or not that accurate, and it can all be translated into cost and time of the editing," he says. The CaptionMeNow project builds on IBM's earlier work to help a Canadian university caption lectures only when deaf and hard-of-hearing students are present in the classroom. IBM is using the technology to caption Web lectures for company employees - and it's not only popular among the deaf. "It turns out hearing employees are also using the technology," Kanevsky says. "We found that even hearing people sometimes prefer to read a lecture, because they can read very quickly." Technology created for people with disabilities has migrated into the mainstream in the past. Everyone calls their bank today using an automated-voice system that grew out of voice synthesizers developed for the blind, Basson says. Closed captioning often is turned on for the benefit of the hearing as well as the deaf in noisy environments such as airports. IBM is even morphing the CaptionMeNow technology to aid the hearing in a project called TransformMeNow that translates captions into different languages.

iListen UK Features VXI TalkPro Xpress Headset: The UK version of MacSpeech’s iListen program is bundled with the TalkPro Xpress headset from VXI Corporation. iListen UK is the latest speech software offering from MacSpeech and is designed for Apple Macintosh users in the United Kingdom. The VXI TalkPro Xpress headset, included with each iListen UK software package, is outfitted with a premium noise canceling microphone element. www.macspeech.com

NeoSpeech Asian Language Voices Available with TextAloud: NextUp.com (www.NextUp.com), developer of TextAloud software, announced the availability of Chinese, Japanese and Korean voices text-to-speech voices from NeoSpeech. TextAloud lets users convert text into spoken audio for easy listening, study, and comprehension. Text can also be converted to MP3/Windows Media files for easy playback on portables like the iPod®, PocketPC, and a wide range of portable devices. By offering these new voices, NextUp addresses strong demand from Asian consumers who have been early adopters of both text-to-speech and portable audio technologies. www.neospeech.com \

Text-to-Speech Software From NextUp.com Marks the Latest Trend for Proofreading and Character Development: As members of an often solitary and difficult profession, most writers have probably wished for a writing partner on call -- someone able to read their own words back to them, to test for style and syntax. Luckily, NextUp's TextAloud is the next best thing -- a Text-to-Speech program that does the job easily, affordably, and with surprising flexibility. TextAloud converts text into spoken audio for listening on a PC, and can also save to MP3/Windows Media files for the added option of easy playback on-the-go, from iPod to car and beyond. Thanks to an easy and streamlined program interface, along with a wide array of premium voices, writers are turning to Text-to-Speech programs like TextAloud in ever-increasing numbers, as the final vital step in creating their prose. TextAloud is priced at just $29.95, and is compatible with systems using Windows 98, NT, 2000 and XP. The program is available for fast and secure purchase via http://www.NextUp.com . NextUp.com also offers TextAloud with optional premium voices from AT&T Natural Voices, NeoSpeech and Cepstral. Available languages include English with U.S., U.K., and Indian accents, as well as Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese. Contact: Angela Mitchell 904-982-8043 admitchell@nextup.com

NextUp Technologies Extends Relationship with Wizzard Software: NextUp has extended their relationship with Wizzard Software and have selected AT&T Natural Voices Desktop edition for use in one of their assistive software applications, NextUp Talker. NextUp Talker is a Text To Speech application specifically designed for people who have temporarily or permanently lost their voice.  Consumers are able to choose AT&T Natural Voices to easily add a human-sounding speech engine that enables the user to easily communicate with others despite vocal impairments using a Windows PC or Tablet PC. Those affected by Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrigs Disease), Cancer, Stroke, aphasia, or any other disability or affliction causing loss of speech, are able to regain an important part of life by using NextUp Talker to help regain the ability to "talk". NextUp Talker features convenient shortcuts to quickly enter commonly used sentences and phrases to enable a smooth conversation flow. Users can even enter their own individual phrases and special abbreviations as well, with the ability to adapt to the user's own style and speed and options to speak each word, each sentence, or each paragraph as typed or on demand. NextUp also offers their customers other innovative applications with the option of using AT&T Natural Voices.  TextAloud speaks any text such as web pages, documents, emails, PDF documents and e-books aloud or to audio file.  NewsAloud is a talking personal "news agent" that finds the stories users want, and then reads them aloud or to portable MP3 files. WeatherAloud is a weather application that lets users select and listen to personalized weather forecasts, while StocksAloud reads stock updates and related news headlines aloud for specific companies of interest. Assistive devices such as NextUp Talker can be a valuable asset to the millions of people affected by loss of speech. www.nextup.com

