Phonetic Systems Selects AT&T's Natural Voices To Drive TTS for Directory Assistant

FLORHAM PARK, NJ and BEDFORD, MA - AT&T (NYSE: T) and Phonetic Systems announced that they have signed an agreement to integrate AT&T's Natural Voices TTS Engine into Phonetic Systems' DirectoryAssistant product. AT&T's Natural Voices speech engine will provide a natural-sounding interface to the DirectoryAssistant, which will provide callers with a response to their directory inquiries. In contrast to directory solutions that typically provide access to a few hundred "frequently requested" listings, Phonetic Systems is deploying an automated carrier directory assistance application that supports a five-million-record dynamic directory. "For telecommunications carriers providing public directory assistance or 411 services, Phonetic Systems' DirectoryAssistant maximizes the cost benefits of completely 'speech-automating' the directory-assistance process. At the same time, we can provide carriers with unmatched accuracy, speed, scalability, ease-of-use and a fast return on investment," said Bill Millward, vice president of Telecommunications Business Development for Phonetic Systems. "By adding AT&T's Natural Voices speech engine to our products, our customers will get the combined benefit of one of the industry's highest quality text-to-speech interfaces with the most powerful voice-retrieval engine on the market." "We are delighted to be working with Phonetic Systems to provide them with AT&T's natural-sounding interface for their DirectoryAssistant product," said Lex McCusker, general manager of AT&T's Natural Voices software. "The robust features of our speech engine will easily integrate into the DirectoryAssistant and provide added customer value immediately."