Nuance Launches Enterprise Speech App Suite

Nuance Communications, a Burlington, Mass.-based supplier of speech and imaging software, announced Nov. 7 the launching of SpeechAttendant Large Enterprise Edition, a product suite that merges proven auto attendant and directory services with improved applications that will help to increase business productivity and communications.

Kristen Wylie, a Nuance Communications representative, told eWEEK that SpeechAttendant Large Enterprise Edition is “a suite of auto attendant, directory services, and self-service applications that enhances organizational communications, productivity and business processes.”

SpeechAttendant Large Enterprise Edition, designed for large organizations with more than 25,000 directory listings, features a speech auto attendant that is aimed to improve worker productivity by allowing employees to make internal calls by just saying the name of the person or department that they are trying to reach, instead of having to search through a directory.

The product also provides the user with an Employee Password Reset feature, which allows users to set, reset and secure their password while also giving the user a caller identity.

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“Large enterprises can use speech-enabled, internal applications to improve employee productivity by automating the repetitive data-gathering tasks that place unnecessary and costly burdens on the organization,” said Richard Martel, general manager of AutoAttendant Solutions for Nuance, in a company statement.

SpeechAttendant Large Enterprise Edition also helps to assist in communication between individuals and groups with the following features:

• Call Redirect: Allows employees to forward calls to different colleagues at their current location using voice commands.
• Roll Call: Helps to establish an employees status and allows them to stay connected during emergency situations.
• Broadcast Messaging: Allows users to broadcast information through office phones, mobile phones, pagers and e-mails until the recipient has been notified.
• Self-Service Information Center: Lets employees retrieve the contact information of other employees by speaking the persons name and choosing from the spoken menu of options to receive the information that you are looking for.

Martel told eWEEK that “once youve speech-enabled the employee directory, you not only identify an employee to route calls and facilitate employee communications, but you can authenticate the employee for access to more sophisticated applications such as password reset and business continuity.”

The product will also help large businesses save money since according to Gartner Research, resetting ones password and retrieving ones password information can cost between $10 and $13 per call.

“Large organizations already use speech solutions to boost productivity in call centers while cutting service costs,” said Martel in the same company statement.

“Why not extend those same benefits to the employee population? Speech solutions are no longer exclusively designed for inbound customer calls.”

In the same correspondence with eWEEK, Wylie said that another benefit of using SpeechAttendant Large Enterprise Edition is that it “enables organizations to maintain a single inbound phone number and reduce operator staffing requirements, while self-service employee applications like Password Reset decrease IT expenses.”

Wylie said that “a typical system of eight ports, 50,000 employees will average $200,000, MSRP.”

Nuances SpeechAttendant Large Enterprise Edition is available now.

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