SoftMed Completes Integration of Internet Enabled Typing and Editing Technology for Advanced Computer Aided Medical Transcription (CA-MT): SoftMed Systems, Inc. has deployed its speech-enabled platform that includes patent-pending technologies. This integrated technology provides auto formatting and intelligent context interpretation of speech recognized output that boosts productivity of computer aided medical transcription and provides higher quality documentation. This new functionality was achieved by integrating SyncStream technology, which was acquired by SoftMed when it purchased Expresiv Technologies, Inc. The Expresiv acquisition also expands SoftMed's transcription deployment options. SoftMed's dictation, transcription production and speech recognition solutions, which have been recognized as top industry solutions by MD Buyline and KLAS Enterprises, will now be available on a consumption-based Application Service Provider (ASP) model or hosted at a facility's site. The new ASP hosted model allows facilities to benefit from SoftMed's technologies without incurring any capital expenses or maintenance responsibilities. It also extends SoftMed's solutions into a new arena: the physician office. SoftMed's solutions will be available to both acute and primary care providers, helping the healthcare community better address patient needs across the continuum of care. SoftMed's speech recognition and editing solutions have been successfully deployed in over 30 facilities with proven results in producing accurate, fully formatted documents. Facilities benefit from decreased turnaround times, reduced transcription costs, and increased transcription quality and productivity. SoftMed's customer base now exceeds 2,000 healthcare providers. As part of the acquisition, SoftMed will continue to maintain the software development and client support presence currently located in Austin, TX. www.softmed.com/ Contact: Crystal Brown 800-234-0422 cbrown@softmed.com Don Segal, CEO of SoftMed Systems

Speereo Voice Translator Version 2.1.1 launched: Speereo Software has launched new version of Speereo Voice Translator. This is a new improved version of popular speech product for Pocket PC and Pocket PC based smartphones. Once the user pronounces the phrase in one of 8 languages (English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Russian, Chinese and Japanese), Speereo Voice Translator immediately reads back the same phrase in the other language. About 4,000 most commonly used phrases, business, technical, medical, and legal terms, conversational phrases, idioms, and some slang are arranged in 16 main categories and 87 subcategories by subject, such as Travel, Useful, City, Buy Food, Shopping, Health and Entertainment. The customers will enjoy the best world travel guides on their smart phones! Speereo Voice Translator has been enhanced by the Columbus Travel Guides on every country and many cities, which had been especially adapted for Speereo Voice Translator. Columbus Travel Guides is an invaluable source of comprehensive and detailed information for countries and cities worldwide. Now, wherever going, with Speereo Voice Translator powered by Columbus Travel Guides the customers will have at hand all useful information on the place of their visit, including sights, hotels, restaurants etc. In this edition Spanish dictionary has been updated. This enhanced version will be especially useful for both who learn Spanish and travel to the Spanish speaking countries. Also it would be useful for those who deals with Spanish speaking clients on everyday basis. Users can expect the traditional very accurate speech recognition, user friendly interface, and, of course, a lot of useful information for travelers since the product comes with Columbus travel guides. Speereo Software is a British IT company involved in the development of proprietary speech technologies. www.speereo.com

Akimeka and VoxGen Join Forces: VoxGen was awarded a contract from Akimeka LLC, a US developer of medical applications and information displays for situational awareness. The project is sponsored by the Office of Naval Research, which constantly seeks science and technology for the defense domain. Akimeka is developing a system for medical surveillance and status reporting of deployed medical units. Under the terms of the agreement, VoxGen will be developing a prototype of a multimodal solution for integrating speech with the standard keyboard and mouse interfaces of the situational awareness application. The prototype solution also introduces voice-automated reports and alerts that allow deployed medical personnel, with no access to computer terminals, to send and receive vital information that can then be made available on the system.

