OMAHA, Neb., Aug 01, 2005 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ — West Corporation (Nasdaq: WSTC), a leading outsourced customer communications provider, today announced that the West VoiceXML Platform has been awarded 2.0 certification by the VoiceXML Forum. West Corporation joins an elite group of companies whose platforms have been recognized as 2.0-compliant by the Forum.
“Achieving VoiceXML 2.0 Certification further reinforces West Corporation’s leadership in speech technology,” said Todd Strubbe, president of West Interactive and West Direct. “This significant achievement demonstrates our ongoing commitment to providing high quality speech solutions built on open standards. Our clients recognize that flexibility and adaptability are vital in creating robust speech-enabled customer care applications.”
The VoiceXML Forum is an organization formed to create and promote the Voice Extensible Markup Language (VoiceXML). VoiceXML is an open-standards language that is used for creating voice user interfaces within speech-enabled applications. Unlike proprietary code, VoiceXML standards allow interoperability of platforms, tools and applications. In addition, VoiceXML also provides reusable code and portability to other speech platforms. West Corporation currently chairs the Board of Directors of the VoiceXML Forum.
“VoiceXML-based technologies benefit corporate customers by enabling smoother integration with existing infrastructure and providing flexibility to work with a variety of speech partners while ensuring compatibility between applications and platforms,” stated Ken Rehor, Vice Chairman of the VoiceXML Forum. “End users are increasingly viewing VoiceXML compliance as a vendor requirement, giving 2.0-certified companies like West Corporation a clear advantage in today’s competitive marketplace.”
The VoiceXML Forum Certification Program is managed by an independent laboratory, which tests vendor platforms against the Worldwide Web Consortium’s (W3C) VoiceXML 2.0 specifications. For more information about the VoiceXML Forum Certification Program, please visit http://www.voicexml.org/certification/platform.html .
About West Corporation
West Corporation is a leading provider of outsourced communication solutions to many of the world’s largest companies. The company helps its clients communicate effectively, maximize the value of their customer relationships and drive greater revenue from each transaction. West’s integrated suite of customized solutions includes customer acquisition, customer care and retention services, interactive voice response services, conferencing and receivables management services.
Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, West has a team of approximately 28,000 employees based in North America, Europe and Asia.
For more information, please visit http://www.west.com .
SOURCE West Corporation
