London / Cologne – July 16, 2002 – Integration with the WebSphere platform of IBM was effected simultaneously with the presentation of VoiceObjects Factory 1.0.

Close cooperation in the future of commercial voice solutions was announced today by VoiceObjects AG and IBM at their joint press conference. “This cooperation runs for the entire life cycle of the projects, i.e. far beyond voice technology itself”, explains Duncan Ross, IBM European Business Manager for Voice Systems. The package consisting of VoiceXML, VoiceObjects Factory1.0 and the IBM WebSphere Voice Middleware provides broad access to information and also enables direct transactions. This means that IBM is extending its position as supplier of end-to-end voice solutions. “Open standards and the flexible build-up of and extension to voice applications following the Lego principle guarantees users complete investment security“, emphasises Karl-Heinz Land, CEO of the Cologne-based VoiceObjects AG. “The consequence is inevitable, the extension of e-business to include the voice interface is just as important as mobile interaction,” is Duncan Ross’ view. “The convergence of automated services via voice or web already enables value-added services, customer retention and an increase in efficiency.”

The integration of VoiceObjects Factory into the IBM WebSphere platform is the first step towards the joint development of preconfigured voice solutions. This development is taking place at the VoiceObjects AG location in Bergisch Gladbach near Cologne.