WinScribe's New Digital Dictation Software Improves Workflow Management for Professionals Worldwide: WinScribe announced the availability of WinScribe 3.6, delivering new functionality to hundreds of thousands of licensed users worldwide. WinScribe Inc offers voice to document solutions, incorporating digital dictation, transcription, speech recognition and workflow management. The new version delivers a range of new and adapted features including; -- Increased versatility. WinScribe 3.6 is compatible with a wider range of peripheral devices, allowing customers a great deal of choice for handheld recorders, microphones and other peripherals, and preserving existing equipment investments. Further, WinScribe 3.6 supports VOIP allowing customers to make VOIP or Internet telephony calls directly to the WinScribe server, dictate directly to the WinScribe system and bypass the need for recorders or other transcription equipment, often eliminating standard network call charges. -- Integrated processing. By implementing new server side recognition software, WinScribe 3.6 provides customers with the opportunity to shift the speech recognition processing from the desktop or portable client back to a central server. By allowing the central server to perform the work, users not only increase the turnaround time for their reports, but the central server reduces the need for high specification client workstation computers. Approved for Citrix and Terminal Server, the new version of WinScribe is easily integrated into existing IT environments. -- Enhanced security features. Improved password protection ensures vital client confidentiality can be protected. With the new version of WinScribe, document authors can be confident that transcriptionists can only gain access to those documents intended for their use. -- More author interface options. Customers can choose an interface that is as easy to use as Microsoft Outlook. Those familiar with the industry standard Personal Information Manager will find this new interface very easy to learn and use. For those authors on the move, WinScribe 3.6 has a new web uploader allowing authors to upload dictations directly from an Internet browser interface wherever they are. www.winscribe.com Skip Dostine, 866-4-WINSCRIBE sales@winscribe.com

ProCAT Chooses Wizzard Software and IBM’s ViaVoice SDK to Speech Enable WinnerVR Transcription Software: Wizzard Software (OTCBB: WIZD) announced that ProCAT has chosen IBM’s ViaVoice Speech Recognition (ASR) Software Development Kit (SDK) and runtimes for their WinnerVR real time transcription software. Founded over twenty years ago, ProCAT, a privately held company based in Agoura Hills, California, has become a leading provider of software, electronic stenotype, and hardware to the court reporting and closed-captioning industries. With IBM’s proven, sophisticated Speech Recognition SDK behind it, ProCAT’s WinnerVR is able to provide the most intelligent and flexible real time speech recognition and processing software to their clients. The real time nature of WinnerVR enables users to provide transcription services to the judiciary, closed-captioning services to the broadcasters, live news web or pod casts to the Internet, litigation support services to the attorneys, and rapid text entry for medical transcribers. WinnerVR may also be used in post production situations. WinnerVR allows its end users, including judges, attorneys and court reporters, to save valuable time that is normally spent editing transcriptions with its easy to use auto-proofing and auto-indexing features. WinnerVR also offers visual effects to enhance input quality, as well as a vocabulary manager and multi-track audio recording.  Founded over two decades ago, ProCat serves the legal and entertainment transcription markets. ProCAT’s client base includes the United States Senate. www.procat.com Robert Bakva, President of ProCAT

Houghton Mifflin Chooses AT&T Natural Voices Spanish TTS from Wizzard Software to Provide Voices for Reference Book: Wizzard Software (OTCBB: WIZD) announced that Houghton Mifflin Company has licensed AT&T Natural Voices for Server as the Spanish voice behind their reference book, The American Heritage Spanish Dictionary. Boston-based Houghton Mifflin Company is one of the leading educational publishers in the United States, with more than $1 billion in sales. Houghton Mifflin publishes textbooks, instructional technology, assessments, and other educational materials for elementary and secondary schools and colleges. AT&T Natural Voices is used not only in the on-line versions of The American Heritage Spanish Dictionary, but also in Houghton Mifflin’s reference book software, eReferenceEspañol (www.ereference.com), which includes The American Heritage Spanish Dictionary. eReferenceEspañol allows user to translate from Spanish to English and English to Spanish. When users want to hear the pronunciation and definition, they simply click an audio icon and can listen to the words being read aloud. Worldwide, nearly 500 million people speak Spanish, with 350 million considering Spanish to be their first language. The Hispanic origin population is the second fastest-growing population in the United States, according to the US Census Bureau. In fact, as of 1998, the United States has the fifth largest Hispanic population, about 30 million people, according to American Demographics. Further, Global Reach reports that about 5.8 percent of the people who use the Internet speak Spanish, making it the No. 4 language in the Internet community. www.hmco.com Houghton Mifflin Contact:: Taryn Roeder (617-351-3818) Assistant Director of Publicity Taryn_Roeder@hmco.com Wizzard Contact: Danielle Lewis (412-621-0902) Marketing Director, David Langevin, Vice President, Director of Electronic Markets for Houghton Mifflin Company's Trade & Reference Division.

