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WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 17, 2003 - Restaurant Franchisor Will Use The
AscenTel™ Solution to Increase Customer Satisfaction, Improve Operations
Ascent
Computing Group, an Inc. 500 and
Fast 500 company, and Integrated Speech Solutions (ISS), a speech
recognition design development, and services company, today announced the
implementation of the AscenTel™ speech recognition software product into
Subway Restaurants'(R) corporate offices.
After an intense and lengthy review and evaluation process, Subway
Restaurants, the world's largest submarine sandwich franchise, selected
ISS to deploy a phone system based on Ascent Computing Group's technology.
The system is designed to allow consumers who call Subway Restaurants'
corporate headquarters to locate the nearest Subway restaurant, simply by
verbally speaking their ZIP code. Future enhancements to the Subway
Restaurant Locator will include speaking the city/state information, as
well as support for international locations
As an additional element of the deployment ISS will install Ascent's Call
Manager Auto Attendant product to assist in the processing and management
of the many thousands of incoming calls the Subway restaurant chain
receives per week. Ascent's Call Manager will provide automated attendant
functions for callers who are unaware of the extension number for the
Subway employee they wish to reach. The caller simply speaks the full name
and is then automatically transferred to that employee. Subway
Restaurants' corporate headquarters hosts approximately 650 full time
employees.
This contract, which represents the beginning of an ongoing relationship
between Ascent, ISS, and Subway Restaurants, will serve as the platform by
which ISS will actively promote and launch speech recognition efforts
utilizing the AscenTel™ platform to other applications within the Subway
organization.
"Ascent has spent the past few years developing the most
sophisticated speech technology products available on the market
today," said Sunil Nikhar, CEO and Founder of Ascent Computing Group.
"We are pleased that Subway Restaurants, in recognition of the
commitment to quality and service on the part of both Ascent and ISS, has
chosen to do business with us."
"This is a great example of how speech recognition solutions add
bottom-line real value to a call center environment, where much of the
information that is both collected and delivered by a live representative
is just as easily gathered via speech recognition," said David
Bernstein, President of ISS.
To reach the Subway Restaurant Locator and find the Subway location
nearest you, have your ZIP code ready and call: (800) 888.4848 ext. 84
About Ascent Computing Group (www.ascent-inc.com)
Ascent Computing Group is a leading provider of both voice-based business
application software and Business IT solutions and services. Voice is the
simplest way to interact with enterprise data anytime, anyplace from any
phone. Ascent uniquely voice-enables all business applications running
under any operating system with Voice XML enhanced with natural language
processing. Headquartered in White Plains, New York, Ascent has been
developing and deploying business solutions for world-class companies
since 1994.
About ISS (www.speechpartner.com)
Integrated Speech Solutions (ISS) is a speech recognition development,
implementation and service company. Utilizing the finest speech
recognition technologies, ISS implements speech solutions for corporations
throughout the United States. Major customers include Guardian Life
Insurance Company, Merrill Lynch, Bic Corporation, Vytra Health Plans,
Cartier, and now Subway.
About Subway Restaurants
Subway Restaurants is the world's largest submarine sandwich franchise,
with more than 18,000 locations in 72 countries. In 2002, the Subway chain
surpassed McDonald's in the number of restaurants open in the United
States and Canada. Headquartered in Milford, Conn., Subway Restaurants was
co-founded by Fred DeLuca and Dr. Peter Buck in 1965. That partnership
marked the beginning of a remarkable journey--one that made it possible
for thousands of individuals to build and succeed in their own business.
Subway Restaurants was named the number one franchise opportunity in all
categories by Entrepreneur magazine in its Annual Franchise 500 ranking
for 2003--for the 11th time in 15 years! For more information about the
Subway restaurant chain, visit http://www.subway.com/. Subway(R) is a
registered trademark of Doctor's Associates Inc. (DAI).
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