British Telecom Chooses Persay's Speaker Verification Platform to Help Combat Identity Fraud

Business Wire, Feb 15, 2005

LONDON & TEL AVIV, Israel -- Following a competitive tender, British Telecom (BT) has chosen Persay as best-of-breed Speaker Verification supplier. Speaker verification will be added to the market leading BT URU(TM)online identity verification service.

URU(TM) reduces the time and cost of verifying the identity of customers and employees, automates the process and helps the detection of false identity and impersonation fraud. URU enables financial institutions and other enterprises to select checks proportional to the transaction risk. Identity fraud is estimated to cost the UK at least GBP 1.3 billion per annum. Persay VocalPassword adds an important additional check to the fight against fraud.

BT selected Persay's new .NET-based Speaker Verification platform (VocalPassword(TM) 5.0), utilising its advanced web service interface. Persay's biometric Speaker Verification software will be used as part of BT's URU Identity program, an ID verification scheme that is expected to become the universal system for securing call centre and web transactions.

Chris Gahan, BT's Authentication Capability Manager commented: "Speaker verification adds another option to the choice of online checks that our customers can request. Passwords are increasingly vulnerable and not always easy to remember. Phishing attacks and keystroke viruses are driving businesses to use 2-factor authentication. Voice is the 'verification' biometric. You can register it remotely, check it remotely, the infrastructure already exists and most people are used to using a phone. We are delighted to be working with Persay on making identity more certain."

The selection by BT reinforces Persay's place as one of the leading vendors in the Speaker Verification arena worldwide. In addition to BT, Persay's world-wide customer base includes Banks, Mobile operators, Enterprises and law enforcement agencies.

Ariel Freidenberg, VP Sales and Business Development, Persay Ltd. said: "We are proud to be selected by such a proficient group as British Telecom. Signing this strategic agreement is a clear demonstration not only that Persay has proved again that its technology and team are superior, but also that biometric Speaker Verification is becoming recognised as a highly effective method of securing remote telephony and IP transactions."

About Persay VocalPassword(TM)

Persay VocalPassword(TM) Biometric Speaker Verification System verifies the identity of a speaker in real-time, using a biometric voiceprint. Persay VocalPassword(TM) provides a secure, efficient and extremely convenient method for authenticating speakers using a simple spoken pass phrase. Totally language and accent independent, Persay VocalPassword(TM) enables automatic speaker verification in IVR, Speech and Web applications.

Persay's new and advanced platform, has been completely developed using Microsoft Visual Studio .NET, providing a flexible and easy to use web service API. Persay's comprehensive platform can accommodate both Persay VocalPassword(TM) and Persay FreeSpeech(TM), a unique product that verifies the identity of a speaker during a natural human-to-human conversation, deployed in Call centres and law enforcement applications.

About Persay Ltd.

Persay Ltd. is a leading provider of speaker verification products. Persay's products meet the growing need for secure and cost-effective customer identity authentication methods in call centres, telecom, E-commerce and security applications. Persay's comprehensive products use the speaker's voice biometrics to authenticate speaker identity. Persay's products are installed worldwide.

(For more details about Persay visit: www. persay.com)

About BT

BT Group plc is the holding company for an integrated group of communications businesses and is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.

BT is one of the world's leading providers of communications solutions serving customers in Europe, the Americas and Asia Pacific. Its principal activities include networked IT solutions, local, national and international telecommunications services, and higher-value broadband and Internet products and services.

URU(TM) is jointly developed with GB Group plc.