MXCP.L Regulatory News (MXCP)

27 Jun 2005 07:00

2 ergo Group plc27 June 2005 Embargoed until 7am 27 June 2005 2ergo Group plc ("2ergo" or the "Group") Acquisition of Natural Response 2ergo, the AIM listed provider of convergent communication solutions, is pleasedto announce the acquisition of Natural Response, which will notably enhance itsVoice business. 2ergo has purchased, for a nominal cash value, the technology IPas well as substantial assets relating to Natural Response from theadministrators of RSVP Dialogue Ltd, its inventors. To date, the development and R&D for Natural Response was funded by venturecapital and the grant of a Smart Award at a cost of approximately £900,000. Thedeal brings no debt liabilities to 2ergo. Natural Response is a highly advanced speech-based software application designedto automate telephone calls using natural conversation. It was recently awarded"Best Speech Recognition Application 2005" in the Contact Center World AnnualMembers' Choice Award, ahead of a field of world-class competition. The systemis currently being used by The Parole Board of England and Wales, Fiat UK and anumber of other businesses, despite only being launched during September 2004. Natural Response is designed to move the well-established IVR (Interactive VoiceResponse) market forwards to support the growth in demand for more interactivityand improved customer service. According to Datamonitor, there are around500,000 people employed in call centres in the UK alone, representing around1.7% of the entire working population. High staff-churn and employment costshave driven many organisations to outsource or off-shore their customer serviceactivities, which is not always welcomed by their customers. The 'How May I Help You' (HMIHY) conversational nature of Natural Responseprovides a new level of customer experience, whilst retaining thecall-automation cost savings associated with IVR. Natural Response's technology can be customised to handle most types of call,but two off-the-shelf services will be made immediately available to customersof 2ergo. These are Operator - a conversational auto-attendant, and Locator - anadvanced, location aware outlet finder. As part of the deal, 2ergo will be joined by the three founders and inventors ofNatural Response, including David Burns, who will head up 2ergo's Voicebusiness, and Dr Vladimir Lovitskii MCBS. Vladimir was a professor oflinguistics and cybernetics for 35 years in the former USSR and is considered tobe a world-leading authority in language and database manipulation. "We are delighted to have made this acquisition", commented Neale Graham, jointMD of 2ergo. "As we continue our strategy to deliver holistic communicationssolutions, adding one of the world's most advanced speech applications to theMultiserve Platform considerably extends the value we are able to deliver to ourpartners and customers. We believe that speech based applications are set fortremendous growth over the next five years and we plan to capitalise on thisgrowth whilst ensuring that our customers have access to 'best of breed'solutions in all areas of communications. "We are also very pleased to welcome three such talented people into the Groupand we look forward to quickly integrating the new team and technology into thebusiness." David Burns, MD of Natural Response said, "2ergo has the resource and size toensure this world leading technology is given the correct marketing focus. Thesynergies between the two companies are significant and Natural Response'stechnology will fit naturally into 2ergo's existing Voice service. The scale andperformance of the technology is second-to-none and we believe with 2ergo'sintimate knowledge of the market the application will start to contribute to theGroup's bottom line within 12 months." -ends- For further information, please contact: 2ergo group 01706 221 777Neale Graham, Joint MDBarry Sharples, Joint MD Tavistock Communications 020 7920 3150Christian Taylor-WilkinsonPaul Dulieu Notes to editors: About 2ergo Group plc2ergo facilitates communication and interaction between companies and theircustomers or staff using Mobile Internet, SMS, MMS, Web and Voice applications.Headquartered in Lancashire, the Group listed on AIM on 11 March 2004. About Natural ResponseNatural Response addresses two historical challenges faced by organisations whowish to deploy speech applications; quality of experience and cost ofdevelopment. Because Natural Response is built around an intelligent dialogueprocessor, rather than a menu and scripting language, users experience a veryintuitive and conversational exchange, rather than the rigid and frustratingmenus or endless instructions. The intelligent dialogue processor also means that most behaviour and responsesare innate within the system and do not need long programming or testing. Forexample, dialogue to book a ticket or connect a caller to the most qualifiedagent is automatically handled where choices and alternatives exist. The systemcan use inference to work out what a caller wants, shortening calls and avoidingunnecessary steps. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange