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Nuance Speech Recognition Software Automates Hotel Booking Process for lastminute.com
URL(s): www.nuance.com
MENLO PARK, Calif., Oct. 2, 2001--
Nuance's Speech Software Empowers lastminute.com Suppliers to Check Bookings and Manage Inventory Control
Nuance (Nasdaq:NUAN), the leader in Voice Web software, today announced it is providing advanced speech recognition
software for lastminute.com's voice extranet that will manage inventories and hotel room bookings. lastminute.com, a
London-based company that offers last minute opportunities to consumers online, uses technology from Nuance and Nortel
Networks to provide automated booking facilities between hotel managers and lastminute.com, leading to a simplified system with
significantly reduced costs.
Hotel managers can now dial an automated phone-service and directly update their inventory on lastminute.com's database by
speaking or using a touch-tone system to input their reference number. The automated procedure takes as little as 30 seconds and
there is no need to wait for an available operator. In addition to saving time, Nuance and Nortel's interactive speech recognition
system will reduce any occurrence of administrative errors while reducing the flow of overall paperwork.
"Nuance and lastminute.com's project has proved that speech recognition can be used in any industry to simplify processes,
thereby increasing efficiency and improving the user experience when dealing with your business," said Nick Applegarth, managing
director, Nuance. "Using natural language speech recognition is the quickest and easiest way to conduct business. Our work with
previous customers has shown that speech recognition can be used to automate complex and intricate business to business
transactions and at the same time, simplify the internal process for customers."
"Many independent hotels do not have access to online technology and resort to manual processes such as faxes, which take
much longer to manage and do not provide the same level of security," said Helen Baker, managing director of lastminute.com.
"This initiative is not only enhancing efficiency in the way we work with suppliers, but also ultimately benefiting the end users by
significantly speeding up the confirmation process making it easier and quicker for hotel managers to control bookings."
The initiative will be offered to all U.K.-based hotels(a) working with lastminute.com before rolling out to the rest of Europe.
lastminute.com also expects to extend this capability to several other supply categories in the coming months.
About Nuance
Nuance is the leader in Voice Web software -- speech recognition, voice authentication, text-to-speech and voice-browsing
products that make the information and services of enterprises, telecommunications networks and the Internet accessible from any
telephone. Every day, millions of people interact with Nuance systems at companies like Japan Telecom, OnStar, Qwest Wireless,
Sears and UBS. Nuance is headquartered in Menlo Park, Calif., with global sales offices and partners supporting solutions in
multiple languages around the world. For more information about Nuance, visit www.nuance.com or call 1-888-NUANCE-8.
About lastminute.com
Based on the idea of matching supply and demand, lastminute.com currently offers consumers last minute opportunities to
acquire airline tickets, hotel rooms, package holidays, entertainment tickets, restaurant reservations, speciality services, gifts and
auctions in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Spain, The Netherlands, Australia and South Africa. In October
2000, lastminute.com acquired the Degriftour Group, one of France's leading e-travel groups. At June 30, 2001, lastminute.com had
3.5 million subscriber users and had established approximately 8,500 supplier relationships, with companies such as Lufthansa,
British Midland, United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Forte Hotel Group, Kempinski
Hotels, English National Ballet, The Royal Albert Hall, Conran Restaurants and SFX.
lastminute.com is the most visited travel website in the UK and France according to a recent survey by Jupiter MMXI, and the
only site to appear in the top ten most visited travel sites in the UK, France, Germany, Sweden, Italy and Spain.
About Nortel Networks
Nortel Networks is a global leader in networking and communications solutions and infrastructure for service providers and
corporations. The Company is at the forefront of transforming how the world communicates, exchanges information and profits
from the high-performance Internet through capabilities spanning the Optical Internet, Wireless Internet, Intelligent Internet and IP
(Internet Protocol) technologies and services. Nortel Networks does business in more than 150 countries and can be found on the
Web at www.nortelnetworks.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including, for example, those relating to the anticipated success and rate
of customer adoption of lastminute.com's voice-enabled extranet system and expansion of service in the United Kingdom and
throughout Europe. There is no assurance that the results contemplated by any forward-looking statements will be realized. The
following factors, risks and uncertainties, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described or
implied in this press release's forward-looking statements: the risk that lastminute.com's voice-enabled extranet system will not
reach the anticipated adoption rate; the risk the voice extranet will not work with all hotels in the United Kingdom or Europe in the
next year; and other factors described in Nuance's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to
Nuance's last-filed prospectus and quarterly report on form 10-Q. Nuance does not undertake to update any oral or written
forward-looking statements that may be made by or on behalf of Nuance.
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