Listening as well as you hear
Speech recognition software planned to interact with customers
Raleigh, NC, June 7, 2001 - Frank Sheppard says his company's low profile is due to his own nature - your average soft-spoken computer programmer.
But Ateb, a 9-year-old software shop in Raleigh, is getting chatty even if its chief executive isn't.
Last month, Ateb announced it is getting into speech recognition, applying voice response technology to its line of retail products that serve consumers making appointments or placing orders over the phone.
In a partnership with Boston-based SpeechWorks, Ateb will market speech-prompted sales and product information systems to retailers. The idea is to get speech-recognizing computers to handle incoming orders and interact with customers as a person would, cutting down the time retailers need to spend on the phone.
Debbi Hucaby, Ateb's director of retail sales, plays an example on her laptop of a man calling in an order to a wine store. Without pressing a button, the customer talks to a computer that sounds like a person and even recognizes the kind of wine he's referring to when he mispronounces the French name. Verbally, he places the order and requests a delivery.
"I think a lot of the retailers are ready for voice recognition." Hucaby said.
At least the kind that works. Up until now, speech recognition systems have promised true interaction but delivered choppy technology that didn't allow people to talk like people.
"Speech recognition technology is just now doing what it's supposed to," said Brian Strachman, an analyst with technology researcher Cahners In-Stat. "It's really an exploding market."
Strachman said just about every business that uses the phone for customer relations will be looking at where speech recognition technology can replace a human being. In an April report, Strachman predicted that worldwide sales of speech recognition software engines - the basis of the different applications - will reach $2.7 billion by 2005.
Ateb's new partner, SpeechWorks, will contribute to that number because it makes both speech recognition software and software used by Internet portals such as AOL and Yahoo that translates text into speech. SpeechWorks had $30 million in sales later year.
Steve Chambers, vice president of worldwide marketing at SpeechWorks, said Ateb is one of 100 or so SpeechWorks partners. He said Ateb's draw was its focus on the retail segment - which is likely to be a big consumer of speech recognition technology.
"It's strategic," Chambers said. "They're investing in the future by bringing their customer base a very cutting-edge concept."
Ateb will resell SpeechWorks' technology, which will be packaged with its own software programs.
Their first joint customer, Midwestern grocery chain Giant Eagle, will begin a voice-response service for special orders in July.
It's a market that could prompt Ateb toward more growth in the next year. Ateb has 67 employees and is programmer heavy.
Forty are in the development lab on Atlantic Avenue. Their job is to scan the technology landscape and find what new technologies can be applied to the kind of retail and call-center software ateb specializes in.
But Ateb isn't just about research. It has become profitable with sales - $10 million worth last year - but without the aid of outside investment.
Sheppard, a former IBMer, founded Ateb, originally called Synectics, with four other software types. They changed their name to Ateb- not only "beta" spelled backwards but a Welsh word that means "solution" - a few years ago after another company called Synectics scooped up the Web domain name.
Ateb's start was making software to test telecommunications equipment for a customer in Greensboro. Since then, its customer pendulum has swung between the telecom and retail industries.
One of its most successful retail products is a system for pharmacy customers to renew prescriptions using their touchtone telephones and an automated menu. It's used by pharmacies in chains including Wal-Mart, Kmart and Target - drugstore chains such as CVS and Walgreens have developed their own, similar systems.
Sheppard said he's expecting Ateb's foray into voice recognition to bring large returns. "We see this as a huge growth opportunity," Shepard said. "You can only do so much with a touchtone phone."
By Christina Dyrness. Reprinted by permission of The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina. Reproduction does not imply endorsement.
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