Archive for the ‘Applications’ Category

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Utter Simplicity – One Radio Button to Add Text Messaging to an Existing Voice App

Thursday, August 5th, 2010

There are so many times when I just love the utter simplicity of our services!  I know… DUH! … you expect me to say that.  Sure. But seriously… I was speaking with a reporter at the Voxeo booth at SpeechTEK and she asked the question:

How hard is it to add SMS to an existing voice application?

To which I was delighted to be able to just say:

Let me show you!

I whipped out my laptop, logged into Evolution, and showed her the one single radio button:

evovoicesms.jpg

Powerful simplicity!  I love it!

Want to learn how Voxeo can help unlock your communications and deliver a better customer experience? Please contact us!

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Posted in Applications, Development, Multi-Channel, Text Messaging, sms | No Comments »

Voxeo Provides Industry’s First 100% Uptime SLA for Text Messaging (SMS)

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

We were very pleased to announce at SpeechtTEK this morning in New York that we have extended our 100% Uptime Service Level Agreement (SLA) to text messaging (SMS).  For many years, we’ve offered a 100% Uptime SLA for voice/IVR … essentially we believe so strongly in our infrastructure that we’ll credit your account if we have any downtime.  Today we extended that 100% Uptime SLA to text messaging (SMS).

Today, so many companies are starting to use text messaging as a way to communicate with their customers.  However, companies are NOT thinking about the reliability of their text-messaging services. Yet, if text messaging is to be a core part of your customer communication, you really need mission-critical reliability.

That’s what we announced today!

We also explained again our SMS offering and offered a video:

  • Outbound Messaging. Allows applications to send outbound text messages and campaign blasts.  Used to provide proactive alerts, send reminders, and allow users to take action on messages, such as accepting an offer, making a payment, or confirming an appointment.  
  • Inbound Messaging. Allows applications to receive inbound text messages and automatically reply with requested information, present users with dynamic menus or choices, and route requests appropriately. 
  • Normal phone numbers.   Voxeo customers can send messages from and receive messages to “normal” phone numbers, such as (407) 555-1212 in the US.  Phone numbers for the US and other countries around the world are available from Voxeo on-demand, ready in just minutes, with no wait times or significant monthly costs.
  • Short-code phone numbers. Voxeo customers can also send and receive text messages using “short code” phone numbers, such as 12345.  Short codes take more time to obtain from mobile carriers but are best for high-volume or high-profile text messaging applications.  Voxeo manages the short code provisioning from start to finish.
  • Multi-Modal Interactions.  Companies can also use Voxeo to deliver “multi-modal” applications that use both voice and text in the same customer interaction or with the same phone numbers. For instance, a customer calling to make a payment through an automated voice system could then receive a SMS confirming the transaction.
  • Development Simplicity. Voxeo’s easy-to-use tools enable developers to create new SMS text-messaging applications – and to text-enable any existing VoiceXML application with very few or even no changes. In addition, customers can use  Voxeo’s VoiceObjects Application LifeCycle Suite to graphically build one application and seamlessly deploy it across multiple channels including voice, SMS, IM, video, and the mobile web – all while accounting for differences in user interfaces.  Alternatively, customers can use a simple HTTP-based API to send and receive SMS messages.
  • 24X7 Monitoring and Support. Voxeo provides unmatched technical support and customer service. Unlike other vendors with limited, tiered, or cost-based support models, Voxeo Customer Obsession teams are available to Voxeo customers for free 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to rapidly resolve issues, answer any questions, and  share best practices.

The short video demonstrates how easy it is to create text messaging apps:

How to Create Text Messaging (SMS) Applications on Voxeo’s Platform

If you would like to try this out yourself, simply go to evolution.voxeo.com, sign up for a free account and check out our tutorials.  And when you are ready to launch you’re application into production, we’ll be glad to talk about our 100% Uptime SLA!

 

Want to learn how Voxeo can help unlock your communications and deliver a better customer experience? Please contact us!

