VoiceObjects announced today that it will release an updated edition of its phone application server software suite, VoiceObjects 7.2. The program, which allows businesses to personalize self-service phone portals, also comes preloaded with analytics and business tracking tools. Additionally, the revamped version provides video capabilities that will work with 3G phones.
 
The company touted 7.2 as the first software suite for phone application servers that would include analytics and business tracking tools out of the box. VoiceObject’s analytics and metrics functions track how callers respond to changes made to personalized IVR messages, cross- or up-sell attempts. According to Bonnie Crater, vice president of marketing at the company, tracking customer response to system changes is no longer a job suited solely for a tech team. In addition, members of a company’s business team can be more involved with the IVR process.
 
"A lot of IVR applications were hand-coded by system integrators or development teams," Crater says. "We automate a lot of that application development in our system, and you don’t have to be a programmer to develop those systems. With VoiceObjects you press one button and the change goes across all the IVRs."
 
Using metrics provided by customer interactions with the company’s IVR, VoiceObjects then uses this data to personalize prompts, welcome messages, and advertisements based on the end-user’s typical reasons for calling. VoiceObjects 7.2 also allows companies to implement personalized content across multiple channels: text, video, voice, and mobile Web. And with 3G phones on the rise, VoiceObjects integrated its new version with the company’s MediaMixer, a video rendering toolkit and platform.
 
Crater notes several ways its customers could use version 7.2’s video capabilities: "A business application might be a store locator, and you actually see a video of where to go to the store. Maybe you’re trying to demonstrate a new product or trying to up-sell a product to an existing customer."
 
Monique Bozeman, VoiceObject’s director of product marketing, points to the recent rumor that the iPhone will include access to AT&T’s 3G network, as a sign that personalized, rendered video will be in demand soon.
 
"[MediaMixer] gets the video and combines it with an audio prompt, and plays the audio and video at the same time," Bozeman explains. "[Video] on mobile phones is becoming more and more relevant in Europe, and will soon be relevant in the U.S."
 
Both Bozeman and Crater note that version 7.2 will be compatible with another business platform, Cognos 8 Business Intelligence. VoiceObjects also supports MicroStrategy and Business Objects platforms and a number of media platform drivers.