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Broca Networks And Active Hotels Launch Speech Driven Hotel Booking Service
Broca Networks Limited, a Cambridge-based speech application provider and Active Hotels, a
leading provider of online reservations to the European hotel industry, have
partnered to create an innovative speech-activated hotel booking service,
enabling telephone callers to book hotel accommodation throughout Europe
over the Internet. The Service The service works by the caller interacting with a computer rather than a live agent. The caller is navigated through a menu of options from which they can select and make requests for information using their voice. This system brings all the benefits of real-time online booking services to those without easy access to a PC or for those who are on the move. Guests can request information and book hotel accommodation throughout Europe whenever they want from wherever they want. Brian Corbett, CEO of Broca Networks says, "Speech recognition technology today can provide immediate benefits at low cost to our customers and their users. Transactions over the Internet are general practice today. Broca Networks' applications further this by linking the Internet to the phone using speech recognition technology, therefore offering an additional channel to market for online companies." Adrian Critchlow, Active Hotels' business development director comments, "Active Hotels is delighted with the results of the speech-driven hotel booking service. This technology, as well as being fun to use, is very practical if you're on the move. It has only recently gone live and is already taking real-time bookings for our 3,000 hotels across Europe." The Technology Active Hotels' real-time online booking service links via XML to Broca's advanced speech recognition and 'text-to-speech' technologies. Out of hours customer phone calls are answered by Broca Networks voice interface platform where the caller's speech is converted into text, which is then used to search for available accommodation. A combination of pre-recorded prompts and text-to-speech technology is used to confirm the information to the caller. The service uses VoiceXML, the emerging standard for voice-recognition applications throughout the world. The Customer Active Hotels is one of Europe's leading online reservation providers to the hotel industry. It is currently processing €100 million worth of bookings per year. Active Hotels is bringing its hotels and distribution partners to the forefront of the European online reservation market by providing user-friendly online management solutions that are responsive to the needs of customers and the demands of the online travel market. The service Active Hotels offers is easy to integrate and use and provides a reliable source of revenue for hotels and distribution partners. Active Hotels offers the best choice of hotels and room prices available across Europe. At present, the company has over 3,000 partner hotels, with 2,500 in the UK and 500 in France. It is also actively growing its hotel base across Europe, in Germany, Spain, Holland and Belgium. The company promotes these hotels across its 1,500 partner websites, making each hotel visible to over a million Internet users each month. Launched in Cambridge, England in 1998 by CEO Andrew Phillips and Business Development Director Adrian Critchlow with a team of just five employees, Active Hotels now has over 35 talented people working under a strong and experienced management team. Active Hotels was ranked the fifth fastest growing company in the Eastern region by Deloitte and Touche's technology Fast 50 in November 2002. To try the service, call: 0870 870 1477 About Broca Networks Broca designs, deploys and hosts cost effective speech technology solutions to fulfil key business needs. Broca is focused on delivering robust and scalable applications and services for our customers in the areas of Enterprise Efficiency, Contact Centres, and the VoiceWeb. Broca provides a full service from project identification, analysis, design, deployment, hosting and maintenance. At Broca, speech recognition is seen as a natural and essential progression in communication. Current speech technology provides a robust and scalable solution for business requirements across most industries. Broca Networks has developed a framework that enables customers to apply speech technology to deliver real solutions that will increase efficiency in day-to-day business. Speech driven applications and services offer an additional and effective channel to market, maximising service offerings to customers, suppliers and employees. Broca Networks was established in 2000 and listed in the Sunday Times Tech Track "One to Watch" 2002
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