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Posted in Applications, Multi-Channel, Text Messaging, Unified Self-Service, Voxeo, sms | 2 Comments »

Ringio helps SMBs with call-center-in-the-cloud combining CRM, presence and telephony

Monday, April 19th, 2010

ringiologo.jpgOut at eComm in San Francisco today, Voxeo customer Ringio launched their cloud communications service that gives small and medium businesses the kind of positive customer calling experience you would expect out of a much larger company. I like how this Information Week article explains Ringio:

Just because SMBs can’t afford enterprise-class call center technology doesn’t mean that they don’t have call-center needs every bit as complex as large corporations. Moreover, with smaller customer bases and less entrenched brand recognition, the quality of customer care that SMBs provide, potentially, can have a bigger impact on the bottom line. Bringing the CRM and telephony functionality that enterprises take for granted to SMBs is the premise of the Rich Calling service announced today by Ringio.

Ringio’s news release gives a bit more context for their “Rich Calling Service” and how they see it helping SMBs provide a better customer experience.

I had a chance to interview Ringio CEO Sam Aparicio and in the resulting video you can see in the demo both how easy it is to set up and also what it can do for both the business and customers.

ringio1.jpgFrom a caller perspective, I was:

  • Given a personalized greeting (you can hear that in the video);
  • Promptly connected to someone at the company.

From the company perspective, when my call came in, Sam:

  • Received a screen pop with my contact info, recent calls and conversations and other notes. This allows him to very easily see what I’ve been doing and why I might be calling. (In the age of Twitter, I could see one of the links being to someone’s Twitter page where I could simply look at that to see their recent activity.
  • Was able to perform basic call functions like Hold and Transfer;
  • Was able to see the presence of other people connected to the system and thereby be able to figure out who would be available to take the call;
  • Write notes about the call.

Now, sure, you can do this in other premise CRM systems, but this is all out in the cloud and able to be managed through a web interface or through a mobile interface. Ringio has a nice “tour” page that explains how their service is “Far More Than a Small Business Phone System”.

It’s simple and easy to try out… you just have to go do www.ringio.com and sign up…

And if you want to watch Sam and I talking about the service, here’s the video (where he also talks about how Voxeo’s platform is used by the service):

We congratulate Ringio on their launch and look forward to their success!

Want to learn how Voxeo can help unlock your communications and deliver a better customer experience? Please contact us!

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Posted in Applications, Cloud telephony, Voxeo | 1 Comment »

Making voice verification / voice biometrics EASY, for a change…

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

voicewave.pngWhy has voice verification historically been so difficult to implement? In an age of identity theft, when companies are looking for additional ways to secure online transactions, why shouldn’t they be able to use voice? In a time when companies are looking for ways to deliver services to customers faster, why shouldn’t they be able to use voice as a way to secure the delivery of those services?

Whether people call it “voice verification”, “voice authentication” or “voice biometrics”, the common question people ask is “Why does using voice for security have to be so hard?”

It doesn’t.

Today we are pleased to announce a new voice biometrics initiative with four of the leading voice biometrics companies where you can add voice biometrics to a new or existing VoiceXML application TODAY. Through the power of the cloud, your application running on our Prophecy Hosting service can securely communicate with the hosted services of CSIdentity, PerSay, TradeHarbor or Vocalect.

If you go to our new biometrics portal page at:

www.voxeo.com/biometrics

you will find links to “How To” documents from each of the four vendors explaining how you can easily integrate their service into a new or existing VoiceXML application. All of the vendors are also making trial accounts available for interested developers. Try one vendor out… try them all out.

The point is that voice biometrics is very real… today… and you can implement security based on voice today on Voxeo’s platform.

Use voice biometrics as a way to securely automate password resets on your corporate LAN… use it as a way to secure an e-commerce transaction… use it as a way to confirm access to confidential information about an order being processed… use it as a way to secure access to your corporate IVR… use it to secure callers into a private conference call… use it for whatever wacky idea your imagination can come up with…

Use it… play with it… the code is out there! If you already have an account on our Evolution developer portal, you can modify an existing VoiceXML application or create a new one. If you don’t have an account, signing up is free and lets you get started right away creating voice applications, complete with inbound phone numbers, Skype numbers and SIP interconnection, as well as outbound dialing, speech recognition, conferencing and much, much, more…

And when you are ready to make your application go live in a production environment, simply contact us and we can get your app running on the industry’s largest VoiceXML hosting cloud and the only one backed by a 100% uptime service level agreement.

