ASHBURN, Va. - MCI, Inc. signed an agreement with Tellme Networks, Inc. to offer Internet-based contact center solutions to large enterprise customers in financial, insurance and healthcare industries and the government sector.

The two companies are now jointly selling customer self-service solutions running on Tellme's network and integrated with MCI's routing platform for live agent support. This combination means MCI customers can take advantage of Tellme's Internet-based and carrier-grade network to power their customer service phone numbers.

By adding Tellme's capabilities to its suite of hosted voice services, MCI is able to offer large enterprise customers in select markets a contact center solution and expedite the roll-out of Internet-based services. Customers can leverage their existing Web infrastructure to answer calls and use speech recognition technology as a self service interface.

MCI is also upgrading its speech technology capabilities across its existing platforms to address the needs of all its contact center customers. The implementation of VoiceXML 2.0 and software upgrades to its speech offerings will allow MCI to create voice applications that work together with an organization's Web site. Services based on VoiceXML help businesses to extend the reach of their Web-based applications to anyone with a telephone.