Wizzard Software Provides The Swiss Library for the Blind & Visually Impaired with AT&T Natural Voices for Talking Catalog: Wizzard Software (OTCBB: WIZD) announced that The Swiss Library for the Blind and Visually Impaired (SBS) has selected AT&T Natural Voices to power their talking catalog. For over 25 years, the SBS has been dedicated to making information accessible to the blind and visually impaired and is based in Zurich. SBS is a full member of and works in conjunction with the Daisy Consortium, who have set standards to provide digital talking books to the blind, visually impaired, physically handicapped, or otherwise print-disabled readers around the world. DAISY denotes the Digital Accessible Information SYstem. SBS produces a talking catalog of their available Daisy talking books. This catalog itself is a structured talking book according to the DAISY standard. The DAISY National Information Standards Organization (NISO) Standard is based on XML/SMIL computer language and provides structured access and navigation facilities to stored text, audio and video information. Currently, the SBS catalog contains 3000 titles, which represents 30 hours of spoken text The process to create the talking catalog is a simple one. The SBS catalog database produces an HTML file which is read by EasePublisher, a special DAISY production software. EasePublisher translates the HTML file to DAISY NISO files. EasePublisher then feeds the text elements to the Natural Voices TTS engine. Natural Voices then easily converts a natural-sounding, high-quality audio output in WAV or MP3 format. Users then access the catalog via special hardware or software DAISY players. Currently, nearly 37 million people worldwide are blind. A new study performed by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found that without extra intervention, the global number of blind individuals would increase to 76 million in 2020. Wizzard Contact: Danielle Lewis (412-621-0902) Marketing Director

Data Entry – Products/Partnerships/Financial

Voice for Lumber grading: Speech recognition is spreading into more industrial applications, as people realize that it can be an efficient way to manage data -- especially for workers who are constantly on the move. Companies such as Mississauga-based Wal-Mart Canada Corp. and Stellarton, N.S.-based Sobeys Inc. are using it in their warehouse distribution centres to fill orders and keep track of inventory, for example. Ford Motor Co. uses speech recognition in its manufacturing plants to check parts, and the U.S. government uses it in the inspection of military vehicles. The lumber industry's application of speech recognition offer a good example of how it provides advantages over conventional data management. Lumber mills are turning to speech-recognition software to speed up production by eliminating traditional bottlenecks, such as lumber grading and log scaling. Grading, for example, traditionally requires two people -- one to assess and call out the grade of a piece of wood and a second person to record the information -- while still others move the graded lumber aside. This combined effort can potentially lead to errors, as can the subsequent manual data-input process as the grades are entered into a computerized inventory system. With speech-recognition technology, not only is grading faster, but the resulting records are virtually error-free since they go directly from the assessor's lips into the computer. Moreover, the second person can be put to better use elsewhere in the mill. The new systems aren't just for dictation. They allow operators to use a headset terminal and wireless network to edit inputted data, and access data stored on the network, which is read to them by the computer. No matter where graders are on the mill site, they can ask questions of the system -- such as how many 2-by-6-inch planks that are 12-feet long and of a particular grade of a certain species are in stock -- without having to go to a screen to look up the information. Data input taking place beyond the wireless system's range (up to 10 kilometres depending on antennae placement) can also be stored in the headset's extensive memory for later download, keeping the employee truly mobile. Echo Technology of Pembroke, Ont. (http://www.echo-technology.ca), has been connecting lumber companies with this type of speech-recognition technology since 2002. "Return on investment varies from one operation to another, but most operations can expect a return within six months," president Lawrence Benfield notes. Alex Encil, production superintendent for the Huntsville division of Montreal-based Tembec Inc., says the forest products company's cost return was achieved in even less than six months -- even factoring in a staff increase that involved an extra grader as part of the project. With Echo's system up and running since December, 2004, Mr. Encil notes that inventory tracking in the mill has seen a "significant improvement," while grading accuracy is "far superior" to the old two-person system. The cost of the system starts between $15,000 and $20,000, depending on how many consoles and what distance is required for transmission of data from headsets to the computer console. Mr. Encil says the installation at his operation was finished in a week, with no down time because grader training (totalling about half an hour) was conducted by Echo in a series of quick steps over several days. System integration was handled internally by a company computer technician with support from staff at Echo. The biggest challenge, Mr. Encil says, "was with the employees getting used to speaking all shift, calling the board dimensions," and "learning how to switch over from one species to the next" when entering wood grades into the system. While enunciation and pronunciation are still factors in achieving accuracy in speech-recognition software in general, Mr. Benfield explains that the small vocabularies of 40 to 60 words required in industrial applications like forestry result in 100-per-cent accuracy. Ambient noise created by machinery running nearby is not a problem, he says, as the software is designed to focus on the speaker's voice and learn its idiosyncrasies. New microphone technology can also help filter out background noise. In terms of Tembec's bottom line, Mr. Encil says, "We have seen a 3-per-cent improvement in grade-outs since implementing the Echo system, which doesn't sound like a lot, but results in a big difference in profits in some cases." As well, the most common customer complaints -- being charged for a particular volume based on grader estimates -- have almost completely dried up due to more accurate regrades, Mr. Encil says. Echo uses the Vocollect Talkman system.

