Avaya extends No. 1 leadership in voice self-service

Frost & Sullivan research shows Avaya leading the competition with a 22.9% share of the IVR market for 2005.

"Voice recognition software is an area where Avaya's focus on research and development has enabled us to innovate to deliver real benefits to our customers. Automating voice transactions through Avaya Interactive Response, or deploying speech-enabled web services through Avaya Voice Portal will offer enterprise customers in the region solutions that will enable them to offer cutting edge services while differentiating themselves from the competition."

commented Nidal Abou-Ltaif, managing director, Avaya MENA.

Avaya customer International Speedway Corporation (ISC) topped the vote by Speech Technology Magazine readers for "Best Deployment," a category that honors organizations for the most impactful use of speech applications. ISC uses an Avaya contact center with Avaya Interactive Response to serve the millions of race fans who attend the company's motorsports events each year. Developed in partnership with Trien & Associates, the solution speeds ticket sales, enables consistent service from any location and provides millions of fans with around-the-clock access to detailed race information. Using an outbound auto-dialer, ISC also sends personalized messages to fans from their favorite NASCAR drivers - promoting ticket availability and upgrades, hospitality packages and other event-related opportunities.

The speech solutions driving Avaya's market leadership also took top honors in a recent competition sponsored by Speech Technology Magazine, a leading trade journal covering the speech industry. Avaya won two product awards - "Best Enterprise Voice Platform" for the Avaya Interactive Response and Avaya Voice Portal solutions and "Best Tool" for Avaya Dialog Designer. The awards were based on votes cast in an online poll and it is the third year in a row that Avaya has taken top honors for the best enterprise platform in the Speech Technology Magazine competition.

Both Interactive Response and Voice Portal are certified by CTLabs and the VoiceXML Forum for compatibility with VoiceXML 2.0 - the development language that enables interactive access to Web applications through the telephone or a voice-driven browser. The two platforms are part of the Avaya Customer Interaction Suite of applications and help businesses preserve software investments as they migrate to new Web-based self-service capabilities at the pace they choose.