Bell Atlantic Debuts Unique Voice Dialing Service

Full Transparency

Our editorial transparency tool uses blockchain technology to permanently log all changes made to official releases after publication.

More of our content is being permanently logged via blockchain technology starting [10.23.2020].

Learn more

February 15, 1996

NYNEX CONTACT: Media Relations,
(212) 395-0500

Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile Debuts Unique Voice Dialing Service

New software provides industry-leading accuracy and ease
of use

BEDMINSTER, N.J. -- For Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile customers
who use the company's new TalkDial(SM) service, dialing their
cellular phones will be as easy as thinking out loud. TalkDial
is the first service to use breakthrough error detection and correction
technology for state-of-the-art voice-activated dialing that is
the industry's most intelligent and accurate.

TalkDial debuts today in Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile's northern
New England and Upstate New York markets. Bell Atlantic NYNEX
Mobile will roll out the service to its other markets along the
East Coast throughout the spring.

"This service effectively answers the call of customers who
want the convenience and added safety of voice-activated dialing,
especially for cellular phone use while driving," says Ray
Dolan, executive vice president -- marketing for Bell Atlantic
NYNEX Mobile. "Now, customers can more easily conduct their
business and personal matters without having to remember or look
for frequently-called telephone numbers and manually dial them
into a keypad."

TalkDial uses the software of Atlanta-based Intellivoice Communications,
which uses technology unsurpassed by other voice- activated systems
in use today. Unlike these other technologies, the Intellivoice
system does not require customers to wait for a tone between each
spoken digit of a phone number, making the dialing process faster
and easier. For even faster processing, customers do not need
to enter their personal identification number (PIN) when calling
a name programmed in their directory, since the PIN is automatically
included when storing a phone number.

TalkDial also features a user-friendly interface -- customers
are not required to use commands, such as "call" or
"dial," that are common in other systems and can lengthen
the time it takes to initiate a call. In addition, Intellivoice's
proprietary error correction technique creates a speech recognition
profile for each individual subscriber, which accurately predicts
and activates the number to be dialed.

"Our primary objective has been to dramatically improve speech
recognition in the mobile environment because customers have made
it clear that accuracy and ease of use are absolute requirements,"
says Jim Szyperski, president of Intellivoice. "We are delighted
that Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile, a pioneer in wireless technology,
has expressed confidence in our product and in our ability to
deliver the most comprehensive voice-activated service platform
available in the industry to date."

TalkDial Operation

To activate the service, the user presses the "*" and
"send" buttons, which prompts the word "TalkDial."
The customer then recites the desired telephone number or says
a name/place they've stored in their personal directory, such
as "office," and the number is automatically dialed.
In addition to speaking a number or name from the directory, the
caller can say "directory" to program numbers, or "help"
to listen to a user-friendly tutorial. Customers who use PIN Codes
have the option of speaking the code or entering it on the keypad.
Finally, because the service is based out of Bell Atlantic NYNEX
Mobile's switching office, subscribers can use any type of cellular
phone with no additional equipment.

TalkDial service is available for a monthly fee of $2.99 in Bell
Atlantic NYNEX Mobile's northern New England and upstate New York
regions.

Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile has been conducting a commercial trial
of Intellivoice's system since May of last year in Albany, N.Y.
While results of the trial are proprietary, its success provided
the platform for Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile to begin a wide-scale
offering in all markets.

With 3.4 million customers, Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile is the
largest wireless service provider on the East Coast and the second
largest provider in the U.S. Headquartered in Bedminster, NJ,
the company offers a full range of wireless voice, data and paging
communications solutions to its customers in the Northeast, mid-
Atlantic, Southeast, and through a separate subsidiary, in the
Southwest. Formed in July 1995 through the combination of Bell
Atlantic Mobile's and NYNEX Mobile's cellular operations, the
company has more than 5,000 employees.

Intellivoice Communications, Inc., founded in 1988, is a leading
systems integrator and developer of Voice Activated Services applications
for both cellular and wireline telephone company operating environments.
Intellivoice is headquartered in Atlanta, GA, with R&D facilities
in Farmington Hills, MI. Over the past eight years, Intellivoice
has successfully delivered products that support a broad range
of speech recognition enabled applications including Directory
Assistance Call Completion, Voice Activated Dialing, Voice Mail
Access, and Speaker Verification.


NYNEX is a global communications and media company that provides
a full range of services in the northeastern United States and
high-growth markets around the world, including the United Kingdom,
Thailand, Gibraltar, Greece, Indonesia, the Philippines, Poland,
Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

The Corporation is a leader in the telecommunications, wireless communications,
cable television, directory publishing
and entertainment and information services.

FAX copies of recent NYNEX news releases are available free of charge, 24
hours
a day. Call 1-800-331-1214 and an automated system will provide
instructions.

Related Articles

02/15/2021

Virtual Reality (VR) has begun to transform medicine in profound ways. VR solutions are being used to train doctors and to plan and practice operations.

10/23/2020

Verizon’s military discounts site shows everything you need to know about Wireless offers, FiOS savings and military career opportunities, all in one place, making it simple for service members and veterans to discover what Verizon has to offer.