Vocollect Climbs Inc. 500 List of Fastest Growing Companies; Worldwide Demand for Voice-Directed Distribution Fuels Exceptional Growth: Vocollect, the global leader in Voice-Directed Work, announced that it has been named to Inc. magazine's list of America's 500 fastest growing private companies. Three-year growth figures of more than 466 percent placed the company at number 265 on the list, up from 483 in 2004. Companies on the list are ranked on the basis of strong financial growth. "Over the past four years, Vocollect's Compounded Annual Growth Rate has exceeded 75 percent," said Jack LeVan, president and CEO of Vocollect. "The fact that we've increased our ranking by 218 positions on this year's Inc. 500 list is a direct reflection of our employees' continued hard work and dedication, as well as testament to the value we deliver through Vocollect's offerings. Vocollect is well positioned to meet the increasing demand for voice-directed work as we expand into new markets throughout the world." Each year more than 500,000 businesses are considered for the Inc. 500 list, which ranks the three-year financial growth of independent and privately held companies with annual revenues of more than $500,000. Vocollect has built a worldwide market for its Voice-Directed Distribution, which improves warehouse and distribution center performance by opening a two-way dialogue between a company's warehouse management system (WMS) and its distribution workers. Voice-Directed Distribution guides workers through their daily tasks for improved productivity, increased accuracy and increased safety. With its continued expansion of its flagship product offerings, Vocollect has moved into new markets over the past year including retail, apparel, automotive after-market and third-party logistics (3PL), serving clients such as Corporate Express, Burris Logistics and The Pep Boys. Vocollect markets its products globally, with more than 100,000 users in 22 countries on six continents. The company continues to expand its European, Latin American and Asian (EMEA) operations to deliver Voice-Directed Distribution worldwide. Each day, over 100,000 workers in hundreds of companies on six continents use Vocollect's voice-directed work solutions to increase fulfillment accuracy, boost productivity, and improve customer satisfaction. Since pioneering voice recognition for the industry in 1987, Vocollect has set the standard for voice-directed business solutions that cut operating costs by eliminating errors and improving worker productivity shift after shift. Leading WMS providers, material handling integrators and specialty voice solution providers around the world choose the performance and reliability of Vocollect to deliver hands and eyes-free distribution solutions. www.vocollect.com

