VoiceXML Forum Certifies Verizon Business' Hosted Interactive Voice Response Platform

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. - Verizon Business' award-winning Hosted Interactive Voice Response (IVR) platform has been certified by the VoiceXML Forum as compliant with the VoiceXML 2.0 standard and the latest release of the forum's VoiceXML 2.0 test suite.  The forum is a global industry organization chartered to promote and accelerate the worldwide adoption of VoiceXML-based applications.

The VoiceXML open standard enables telephone-based speech applications to interoperate with Web applications.  For example, a Verizon Business customer is currently using speech recognition to enable callers to check road conditions via the telephone, with an underlying VoiceXML application retrieving updates in real time from the customer's Web site.

Verizon Business has found that customers prefer open standards that facilitate integration with a variety of speech services over proprietary code that would lock them into a particular platform.

"VoiceXML platform certification has helped to mature the industry by encouraging the cross-vendor interoperability of platforms, tools and applications," said Ken Rehor, chair of the VoiceXML Forum's Conformance Committee. "Moreover, certification gives customers the confidence that the VoiceXML platforms they purchase are sound speech-technology investments. We applaud Verizon Business for successfully completing its VoiceXML platform certification."

Mike Marcellin, vice president of global product marketing for Verizon Business, said, "Verizon Business is committed to doing business in a flexible way that supports individual customer requirements, and this certification underscores that commitment. We support the freedom of choice that VoiceXML affords our customers and, in fact, have delivered VoiceXML applications to our enterprise clients for several years."

The VoiceXML Forum's Platform Certification Program has been extremely successful since its initial launch in 2004.  Increasingly, platform certification has become a requirement for technology decision makers in organizations deploying speech systems.

Hosted IVR Among Award-Winning Products in Verizon Business' Contact Center Suite

Verizon Business' Hosted IVR suite of products is part of the company's comprehensive contact center portfolio. The Hosted IVR product line, which uses speech technology and touch-tone commands to provide information to callers or to route calls to representatives, includes Enhanced Call Routing (ECR), Global ECR, Speech Services and Internet Protocol (IP) IVR.

In addition to Hosted IVR, Verizon Business offers a range of contact center services, such as Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) and Intelligent Contact Routing (ICR), to manage the distribution of voice and data traffic to agents, based on business rules, agent skills and real-time priorities. Verizon Business' Professional Services and Service Delivery teams can provide hosted, managed and premises-based contact center solutions, as well as tailored combinations of all three.

Verizon Business is one of the largest providers of and a recognized leader in delivering advanced data, Internet and voice communications services for large-business customers around the world.  

About the VoiceXML Forum
Founded in 1999, the VoiceXML Forum is an industry organization whose mission is to promote and to accelerate the worldwide adoption of VoiceXML-based applications. To this end, the Forum serves as an educational and technical resource, a certification authority and a contributor and liaison to international standards bodies, such as the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) IETF, ANSI and ISO. The VoiceXML Forum is organized as a program of the IEEE Industry Standards and Technology Organization (IEEE-ISTO). Membership in the Forum is open to any interested company. For more information, please visit the Web site at www.voicexml.org .

About Verizon Business
Verizon Business, a unit of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), is a leading provider of advanced communications and information technology (IT) solutions to large-business and government customers worldwide.  Combining unsurpassed global network reach with advanced communications, security and other professional service capabilities, Verizon Business delivers innovative and seamless business solutions to customers around the world.  For more information, visit www.verizonbusiness.com.

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