27th November 2006

Fluency’s Speech Recognition Application Proves Proves its value to Water Companies across the UK as Customer Service levels improve and Operational Efficiency Increases -

London, UK – November 27th, 2006 - Fluency Voice Technology, (www.fluencyvoice.com) the speech recognition application company, has today announced that 8 of the UK’s water companies now rely on Speech Recognition solutions from Fluency Voice.

Many Utility companies, large and small, are successful and committed users of speech systems. A particular challenge for water companies is responding to a mixture of annual and half-yearly billing frequencies with its inevitable peaks and troughs. In addition, regulatory pressures from OFWAT to meet customer service targets offer huge challenges as to how best to handle the peaks whilst driving improved rates in customer satisfaction.

Water companies including Sutton & East Surrey Water, Bournemouth & West Hampshire Water, South West Water and Bristol & Wessex Water have responded to these challenges, cutting call queues and improving service by enabling customers to pay their water bills over the phone using speech recognition from Fluency Voice. So successful has the Sutton & East Surrey Water virtual call centre been that it has recently been awarded no less than 3 national and international awards for the best Customer Information System, a Customer Excellence and most Effective Use of IT in Utilities.

Philip Padfield is CEO of Fluency Voice and puts much of the company’s success down to good referenceability and an unwavering focus on customer service. “Today, few organisations have failed to include speech recognition technology as a key tenet of their customer relations strategy due to its significant cost savings, its 24 x 7 service capability and its ability to handle large volumes of incoming calls.  Water companies are particularly well suited to the technology and can reap quick rewards both for the company and its customers.” Philip continues, “This is a thriving market sector for us and one where we have great referenceability and reputation. We are also working with a number of prospective water companies who we hope to announce as customers over the next few months making us the largest single supplier of voice technology to this market.”

Further fuelling this growth in speech recognition solutions amongst water companies is the results of the recent Consumer Perceptions of Speech Recognition Survey which highlighted that consumers are growing in familiarity and confidence with speech systems. Almost three quarters (74%) of the survey respondents reported that they used speech technology in the past. Over half (58%) of respondents have used a speech system recently, and almost all (88%) of those reported that they found it easy to use.

When asked if the technology had improved, notably, the vast majority (69%) reported that it had. These findings were especially pronounced among the younger users (92%). Meanwhile, around a half (58%) of participants endorse using speech as an alternative to the Internet for making purchases. Confirming that the use of this technology is on the increase, a further two thirds of survey respondents prefer to use speech technology over the Internet if a better purchasing deal is in the offing.

The survey tested preferences for using speech technology for specific Utility transactions and the overwhelming majority of respondents (91%) said meter reading; 84% of respondents cited getting a balance checked; and 76% service updates. Two thirds (64%) of respondents are happy to record a change of address/tenancy and 61% to report a leak. The full results of the survey are available by contacting Jessica Davies on Jessica.davies@fluencyvoice.com

About Fluency Voice Technology

Fluency Voice Technology is a leading provider of packaged speech recognition applications for use in call centres. Our solutions enable enterprises to significantly reduce costs and enhance customer service by automating much of the high volume call centre activities.

Key sectors for which Fluency has developed applications are Financial Services, Travel & Transport, Utilities, Public Sector, Telecoms and Retail. Fluency has always been at the forefront of speech recognition and has changed the way in which businesses use speech by introducing configurable packaged applications. Fluency has offices in the UK and US.