Mitchell Grocery Deploys Voxware's VoiceLogistics: Mitchell Grocery, a wholesale grocery distribution center that serves more than 250 independent supermarkets in the Southeast, has selected Voxware's VoiceLogistics to voice-enable its logistics operations. Mitchell Grocery ships 80 truckloads each day, and delivers 500,000 cases per week of dry groceries, milk, produce and ice cream. "We chose Voxware's VoiceLogistics based on the proven results of Voxware customers in the food distribution industry," stated David Mitchell, president, Mitchell Grocery. "Voxware's customers were extremely satisfied, and had experienced significant improvements in accuracy and overall productivity. Since we've deployed VoiceLogistics, we've seen a 50% improvement in the accuracy of our loading and order selection processes. We have reduced shorts and mispicks and introduced more precision into the loading operation, which has lowered costs and improved customer satisfaction. As a result, the VoiceLogistics system will pay for itself in less than six months." "What it came down to was Voxware's flexibility and consultative approach, which ensured that their system fit our processes," explained Mitchell. "We did not have to change what we were doing to accommodate VoiceLogistics." "Voxware deployed the VoiceLogistics system in six weeks," said John Morton, outbound manager, Mitchell Grocery. "VoiceLogistics keeps all workers on task and focused. By confirming location and item, the system dramatically reduces inaccuracies, and the use of voice for perishable items in the refrigerator/freezer environment provides tremendous benefits. Picking accuracy reduced unsaleables, which is a considerable cost savings. The system is very flexible and very sensitive to the nuances of each user's voice, and with Voxware's training we were up and running in a few days." Voxware's VoiceLogistics system is also used for loading at Mitchell Grocery. The loading application tracks and confirms that all pallets are loaded to the proper trailer. Beyond picking and loading, VoiceLogistics enables pickers to pull from other locations and voice that information into the system. VoiceLogistics also allows Mitchell Grocery to perform consolidated picking for slow moving items stored in a separate building. The VoiceLogistics system also produces a printed manifest which identifies specific items in each shipment. www.voxware.com 609-514-4100 ex 4122
marketing@voxware.com

Base Technology – Products/Partnerships/Financial

Acapela’s New High Quality Swedish voice: Erik is the latest TTS voice to join the Acapela portfolio. Acapela permanently enriches its language and voice offer to fully answer to market requirements and end user needs, by offering the choice between male and female voices. Erik and Emma, a high end duet for the Swedish market: Erik joins existing female voice Emma, providing a complete voice offer to fully answer end users particularly interested by the choice and the persona of the TTS voice they daily use. The response to the first customer tests of Erik is very positive. www.acapela-group.com/demos/samplesHQ.asp

BBN Technologies Announces Latest Speech-to-Text Software, AVOKE STX 2.0 for Multimedia Search; BBN Technologies announced 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. At the core of the AVOKE system is BBN's very large vocabulary speech recognition engine. 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. www.bbn.com/avoke bbn.com BBN Technologies: Joyce Kuzmin, 617-873-8193, Corporate Communications jkuzmin@bbn.com Ali I. Riaz, President, Fast Search & Transfer (FAST).

Fonix Ranked Number 105 Fastest Growing Technology Company in North America on the 2005 Deloitte Technology Fast 500: Fonix Corporation (OTC BB: FNIX) announced that it ranked Number 105 on the 2005 Deloitte Technology Fast 500, a ranking of the 500 fastest growing technology companies in North America. Rankings are based on percentage revenue growth over five years, from 2000 • 2004. Fonix grew 2,168 percent during this period. Thomas A. Murdock, Fonix CEO, credits an evolving business strategy to provide businesses and consumers with integrated communications services with the company’s 2,168 percent revenue growth over the past five years. Fonix Corporation previously ranked 394 on 2004 Deloitte Technology Fast 500. Overall, companies that ranked on the 2005 Technology Fast 500 had growth rates ranging from 240 to 73,752 percent over five years, with an average growth rate of 2,408 percent. The Fast 500 list is compiled from Deloitte’s 15 regional North American Fast 50 lists, nominations submitted directly to the Fast 500, and public company database research. To qualify for the Fast 500, entrants must have had 2000 operating revenues of at least $50,000 USD and $75,000 CD for the United States and Canada, respectively; and 2004 operating revenues must be at least $1 million USD or CD. Entrants must be headquartered in North America and must be a "technology company," defined as a company that owns proprietary technology that contributes to a significant portion of the company’s operating revenues; or devotes a significant proportion of revenues to the research and development of technology. Using other companies’ technology in a unique way does not qualify. www.fonix.com (801) 553-6600 and say "Sales." Investor Contact: Gino DeJesus (770) 989-9885 gdejesus@fonix.com

