RNS Number:5942Q
Eckoh Technologies PLC
07 October 2003


                                                                  7 October 2003



   BT AND ECKOH TECHNOLOGIES DEPLOY HOSTED SPEECH RECOGNITION SOLUTION FOR TD
                                   WATERHOUSE


Customers of TD Waterhouse, one of the UK's largest execution-only brokers, will
now benefit from faster and more efficient access to share price information,
thanks to a new Advanced Speech Recognition (ASR) service delivered by BT and
Eckoh Technologies.



TD Waterhouse provides investment services to over 500,000 clients in the UK.
Under the terms of the two-year contract, the new service will allow investors
to access real-time share price information on more than 1000 UK-listed
companies quickly and easily, using automated speech recognition technology.



Based on a highly scaleable platform that can handle up to 5000 simultaneous
calls, customers with basic pricing queries will benefit from rapid access to
information via the new ASR service. This will enable TD Waterhouse to focus on
high-value, revenue-generating calls, meeting the needs of customers with more
complex requirements, such as share transactions.



The ASR solution is hosted on a call processing platform developed and operated
by Eckoh Technologies that has a capacity of over 500,000 speech recognition
calls an hour. The solution was implemented in less than four weeks -
significantly faster than an equivalent onsite service - and is priced on a "pay
as you go" basis. This removed the need for upfront investment and enabled TD
Waterhouse to pilot the service internally at no risk before also offering
branded versions to a number of their corporate customers.



Darren Hepworth, vice president of Customer Contact Centre at TD Waterhouse,
said: "The hosted speech recognition service gives our customers swift access to
the real time prices they need.  As the UK equity market shows continuing signs
of recovery we are handling increasing levels of calls and realised we required
a solution that will enable us to maintain the high quality of service we offer
our customers as demand increases. BT has provided us with a scaleable service
that matches the needs of our customers in a cost efficient way. To do this in
three weeks was a spectacular achievement - especially given that there was no
compromise in terms of quality."



Andy Hill, head of Voice Commerce, BT Global Services, said: "Deploying ASR
technology on a hosted platform offers a highly flexible option for businesses.
They can use new technology to improve the experience of their customers without
the need for upfront capital investment. This deal with TD Waterhouse is an
example of how BT is working closely with its  partners to create a range of CRM
solutions and services that meet our customers' business needs."



Nik Philpot, chief operating officer of Eckoh Technologies, said: "We are
delighted to have been able to meet TD Waterhouse's requirements in such a
convincing way and to be able to announce such a high calibre customer in
collaboration with BT. I am pleased to say that we are seeing huge interest in
what the BT and Eckoh alliance has to offer and we expect to announce other
contracts in due course."



Ends



Notes to Editors

In November 2002, BT and Eckoh announced the formation of an alliance to provide
BT's customers with advanced speech recognition technology.  The agreement,
which commenced in January 2003, provides BT with a range of products developed
by Eckoh to target UK companies and those generating English language business
originating in Europe, in sectors such as government, finance, utilities,
retail, IT and travel and leisure.



The alliance, funded by BT, provides a dedicated, managed service infrastructure
installed in a BT facility and operated by Eckoh which was completed in June
2003. BT are responsible for marketing and selling to its customers the hosted
speech recognition solutions that are designed and built by a technical
development team provided by Eckoh.



About TD Waterhouse

TD Waterhouse is one of the world's largest discount brokers, providing
investors with a broad range of brokerage, mutual fund, banking and other
consumer financial products.  Worldwide, TD Waterhouse currently services more
than 3.3 million customer accounts and has over US $130 billion of assets under
management.



TD Waterhouse UK provides investors with simple, secure and cost effective share
dealing services, combined with a wealth of high quality, timely information
from some of the world's leading providers.



TD Waterhouse also offers multi-currency trading in all major North American and
European markets through Internaxx, a joint venture with Banque Generale du
Luxembourg.



For further information, visit www.tdwaterhouse.co.uk



About BT

BT Group plc is the listed holding company for an integrated group of businesses
providing voice and data services in the UK and elsewhere in Europe.  British
Telecommunications plc, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group, holds virtually
all businesses and assets of the BT group.



BT is one of Europe's leading providers of telecommunications services.  Its
principal activities include local, national and international
telecommunications services, higher-value broadband and internet products and
services, and IT solutions.  In the UK, BT serves over 20 million business and
residential customers with more than 29 million exchange lines, as well as
providing network services to other licensed operators.



BT consists principally of three lines of business:

*        BT Retail, serving businesses and residential customers and including
BT Openworld, one of the UK's leading ISPs.

*        BT Wholesale, providing network services and solutions within the UK,
including ADSL, conveyance, transit, bulk delivery of private circuits, frame
relay and ISDN connections.

*        BT Global Services, BT's managed services and solutions provider,
serving multi-site organisations worldwide.  Its core target market is the top
10,000 global multi-site organisations with European operations.

There are a number of other businesses within the BT group, including BT Exact,
an internationally renowned centre of excellence in IT and networking
technologies. It is also BT's technology and research and development business.



In the year ended 31 March 2003, BT's turnover was #18,727m. with profit before
taxation of #1,829m. For more information, visit www.bt.com

About Eckoh Technologies

Eckoh Technologies plc provides a complete managed service for large
corporations and organisations using Advanced IVR (interactive voice response)
and Speech Recognition technologies. It has secured contracts to supply hosted
services to clients including Virgin Mobile, Centrica, William Hill and the
RNIB, and owns the largest speech-enabled call-processing platform in Europe.



In January 2003, Eckoh began an alliance with BT to provide hosted solutions to
BT's corporate client base over the next 2 years.  This landmark contract
positions Eckoh as the European leader in the hosted speech solutions market.
Eckoh also operates the following businesses:

*          IVR - Eckoh is one of the largest providers of managed IVR services
in the UK to media clients including Granada, Channel 4, Chrysalis, EMAP,
Johnston Press and Cartoon Network, with the capacity to process over 250,000
calls per hour

*          Network Services - under the "Symphony Telecom" brand, Eckoh supplies
fixed line and mobile telephony services to over 6,000 businesses in the UK and
Ireland

*          Mobile Wholesale - under the "Phones Express" brand, Eckoh supplies
mobile telephone handsets and airtime packages to consumers promoted via
marketing in print and through home shopping channels such as 'Phoneworld' which
can be seen on Sky Digital.  Phones Express is one of the largest independent
distributors in the UK



In the year to 31 March 2003, Eckoh generated turnover of #55.1m.



To hear a demonstration of Eckoh Technologies' speech recognition product range,
please dial 08701 100 600. Further information can be found at www.eckoh.com or
contact us by dialling 08701 100 200



For further information, please contact:



Josephine Bowen/Caroline Power
Band & Brown Communications
+44 (0)20 7419 7000
josephine@bbpr.com/caroline.power@bt.com


Eckoh Technologies plc                               Tel: 08701 100 700
Martin Turner, Chief Executive Officer
Nik Philpot, Chief Operating Officer

Buchanan Communications                              Tel: 020 7466 5000
Mark Edwards/Jeremy Garcia




                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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