CONTACT:
InternetSpeech
Lou Saviano - Maita/Saviano Public Relations
510 739-0620
Lsaviano@maita-saviano.com
eBizPortals, Inc.
Brad Reinard
408-845-9302
brad@ebizportals.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March
1, 2001
InternetSpeech
Announces Partnership with eBizPortals to Offer Voice-Based Commerce
Company
Also Will Deal Will Allow netECHO Customers to Shop Via the Internet Using
Simple Voice Commands and an Ordinary Telephone
San
Jose -- Mar 01, 2001 -- InternetSpeech, a leading audio Internet technology provider,
today announced a partnership with eBizPortals, a leading provider of mobile-commerce
infrastructure software and services, to add shopping capabilities to InternetSpeech's
consumer netECHO product.
Dr.
Khan, a leading innovator in voice Internet technology, will discuss the growing
interest in voice access to the Internet at Internet World Wireless 2001, being
held Feb. 20-23 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York, NY.
netECHO
lets users access any Web page from any phone, and hear the Web page content read
out loud. Subscribers can also hear and respond to voice mail, and access voice
portal-type services, such as weather reports, current news and stock quotes.
With eBizPortals' ready-to-use "m-commerce platform," netECHO users will
also be able to shop for hundreds of products from brand-name merchants and make
purchases with just a few voice commands.
The
companies announced the partnership at the Voice-Based Web Commerce conference,
being held March 1-2 at the Hyatt in San Jose, California. InternetSpeech will
demonstrate the new voice shopping capability at the show.
"netECHO
consumers will soon be able to go on an Internet shopping trip, select an item,
and make a purchase -- all over the phone," said Dr. Emdad Khan, president and
CEO of San Jose-based InternetSpeech. The company expects to add the voice commerce
transaction capabilities to its netECHO product line by April, 2001.
InternetSpeech
will voice-enable the eBizPortals m-commerce platform, which will give users the
convenience of Internet shopping while on the go. Users will be able to shop by
merchant or product type, and peruse best-selling products and new releases -
all with the sound of their voice.
"These
voice enabled commerce applications were created with the mobile user in mind,"
said Pandu Rudraraju, CEO and founder of eBizPortals. "Users can browse products
and make purchases from name-brand merchants with simple and intuitive voice commands."
Future applications will allow voice customers to access entertainment information,
purchase movie and concert tickets, and book restaurant reservations.
"This
important partnership makes voice-based transactions easier for our netECHO
consumers who prefer going 'on-line' using an ordinary phone," said Khan. "Now,
any transaction possible from a PC can also be conducted via voice -- only easier."
InternetSpeech's
patent-pending technology will automate the process of voice-enabling the eBizPortal
mall without the costly and time-consuming process of manually rewriting each
page into Voice Extensible Mark-up Language. It integrates text-to-speech, speech
recognition, telephone interface, multimedia and intelligent agents to read pages
in real-time.
About
InternetSpeech:
InternetSpeech,
a privately held company headquartered in San Jose, Calif., develops, markets
and supports an Audio Internet Browser, netECHO, which provides audio-based
telephone access to the Internet for businesses and individuals. The company's
patent-pending technology can be bundled with other products, such as traditional
computer-based Internet access, or voice mail, and can be customized to meet individual
business needs, such as employee access to Intranet sites. InternetSpeech also
offers business software that automates the process of voice-enabling a company's
Web site, furthering development of the "voice Web."
InternetSpeech
launched its netECHO consumer product nationwide in November 2000.
For
more information about InternetSpeech, visit www.InternetSpeech.com,
or call 1-877-312-4638.
About
eBizPortals:
EbizPortals is a leading provider of m-commerce infrastructure software and services
that makes commerce simple and practical through wireless and voice channels.
The eBizPortals platform and mobile wallet allow carrier portals, mobile service
providers, voice portals and enterprises to add single-click, or single voice
command commerce applications into their existing content offerings. The company
is headquartered in Santa Clara Calif. For more information, please call 408-845-9333,
or visit
www.ebizportals.com.
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