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WirelessDevNet.com Press Release
Comverse And Angel.com Team To Offer Voice-Activated Services
Comverse, a unit of Comverse Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:CMVT), and the world's leading supplier of software and systems enabling network-based multimedia enhanced communication services, and Angel.com today announced their joint engagement to offer a voice-driven suite of business productivity services to network service providers. This carrier-grade solution is available today for network deployment using the Comverse Media Server. Visitors to SpeechTEK, September 29 in New York, can see the Comverse and Angel.com team compete in the Speech Solutions Challenge, where teams have just a few hours to build and run a speech application, to be determined at the start of the competition.
Today's Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) face a variety of challenges in managing and growing their business, from creating a polished, professional image to streamlining costs and improving customer service. Voice-driven business productivity applications enable SMEs to automate routine operations using the human voice as a natural and intuitive interface for customers. Callers can access a variety of simply constructed services, from auto attendants to store locators to full voice-controlled order processing systems. All applications can be configured by the SME to address its specific business and customer needs.
This offering represents a fundamental shift in the way carriers address the SME market. Until recently, any small business looking to deploy Interactive Voice Solutions needed to deploy its own costly premises-based infrastructure or turn to its carrier for expensive custom application solutions. Now, with the use of Angel.com's pre-built service templates, businesses can configure and implement their own services via the Web, realizing efficiency benefits but at a much lower cost than was previously possible. The step-by-step guidance provided by configuration wizards enables users with no prior programming experience to simply construct their own professional quality business solutions. The services also generate usage reports and statistics that can be accessed online.
"Like it or not, if customers call into your business and can't get the information they're looking for in a timely fashion, you risk losing them to your competitors," said Michael Zirngibl, President of Angel.com. "Our experience shows that SMEs want cost-effective solutions that allow them to enrich their customers' experience. We are pleased to be working with Comverse, the world leader in enhanced services, to make our self-service speech applications available to their global customer base of more than 400 carriers."
The voice-driven interface to the Angel.com business productivity suite is powered by the network-based Comverse Media Server. The Comverse Media Server is a modular, standards-based VoiceXML gateway that is designed to provide a massively scalable platform for hosting voice-activated and interactive voice response (IVR) services in wireline and wireless networks. The Comverse Media Server enables multiple applications to share common platform resources, such as speech recognition and text-to-speech engines, providing a cost-effective means for network operators to deploy large numbers of enhanced voice services. The Comverse Media Server is part of the InSight solution, Comverse's open, value-added services environment for Total Communication and Infotainment Services.
"Comverse is pleased to be working with Angel.com on this joint offering for carriers," said Benny Einhorn, Chief Marketing Officer of Comverse. "We recognize that the SME segment represents a lucrative market opportunity for carriers, and we believe that this offering will enable them to tap entirely new sources of revenue. The partnership with Angel.com is another example of how Comverse is bringing solutions to market that employ our leading carrier-grade open-platform architecture."
About Angel.com
McLean, Va.-based Angel.com leverages the web to allow corporations to quickly and cost-efficiently develop and launch high quality speech-enabled telephony applications. Sophisticated and customizable with the click of a mouse, Angel.com's patented Voice Sites connect businesses with customers in an intuitive and natural manner anywhere, anytime. Sold directly online at www.angel.com and through a qualified network of telecommunications carriers and Internet service providers, Angel.com's hosted service enables companies to implement business-grade communications solutions for a fraction of the cost of unwieldy, proprietary interactive voice response systems. Angel.com gives companies the ability to build a virtually limitless number of speech-enabled applications, bounded only by human creativity. More than 2,000 companies have utilized Angel.com to deploy interactive customer service solutions that improve communication and reduce overhead costs.
About Comverse
Comverse, a unit of Comverse Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:CMVT), is the world's leading provider of software and systems enabling network-based multimedia enhanced communications services. More than 400 wireless and wireline telecommunications network operators, in more than 100 countries, have selected Comverse's enhanced services systems and software, which enable the provision of revenue-generating value-added services including call answering with one-touch call return, short messaging services, IP-based unified messaging (voice, fax, and email in a single mailbox), 2.5G/3G multimedia messaging (MMS), instant communications, wireless information and entertainment services, voice-controlled dialing, messaging and browsing, prepaid wireless services, and additional personal communication services. Other Comverse Technology business units include: Verint Systems, a leading provider of analytic solutions for communications interception, digital video security and surveillance, and enterprise business intelligence; and Ulticom, a leading provider of service enabling network software for wireless, wireline, and Internet communications. Comverse Technology is an S&P 500 and NASDAQ-100 Index company. For additional information, visit the Comverse web site at http://www.comverse.com.
All product and company names mentioned herein may be registered trademarks or trademarks of Comverse or the respective referenced company(s).
Note: This release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurances that forward-looking statements will be achieved, and actual results could differ materially from forecasts and estimates. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include: changes in the demand for the company's products; changes in capital spending among the company's current and prospective customers; the risks associated with the sale of large, complex, high capacity systems and with new product introductions as well as the uncertainty of customer acceptance of these new or enhanced products from either the company or its competition; risks associated with rapidly changing technology and the ability of the company to introduce new products on a timely and cost-effective basis; risks associated with changes in the competitive or regulatory environment in which the company operates; risks associated with significant foreign operations and international sales and investment activities, including fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, interest rates, and valuations of public and private equity; the volatility of macroeconomic and industry conditions and the international marketplace; risks associated with the company's ability to retain existing personnel and recruit and retain qualified personnel; and other risks described in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These risks and uncertainties, as well as others, are discussed in greater detail in the filings of the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and its subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. These documents are available through the company, or through the SEC's Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval system (EDGAR) at www.sec.gov. The company makes no commitment to revise or update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances after the date any such statement is made.
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