Meet Kate, Loquendo's new UK English voice: Loquendo is delighted to present Kate, the new, Emotional UK English persona. Loquendo's TTS engine has been enriched with a rich repertoire of "expressive cues", which enable its users to enliven their voice prompts. Kate's fresh, expressive voice joins Simon to complete Loquendo's offering of lifelike speech for the English language. Loquendo is the first speech market player to offer its customers the possibility to make their vocal messages expressive. Just like human conversation, expressive intention is conveyed through conventional formulas and interjections, which are pronounced with a natural and colourful intonation. As a result, synthetic voice messages become truly lifelike and even more enjoyable for customers to interact with. Loquendo offers a full range of technological components to rapidly and easily create solutions in 16 languages. Currently available languages include U.S. and U.K. English, Castilian, Catalan, Mexican, Chilean and Argentinean Spanish, Italian, German, French, Dutch, Greek, Mandarin Chinese, Brazilian, Portuguese and Swedish in both male and female voices. www.loquendo.com/en/audio/kate1.wav www.loquendo.com/en/audio/simonkate2.wav www.loquendo.com

NCT Integrates Voice Technologies to OSE: NCT integrated its ClearSpeech noise reduction technology with the OSE Real Time Operating System. With OSE’s user base, including many communication developers, this integration will help manufacturers with voice-based communication systems. Developers use OSE, and its DSP optimised variant, OSEck, as a multiprocessor solution for embedded development in portable and automotive devices. ClearSpeech is a suite of software algorithms that provide noise reduction for human listeners, noise reduction for speech recognition, echo cancellation and signal conditioning. NCT will be presenting their technology at 'Building The Perfect Beast,' an event focused on automotive electronics to be held near Cambridge on the November 15.

NEC Speech-to-Speech Translation Software for low power Consumption Multi-core Processors optimal for small devices such as mobile phones: NEC Corporation announced that it has succeeded in the development of Japanese-English/English-Japanese, automatic speech translation software for single-chip multi-core processors for small devices such as mobile phones, capable of operation at high speeds with low power consumption. NEC verified the high-speed automatic speech translation processing capability of this software on NEC Electronics' MP211 application processor for mobile phones, at an operating frequency of 200MHz, proving that operation of interpretation applications is technologically feasible on small devices like mobile phones. Supporting a 50,000-word rich vocabulary, this software realizes automatic speech-to-speech interpretation of travel conversation through the development of a new parallel speech recognition method for single-chip processors with several CPU cores, and a compact, lexical-rule-based, machine translation engine that unites dictionaries with grammar (note 3*) that is operable on small devices. The features of this software include: 1) A parallel, large-vocabulary, continuous speech recognition engine, which is built with a database consisting of a wide-range of conversation sounds and words that enables accurate speech recognition of spoken words. 2) A lexical-rule-based, machine translation engine, which achieves high-performance translation of spoken words utilizing dictionaries/grammar, compiled from a wide range of language knowledge data. 3) An advanced wave-concatenative speech synthesis engine, which realizes high-performance reading through an advanced, wave-concatenative speech synthesis method based on a wide-range of speech data. 4) A total integration module that controls collaborative operation of the speech recognition engine, the machine translation engine, and the speech synthesis engine realizing automatic translation on a single processor for mobile phones. NEC's developments in the MT area include; - Automatic Japanese-English/English-Japanese translation software for notebook PCs in 1999 - Commercial launch of "Tabitsu" (American English version),communication software supporting English travel conversation, in 2001 - PDA-operational Japanese - English travel conversation, automatic speech translation software in 2002 - The next natural development for NEC was to expand this technology to small, light-weight portable devices that can be used anytime, anywhere. However, in order to achieve this goal it was necessary to realize large CPU power, required for speech recognition, and machine translation technology for interpretation, which are both exceedingly difficult to achieve on low-power multi-core processors for small devices such as mobile phones. NEC has accomplished this development through the synthesis of its proprietary parallel speech recognition technology and its compact machine translation technology with its multi-core processor technology. Notes: 1) MP211: With the combination of three ARM926EJ-S CPU cores and NEC Electronics' digital signal processor, the single-chip MP211 processor offers high-performance parallel processing capabilities optimized for applications such as mobile phones that are sensitive to power consumption requirements. 2) Parallel speech recognition method (parallel, large-vocabulary, continuous speech recognition engine) Through adoption of an acoustic look-ahead technique that can reduce word-search space, NEC's proprietary speech recognition method realizes acceleration of the entire interpretation process, dividing it into three steps comprised of recognition processing, reconstruction and maintenance of accuracy. 3) Lexical-rule-based, machine translation engine. www.nec.com www.necelam.com www.necel.com Contact: Diane Foley, NEC Corporation, d-foley@ax.jp.nec.com +81-3-3798-6511 Sophie Yamamoto, NEC Electronics Corporation, sophie.yamamoto@necel.com 81-44-435-1676