Try it out… voice verification is no longer something “too hard” to do… it’s simple and it’s here today!

Please visit our voice biometrics announcement page to watch video interviews with each of the four partners, to read guest blog posts and to find other information about using voice biometrics on Voxeo’s platform.

Want to learn how Voxeo can help unlock your communications and deliver a better customer experience? Please contact us!

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Posted in Applications, Cloud telephony, Voxeo, biometrics, voice biometrics | 3 Comments »

Voxeo Speaks #008 – Exploring Apps In The Cloud – ITEXPO West 2009

Monday, February 1st, 2010

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Exploring Apps In The Cloud – Today the industry is buzzing about cloud computing and pushing applications out into the network cloud. Google has brought out their AppEngine platform while Amazon offers their EC2 and S3 services and Microsoft and others prepare their own offerings. In this session, attendees will learn about what is involved with developing voice applications on cloud computing platforms. What options are out there? What do you need to look for in a platform? How can you get started? The session will include demonstrations and offer insight and real world examples of how cloud-based solutions are impacting the market today, challenges and opportunities, as well as what the future holds.

Participants:

  • David H. Yedwab (Moderator), Partner, Market Strategy & Analytics Partners
  • Dan York, Director of Conversations, Voxeo
  • Irv Shapiro, CEO, Ifbyphone
  • Charles Studt, Vice President of Product Management and Development, IntelePeer
  • Praful Shah, VP of Strategy, RingCentral

More information about Voxeo can be found at www.voxeo.com and blogs.voxeo.com.

Want to learn how Voxeo can help unlock your communications and deliver a better customer experience? Please contact us!

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Posted in Applications, Conferences, Programming, Voxeo, Voxeo Speaks | No Comments »

Voxeo Speaks #007 – The Apps Race – Dan York and Thomas Howe

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

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At VON 2009 in Miami Beach, FL, Voxeo’s Dan York joined Thomas Howe and Suresh Bhandarkar to discuss the topic of applications and “app stores”. The abstract of the session was: The Apple App Store has proven the value of embracing third-party application developers to bring innovative, sticky and useful applications to subscribers. But how can service providers leverage the idea? To date device manufacturers like Research in Motion Ltd. and Palm Inc., or platform providers like Google Inc. and Broadsoft Corp. have led the applications charge-and reaped the benefits. This session will examine where carriers fit into the value chain ? and how they can build viable ecosystems of their own. … although Dan and Thomas took it in different directions in a lively and spirited discussion. More info about Voxeo can be found at www.voxeo.com and blogs.voxeo.com.

Want to learn how Voxeo can help unlock your communications and deliver a better customer experience? Please contact us!

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Posted in Applications, Conferences, Videos, Voxeo, Voxeo Speaks, telephony | 1 Comment »

Navigate the holiday traffic with 511 IVR

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009

Last minute shopping trips, family gatherings, and out-of-town visitors. All contribute to the holiday rush that puts drivers in a less-than-cheery mood. This season avoid traffic backups and other problem areas with 511.

511 is the nationally designated abbreviated dialing code for real-time travel information. Callers can get instant updates on road construction, traffic, weather conditions, and more. It’s a free service that’s currently available to more than 70% of the U.S. population. 511 leverages interactive voice response (IVR) and speech recognition to provide drivers with anytime, “hands-free” access to information. If you find yourself in a jam this holiday season or want an update before hitting the road, give 511 a call. 

Voxeo partner, PBS&J, delivers Voxeo-powered 511 systems in Virginia and North Carolina. PBS&J provides reliable 511 IVR services – even during the holidays when traffic and weather conditions trigger huge fluctuations in call volume. The Voxeo-powered solution ensures PBS&J clients have high availability, on-demand scalability, and cost-effective bursting during usage spikes. Learn more about 511, PBS&J, and Voxeo in our new case study.

