TuVox, which produces VoiceXML-based telephone speech-recognition applications, announced yesterday its newest product, the voice self-service application TuVox Personalization Module.

The module uses data aggregation to access caller information from customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning, and customer interaction systems, then coveys the appropriate information to the caller immediately. The person can call to find the status of a flight, track a shipment, or find out when a movie is playing without pressing any buttons or saying a word because the module ‘remembers’ the caller and conveys the most relevant information.

Since 2000, TuVox’s applications have been created and updated to anticipate caller intent, personalize call flows, and overcome the limits of touch-tone systems by using natural-language, conversational speech applications, according to a release.

Steve Pollack, co-founder and executive vice president of TuVox, used an example of a recent deployment of the module at a large movie theater company. In conjunction with caller ID technologies, the module stores the caller’s preferred cinema location based on previous calls so that the person could get the information he wants faster and easier.

"What’s unique is the time dependence of the data," Pollack says. "When you interacted last is a very important factor. If you call a company and then call them back in a day, there is the chance that you’re calling back about the same thing. Do you want to ask them if they’re calling back about the same issue, and at what point do you ignore that?"

The point is for companies to be able to get the most relevant information to callers as fast as possible. The Personalization Module works better for cell and personal phones than for business phones, since business phone numbers often come up as one main number on caller ID systems.

"We wanted to know what kinds of things someone can do that will actually improve the experience of the caller and the company," Pollack says. "Sometimes it’s interesting because you find patterns of calling that are very interesting and when you can find those patterns, they can be very helpful."

As part of the TuVox Call Enhancement Suite, the TuVox Personalization Module sits alongside modules like the TuVox Perfect Connect agent assistance module to bring additional prepackaged functionality to the full range of TuVox applications, including TuVox Perfect Router, TuVox Knowledge Voice, and TuVox Outbound Notification. Additional modules for security, repeat call handling, and others are slated for future release.