ScanSoft changes name to Nuance Communications: ScanSoft has changed its company name from ScanSoft, Inc. to Nuance Communications, Inc. and also created a new corporate tagline: The experience speaks for itself. www.nuance.com.

VoiceXML Training Material: Request for Information: This Request for Information (RFI) is intended to solicit industry interest and participation in provision of VoiceXML-related training materials. The VoiceXML Forum is seeking the materials for use in an online or CD-based training program for VoiceXML developers. Note that this RFI is solely for the purpose of assessing industry support for such a program, and does not indicate a commitment to implementation of the program. The materials may include but are not limited to: *A quick reference summary of VoiceXML elements, their parents, children, and attributes; *Home study tutorials and lessons for each of the languages VoiceXML 2.0, VoiceXML 2.1, SSML, SRGS, SIRS, and CCXML. *Example code snippets illustrating each of the basic concepts for the above languages; *Exercises and projects designed to reinforce basic VoiceXML principles; *Practice certification tests; Requirements for the material include: *All materials must be vendor neutral and conform to W3C standards. *Non-exclusive rights to reproduce and possibly resell the materials must be made available to the Forum. Your response to the RFI should address these questions: *What material would you consider donating to this program? *If you are unable to donate materials, would they be available for a fee, or promotional considerations? *How do you propose to provide the material? For example, what formats would be provided? *Please provide a brief proposal for maintenance of the material. For example, would the VoiceXML Forum have permission to maintain/extend this material? Would you be willing to donate effort to aid this process? Would you provide periodic updates? *The VoiceXML Forum intends to provide a common look and feel for this material insofar as possible. *Please state any usage restrictions that would be placed upon such material. *Please submit your response to this RFI to Cindy Tiritilli, VoiceXML Forum Program Manager at voicexml-admin@voicexml.org by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, October 25, 2005.

Speech Industry People

Envox Worldwide, announced that Tony Lenox has joined the company as Vice President of Worldwide Customer Service & Support. Nortel Networks Corporation’s board of directors appointed Mike S. Zafirovski as president and chief executive officer (CEO). MedQuist Inc. (Pink Sheets: MEDQ) announced the appointment of Scott Bennett as its new senior vice president of Sales and Marketing. Lawsuit Filed by Motorola Against Mike Zafirovski. The lawsuit alleges, among other things, that Zafirovski, who resigned earlier this year as Motorola's president and chief operating officer, has breached various agreements with Motorola by accepting this position with Nortel and that this position with Nortel will inevitably result in the use or disclosure of Motorola's trade secrets. The lawsuit seeks, among other relief, an injunction to enjoin Zafirovski from rendering services to Nortel for two years, from soliciting or hiring Motorola employees, and from utilizing or disclosing Motorola's confidential information. William Andrews (Bill) has joined Convergys as Vice President and General Manager of Self-Service Solutions. He replaces Ted Cwiok, who previously managed this group. Contact centre technology specialist Macfarlane Telesystems has appointed Ray Boxall as Head of its newly-formed Speech Technologies Division.

Financials

Table F1

Q3, 2005 Financial Results

CALENDAR