press release

release detail

Nuance Mobile Launches Voicemail to Text; New Service Converts Voicemail to Readable Messages

Telco Grade Service Powered by World’s Leading Speech Recognition Engine and Nuance Mobile Infrastructure

London UK, April 1, 2008 – Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN), a leading provider of speech solutions, today announced Nuance Voicemail to Text, a voicemail transcription service that delivers high-quality readable messages to mobile devices. Offered through carriers, the service uses Nuance’s world-leading speech recognition and transcription workflow solutions to convert voicemails left on any voicemail box into text. Transcribed messages are sent to users as SMS or email messages.

Nuance Voicemail to Text allows users to read voicemail messages rather than simply listen to them, introducing the opportunity to access and organize voicemails in new and exciting ways. Because the messages are transcribed, users don’t have to worry about writing down or losing information while driving or on-the-go. Messages can be saved, edited, forwarded, indexed in an archive and retrieved anytime, anywhere.

“Converting voicemail to text is a powerful and simple concept. But implementing a highly scalable semi-automated service is far more complex and requires highly accurate speech recognition – technology that takes decades to develop,” said Steve Chambers, president, mobile and consumer services division, Nuance. “The Nuance Voicemail to Text Service integrates speech technology with over 3,000 Nuance transcriptionists, hosted in a Nuance-owned facility, with proven security, scalability, and reliability.”

The new service is based on Nuance’s state-of-the-art Dragon Naturally Speaking® speech recognition technology.  Dragon NaturallySpeaking – the world’s leading speech recognition engine for dictation and transcription, backed by more than 200 patents and patent applications worldwide and proven by millions of users over ten years – enables Nuance to deliver a complete and accurate solution for turning speech into text.

As the leading provider of speech recognition solutions, Nuance draws on more than ten years of experience implementing, deploying and hosting carrier-grade speech recognition solutions worldwide to host the Nuance Voicemail to Text for service providers. The system is integrated with any standard voicemail system, so callers can simply leave a message on a voicemail system that’s Nuance-enabled, and the message is transcribed to text and sent back to the voicemail platform. Transcribed messages are delivered to users through any messaging medium.

Nuance’s fully integrated, carrier-grade end-to-end Voicemail to Text service ensures:
• Accuracy: Nuance’s combination of the most advanced continuous speech engine in the world and Nuance’s award-winning human transcriptionist services delivers extremely accurate results. The system learns each caller’s voice over time delivering improved accuracy and automation rates with use.
• Scalability: Profile adaptation offers a clear path to automation with reduced dependency on human transcriptionists. This reduces costs and creates a scalable solution that can grow over time. Nuance’s robust speech capabilities coupled with its hosting expertise combine to offer an unrivaled level of scalability to suit business needs/volumes.
• Reliability: Nuance has hosted tier-one grade speech-to-text and semi-automated solutions for more than ten years and has successfully deployed more than 2,500 speech recognition solutions worldwide; the Nuance Healthcare division processes the equivalent of 20 million voicemails per month in medical transcriptions.
• Flexibility: Results returned from Nuance Voicemail to Text to the voicemail service platform are compatible with any distribution method, including SMS and email.

Nuance solutions can be seen at CTIA Wireless 2008 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in booth 5717. For more information about Nuance Voicemail to Text, please visit www.nuance.com/vm2text.

About Nuance Communications, Inc.
Nuance is a leading provider of speech and imaging solutions for businesses and consumers around the world. Its technologies, applications and services make the user experience more compelling by transforming the way people interact with information and how they create, share and use documents. Every day, millions of users and thousands of businesses experience Nuance’s proven applications and professional services. For more information, please visit: nuance.com.

Nuance, Dragon, NaturallySpeaking, Dragon Naturally Speaking and the Nuance logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Nuance Communications, Inc. or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. All other company names or product names may be the trademarks of their respective owners.