Global Speech Day, Presented by SpeechWorks, Attracts 4,000 Attendees to Unique Web Event on Speech Recognition Technology

Business Wire, May 9, 2001

Business/Technology Editors

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 9, 2001

Registrants from 73 Countries Validate Global Market Interest in

Network-Based Speech Applications

WWW.GLOBALSPEECHDAY.COM--SpeechWorks International, Inc. (Nasdaq: SPWX), a leader in speech technology, today announced the success of Global Speech Day, the first-of-its-kind Web event about speech recognition technology.

Exceeding expectations, over 4,000 people representing more than 2,400 organizations logged on to the free Web event which began on May 2nd in North and South America, and on May 3rd in Europe and Asia. Visitors joined to view streaming video presentations and panel discussions covering topics ranging from "The ROI of Speech" to "The Caller Experience" to "The Importance of VoiceXML," and to take part in audience polls and online chat. Nearly 2,000 attendees participated in the online chat sessions to have their questions answered by SpeechWorks executives, industry analysts, leading speech scientists and business leaders involved with speech. Since www.globalspeechday.com went live in early March, more than 15,000 people have visited the site.

Presented by SpeechWorks, Global Speech Day was made possible by more than 30 companies participating as sponsors or guest speakers for the event. Global Speech Day content, including video archives, presentations, downloadable documents and a Partner Expo, continues to be available, free of charge, through May 31st at www.globalspeechday.com.

Global Speech Day registrants included decision makers such as CEOs, CIOs and General Managers from more than 60 companies in the Fortune 100. Over 53 percent were from outside of the United States, proving the growing interest in speech recognition for companies around the world. Australia led with 19 percent, while the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Singapore and Germany followed closely behind. There was also interest from Iceland, Finland, Tunisia and Yugoslavia. The majority of registrants work in the telecommunications industry (25 percent). Others represent the banking, government, computer hardware and Web portal industries, among others, or are developers and system integrators.

"The fact that over 4,000 people from across the world dialed in to attend Global Speech Day illustrates the impact speech recognition is having in business today," said Megan Gurley, telecommunications analyst for The Yankee Group and Global Speech Day panelist. "As a leader within the market, SpeechWorks was able to coordinate both partners and industry luminaries who came together to educate the market in a highly informative event."

Online Polling Results

Throughout the May 2nd event, participants responded to numerous online polls about the speech industry. Below is a sampling of results:

--More than 60 percent of respondents believe open standards, like VoiceXML, will accelerate speech service deployments;

--Over 42 percent of respondents want to make their Web site information accessible via the phone;

--Nearly 90 percent of respondents prefer automated phone systems with a personality; likewise, 80 percent of respondents feel it is very important for their automated phone system to be polite to callers;

--Nearly 68 percent rated improved customer service as the main benefit of speech in their business organization.

Heard around the World

Participants acknowledged Global Speech Day as an important event for the speech industry. Following are some comments:

"I just wanted to drop a quick line to tell you that Global Speech Day is definitely the best Webcast that I've participated in, hands down."

--Fortune 100 Company

"It was the best Web event that I have ever seen!"

--Large insurance company

"The speech recognition industry continues to be an exciting space and a key focus for our business. The success and interest in Global Speech Day indicates this industry is set to take-off in Asia Pacific. We are pleased to have been able to work with SpeechWorks on this exciting Web event."

--Compaq Computer Australia, Global Speech Day Gold Sponsor

About Global Speech Day

Global Speech Day joined together industry experts and business leaders from organizations such as America Online, Citigroup, Sapient, Intel, MIT and various analyst firms to share their expertise in live panel discussions and interactive chat sessions. The emergence of enterprise voice portals was at the top of the agenda for the analysts' panel. Industry luminaries discussed the growth of telematics and the future of multimodal devices, and the business leader panel focused on the factors that are fueling the growth of speech recognition in telecommunications and enterprise companies. Prior to the event, all registrants had an opportunity to provide information about their involvement with speech and the topics they wanted to be addressed during the presentations.

Global Speech Day was presented by SpeechWorks, with support from 20 Gold, Silver and Bronze partner sponsors from around the world. Global Speech Day Gold Sponsors included: Compaq Australia (NYSE:CPQ), Dialogic, an Intel Company, (Nasdaq:INTC), Global One (Nasdaq: GOBA), Gold Systems, iBasis (Nasdaq: IBAS), Intel Technology (Asia Pacific), InterVoice-Brite (Nasdaq:INTV) and NetByTel. Silver Sponsors included: Sonexus, HeyAnita, Natural MicroSystems (Nasdaq: NMSS) and Netcentrex. Bronze Sponsors included: Dynamicsoft, HTI Voice and Internet Solutions, Information Technologies Australia, Telera, Pracom, Ltd. (PAOMF), Veritel and VisibleVoice.