Austar, ATO, Vodafone pick up speech vendor awards

Stephen Withers
Monday, 14 May 2007 10:26

IT Industry - Strategy

Three Australian companies were recognised in Nuance's 2007 Achievement Awards for best practice in speech recognition deployment.

Vodafone Australia got the gong for "best repeat performance and commitment to customer experience." The company has implemented five speech recognition applications including an automated attendant and prepaid customer registration.

"Best use of technology" went to Austar for its use of speech recognition for a range of services including movie order taking.

The Australian Taxation Office received the Asia Pacific achievement award for a system that allows taxpayers to use natural language to order any of more than 400 publications at any time of day.

"Each year, the judging panel is amazed by the calibre of the entries and the speech applications they describe," said Nuance regional director Peter Chidiac. "Selecting this year's winners was exceptionally difficult, with many outstanding entries presenting solid business cases supported by excellent results and findings."

Other regional awards went to Certegy (America), Standard Bank (South Africa and Middle East), and Telia Sonera (Europe). The "best customer experience" award was presented to Vodafone Spain.