Enables Cost-Effective Deployment for Speech Solutions

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (October 13, 2005) -- Vertical Communications (ASFT.OB), a leading provider of next-generation phone systems and voice applications that help businesses better serve their customers, today announced Vertical InstantOffice Voice Server (IOVS), an open, VoiceXML-based, self-service platform that allows customers to create “voice portals” and deliver voice-enabled applications to wire line and wireless devices. By giving organizations a new way to enhance their customers’ experiences, IOVS can significantly improve customer service, as well as improve overall employee productivity.

“Current technology requires six months to a year of development time for new voice applications,” said Bill Tauscher, Vertical’s Chairman and CEO. “Our goal is to provide customers with a simple, cost-effective solution to streamline that process. Because IOVS uses one platform, one code base and open standards, customers will see an immediate benefit as development time is significantly reduced. That reduction directly translates into lower total cost of ownership for our customers.”

IOVS is built on Vertical InstantOffice, an integrated communications platform that unifies the administration and management of all voice, data and application services, thereby eliminating the need for multiple devices from multiple vendors. InstantOffice is unique in that it combines feature-rich, IP-PBX capabilities, a VoIP gateway, VoiceXML-based (VXML) voice applications and telephony components with a robust multi-site remote management and reporting capability. Customers can realize the significant benefits of this intelligent voice solution in the form of low-maintenance, cost-efficient communications that enhance business processes, profitability and customer service.

Cost-Effective Customer Self-Service

With large, distributed enterprises and medium-sized organizations continually looking for more cost-effective ways to provide better customer service, self-service has emerged as a preferred method that allows customers to obtain required information as well as complete transactions themselves. To address this opportunity, Vertical developed IOVS, which is ideally suited to deploy VXML-based, self-service applications. With IOVS and self-service applications, voice resources can be used as virtual extensions of human resources, enabling around-the-clock service, freeing up staff from answering basic, repetitive questions and allowing staff to focus more of their time on complex interactions that require human intervention.

At the same time, self-service customers can take advantage of flexible, consistent and integrated access to their information and service options, either via the telephone or the Web . A crucial component of successful voice self-service is providing fast response times to customers calling in. IOVS directly addresses that need, thereby significantly reducing call abandonment rates, improving customer satisfaction and creating loyal customers.

Built on open standards, IOVS provides ease and flexibility by allowing customers to build their own applications or purchase off-the-shelf, third-party VoiceXML applications for self-service deployment. Since IOVS is built on the same open standard that is already employed for Web-enablement, customers will not need to re-train employees and will therefore avoid the costs and time commitments associated with training employees on new applications and methods. In addition, IOVS provides pre-built reusable applications – such as prescription refill, outbound notification services, entity locator and order delivery status – that allow faster deployment in a customer environment.

IOVS also includes a voice browser, which enables telephone callers to navigate self-service information the way they would navigate through Web pages. Unlike Internet browsers, voice browser software is extremely sensitive to response times, content quantity and recognition accuracy, due to the nature of presenting information through the telephone. IOVS’s unique, patent-pending design provides mechanisms for performance optimizations that will allow faster response to callers’ commands and enhance customer experience of the speech application .