By Packaging Speech IVR Applications, Metaphor Breaks the Cost Barrier, Allowing Businesses to Enjoy the Great Savings of Automated Customer Service With Speech Recognition

WELLESLEY, MA, March 24, 2004 -- Metaphor Solutions, an Independent Software Vendor (ISV) in Microsoft Corporation’s Speech Partner Program (SPP), announced today the immediate availability of 20 packaged applications for Microsoft Speech Server 2004 designed to break the cost barrier for deploying automated customer service by phone using speech recognition. Metaphor’s packaged applications running on Microsoft Speech Server 2004 offer a low cost, high quality solution that allow medium-to-large enterprises to enjoy the benefit of speech IVR for the first time. These enterprises can benefit from large labor savings with significant reductions in cost, risk, complexity, and time to market while their customers can enjoy the superior caller experience of speech IVR.

With the largest number of packaged speech recognition IVR applications available for Speech Server 2004, Metaphor covers a broad range of customer service applications in the healthcare, financial and retail markets and contact management applications requiring speech access to MS Outlook. Metaphor’s packaged applications include telephone banking, store location, appointment scheduling and confirmation, prescription drug order, retail phone shopping, tracking services, customer-satisfaction surveys and account/delivery status, among others.

Metaphor's largest portfolio of packaged speech IVR applications running on Microsoft Speech Server 2004, provide medium-to-large sized businesses with a great selection for automating customer service by phone.  Our combined solutions provide the best caller experience at the lowest cost in the industry,” said Bob Clough, General Manager, Sales and Marketing for Speech Technologies at Microsoft.

"The great strength of Speech Server 2004 is its ease of integration and reliability at an affordable price. Now many businesses can integrate speech IVR applications with their existing Microsoft internet services in commerce, management and communication ," said Michael Kuperstein, CEO of Metaphor Solutions.

Speech Server 2004, part of the Windows Server System family of products, is the most integrated, flexible and cost-effective speech platform available for enterprises interested in reaping the significant business value of speech technology.

Metaphor speech applications are pre-tested for reliability, scalability and user interfaces.   During an interaction, the application interfaces with callers, data sources and live agents. The caller interface is achieved through Microsoft Speech Server by generating industry standard SALT (Speech Application Language Tags) scripts that the server processes. This server then interfaces with the telephone network to reach the callers, data sources and live agents.

About Metaphor Solutions - "Packaging Speech Solutions for Customer Service"

Metaphor Solutions, Inc. offers packaged speech IVR (Interactive Voice Response) solutions to call centers and enterprises with the most human-like caller experience at the lowest cost of deployment. The company has the most number of packaged speech applications in the industry. The company delivers this through its patent-pending Metaphor Conversation Manager (MCM) that allows the fastest and most flexible speech IVR application development. This in turn allows small and medium enterprises to enjoy the large labor savings and superior caller experience of speech IVR with significant reductions in the cost, risk, complexity, and time to market. The company's packaged speech IVR applications run on standard voice gateways based on VoiceXML and SALT. Metaphor markets its applications directly as well as through a network of partners and resellers. Deployments can be hosted or installed on-premise. Callers can dial into Metaphor's inventory of speech applications and experience them live using the published numbers on the company website at www.metaphorsol.com.