Want to learn how Voxeo can help unlock your communications and deliver a better customer experience? Please contact us!

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Posted in Applications, General, Voxeo, ivr, speech | 1 Comment »

Join us for a free webinar today “Speech Solutions: Hosted Versus On-Premises” – 2pm US Eastern

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

stmwebinar.jpgInterested in learning about the advantages of hosted speech solutions versus on-premise solutions? Or why you should or shouldn’t have to choose? Want to understand the pros and cons of pushing voice applications out “into the cloud”? If so, please join us today at 2pm US Eastern time for a free webinar hosted by Speech Tech Magazine and including speakers from Voxeo, Angel.com, Contact Solutions and Nuance Communications. To sign up, please go to this URL:

http://www.speechtechmag.com/webinars/roundtable/12nov2009/vox2

Industry analyst Daniel Hong from Ovum (formerly Datamonitor and author of Datamonitor’s IVR short list report) will start the session with a market overview and the whole event is hosted by Speech Tech Magazine’s David Myron. Key questions to be discussed include:

  • How the incentives built into a hosted agreement impact the customer’s long-term results;
  • How the arrangement should be set up for you to realize maximum savings;
  • The capabilities to look for when selecting a provider;
  • The role of monitoring, reporting, and tuning;
  • The role of caller behavior analysis;
  • The impact of service-level agreements on performance, availability, and caller experience;
  • The limitations when handling different interaction types, such as touch-tone, mobile, speech, and authentication/verification; and
  • Integration with customer and third-party data/solutions to meet unique call requirements.

It should be an interesting collection of viewpoints given the mix of vendors. Again, it’s free, so please feel free to sign up and join us at 2pm US Eastern, 11am US Pacific. The session will also be archived for later viewing.

Want to learn how Voxeo can help unlock your communications and deliver a better customer experience? Please contact us!

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Posted in Applications, Cloud telephony, Voxeo, Webinars, ivr, prophecy, speech | 5 Comments »

Voxeo’s Dan York’s slides from VoiceCon: Developing Voice Apps Using Mashups and SOA

Monday, November 9th, 2009

At VoiceCon SF 2009 last week in San Francisco, I (Dan York) spoke about “Developing Voice Apps Using Mashups and SOA“. In the talk, I discussed what voice “mashups” are, gave a couple of examples, and then went on to show one of the Tropo.com examples found on the documentation page – the specific one I showed was the Yahoo!Weather example in python. I logged into my Tropo.com account, created a new application, indicated that I wanted to use a hosted file, copied/pasted text from the example, and then set up a phone number and IM address.

You can do all this, too, since Tropo.com accounts are free. :-)

Here are the slides I used in my voice mashups talk:

VoiceCon: Developing Voice Apps Using Mashups and SOA
View more documents from Voxeo Corp.

Want to learn how Voxeo can help unlock your communications and deliver a better customer experience? Please contact us!

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Posted in Applications, Presentations, Voxeo, mashups | 1 Comment »

Voxeo’s Jay Phillips’ slides from eComm Europe: Entrepreneurial Advantages with New Open-Source Technologies

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

Last week at eComm Europe, Voxeo Lab’s Jay Phillips spoke on “Entrepreneurial Advantages with New Open-Source Technologies” and as usual providing an entertaining set of slides complete with LOLCats and other pictures that… well… make you think you kind of had to be there to understand! ;-) Along the way he outlined the state of a number of different open source telephony and communication tools… and made an announcement in the middle, too….

You can see Jay’s slides on SlideShare or here:

Entrepreneurial Advantages with New Open-Source Technologies
View more documents from Voxeo Corp.

Want to learn how Voxeo can help unlock your communications and deliver a better customer experience? Please contact us!

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Posted in Adhearsion, Applications, Open Source, Presentations, Voxeo, Voxeo Labs, ecomm | 2 Comments »

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