APEX Voice Communications Eliminates Automated Speech Recognition Licensing Fees on OmniVox® AES

Leading Multi-Services Platform Offers "Hands-Free"
and "Eyes-Free" Accessibility for Free

WOODLAND HILLS, CA, January 13, 2005 - APEX Voice Communications, a leading supplier of multi-services platforms for enhanced services and real-time billing solutions to telecommunications carriers, service providers, developers and enterprises worldwide, today announced that it will no longer charge licensing fees for its Automated Speech Recognition (ASR) module on OmniVox AES, its latest multi-services platform for enhanced services. With built-in natural language capabilities and a number of ASR-specific command features, the ASR module allows customers to develop a greater variety of voice-driven wireline and wireless services more quickly and efficiently using the integrated OmniView® Service Creation Environment.

Over the last few years, the perception of Automated Speech Recognition has been going through a similar evolution which touchtone (DTMF) went through. Initially, carriers imposed a surcharge for services that required touchtone access as it was considered a premium service. However, carriers eventually dropped these surcharges as touchtone became the standard way of accessing (enhanced) services. Today, ASR, rather than touchtone, is becoming the standard way of accessing services, especially with the advent of mobile-based services. Therefore, more and more companies are realizing that to increase usage, ASR should not require an additional surcharge.

"We realize that our customers are feeling the pressure of eliminating ASR-related surcharges and so are playing our part in helping them with the transition," said Elhum Vahdat, Executive Vice President of APEX Voice Communications. "This is not an offer which is good only for a limited time or for one-time purchases, but rather a long-term strategic decision by APEX to continue assisting its worldwide customers in different ways."

In addition to eliminating licensing fees, a number of new ASR command features have been added to the OmniView® Service Creation Environment of OmniVox AES giving developers the flexibility to integrate ASR at any point during a call flow. These commands, which also still detect touchtone input, support over 30 languages, and can recognize a single spoken word or a series of spoken words. For the latter, the ASR module uses natural language technology, which includes "understanding" whole sentences and picking out the important words and making them available to the application in a useful way.

Natural language speech recognition allows the caller to enjoy faster and more efficient phone-based interactions since the caller speaks in complete sentences rather than in single words. Because every caller has a unique way of speaking, the natural language engine has the ability to select specific words from within the spoken sentence and place them in "slots" after which it performs a specific function based on the combination of these captured words.

Combining the power of a programmable switch with the flexibility of an IVR platform, OmniVox AES has a fully integrated graphical service creation, provisioning and administration environment supporting VXML. As a switching platform OmniVox AES can work as an enhanced gateway in a mixed environment, supporting both circuit (TDM/PSTN) and packet (IP) switched networks, while providing core switching functions, such as tandem switching. As an enhanced services platform, it is the basis for revenue- generating services such as business conferencing, prepaid calling, intelligent 800-number routing, voice and fax messaging, voice-activated dialing, mass calling and high-density IVR. OmniVox AES supports a wide variety of worldwide telephony protocols (i.e. T1, E1, H.323, SIP) along with a number of signaling protocols (i.e. SS7 ANSI & ETSI, ISDN).

OmniView and OmniVox are registered trademarks of APEX Voice Communications, Inc.