Nuance Unveils Say Anything Speech Recognition Technology

Business Wire, May 2, 2001

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 2, 2001

Breakthrough Software Raises the Bar on Natural Language

Speech Recognition; Lowers Costs, Simplifies User

Interactions, and Speeds Time to Market

Nuance (Nasdaq:NUAN), the leader in Voice Web software, today introduced Say Anything(TM), a new generation of speech recognition technology designed to enable people to "say anything" to speech systems to rapidly perform transactions or obtain information anytime, anywhere, over the telephone.

Nuance's Say Anything technology brings a unique approach to the creation and deployment of natural language speech systems. Until now, developers have commonly built speech applications by predefining lists of what callers can say. Say Anything combines this technique with powerful statistical models that recognize free-style speech and extract key concepts to determine the meaning of user input. This reduces the requirement to predefine users' words or sentences, allowing developers to concentrate on other user interface issues. Callers will enjoy a more natural interaction with voice-enabled systems. In addition, recognition accuracy improves even more over time as data from the interactions between callers and systems is obtained.

Free-Style Speech Interactions

With Say Anything, users will be able to speak more freely and naturally when interacting with speech-enabled systems. Because the technology enables speech applications to determine user input based on context, users are not constrained to limited prompts. This is ideal for natural language call routing applications, whereby voice systems direct callers to the correct destination by identifying key concepts in the callers' requests.

For example, rather than a system asking callers to respond to specific prompts, it will simply greet callers with "what would you like to do?". Callers may respond by saying such wide-ranging phrases as "I have a billing question," or "what is the status of my package?", and have their questions answered or their calls routed automatically. Since complicated menu structures can be eliminated in many cases, callers will enjoy faster service and increased satisfaction. Say Anything is well suited to complex applications, such as technical support, and will better handle challenges posed by free-style speech such as fragments and disfluency. For example, the correct action will be taken if a user says "I'd like to buy, um, a ticket to, er, Chicago tomorrow."

Benefits to Enterprises

Say Anything's ability to offer a free-style interaction translates into savings for enterprises by enabling a simplified user interface and improved user experience. Call centers can expect a rapid return on investment by replacing traditional touch-tone or interactive voice response (IVR) systems with Say Anything technology. These touch-tone systems frequently frustrate callers with lengthy and confusing menus, wasting expensive air-time and often causing callers to opt-out of systems to speak with costly call center staff. In addition to addressing these problems, Say Anything can speed application development time and lower the skill set required for creating speech applications. Nuance is currently working with a number of major companies across a range of industries to deploy Say Anything applications.

"Nuance's Say Anything technology will enable companies to further reduce costs and maximize revenues through the use of speech recognition," said Steve McClure, a research vice president in the Software Research Group of IDC, a leading market research firm. "They will also be able to deploy systems more quickly, with greater accuracy and better voice interfaces than ever before."

Benefits to Telecom Service Providers

Say Anything brings Nuance's vision of personal voice dial tone a step closer to reality. Rather than listening to a dial tone when they pick up the phone, users will have access to the wealth of information on the growing Voice Web. At the open-ended voice prompt, callers might say "call dad at home" or "what's the weather in Dallas?". Voice browsing services with functionalities such as these are expected to generate new revenue streams for wireless and wireline carriers alike, providing the ultimate convenience to users in their homes, cars and offices.

"Say Anything facilitates the demise of the telephone keypad by enabling carriers to deliver personal voice dial tone," said Ron Croen, president and CEO of Nuance. "Say Anything will allow callers to use the telephone to navigate information on the emerging Voice Web and get answers to their questions by simply speaking."

Nuance will showcase Say Anything and other advancements at the upcoming V-World conference in San Diego, Calif., May 20-23, 2001. Interested parties may register at www.nuance.com/conference.> 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 BeVocal, Merrill Lynch, Nomura Securities, Sprint PCS and Tellme Networks. 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.