Uptime Integrated Systems Forms Strategic Alliance with Europe-Based Sail Labs Technology

VIENNA, 7 February 2002: Ken Stirbl, President of Uptime Integrated Systems, Inc (UIS),announced today that the LA-based company has entered into a strategic relationship with the European speech technology firm, Sail Labs Technology (Sail Labs). Under the terms of the agreement, UIS will cross-market Sail Labs’ latest technological developments, which include the latter’s award-winning Conversational System, a Natural Language Understanding (NLU) speech platform, and Media Mining System, a fully integrated information retrieval solution that indexes multiple media streams in real time.

Recognized as an industry leader in providing business with IT solutions, UIS will initially market the two software systems throughout North America, adding to a portfolio that includes systems integration, custom application development, network management, disaster recovery, security, remote access, video and data streaming, and teleconferencing.

According to Stirbl, "Working with Sail Labs, we will be able to expand applications for clients in virtually any industry, including the financial, investment, entertainment, travel, and product distribution." Stirbl added, "We are proud to be aligned with such a global and forward-thinking company. With Sail Labs’ software and our ability to strategically customize and vertically integrate systems for the end-user, we give mobility and immediacy an entirely new perspective." "It gives us great pleasure to have Uptime Integrated Systems as our partner. UIS brings to the partnership a wealth of experience in system integration and application delivery, thus providing the ideal medium to showcase Sail Labs’ expertise in product development and innovation," said Dr Thomas Netousek CEO of Sail Labs Technology. "The partnership creates new opportunities for consumers seeking rapid access to cutting edge technology and innovative solutions."

Since the Conversational System serves as a voice portal to computer databases, Uptime can customize and refine software applications to meet a client’s specific needs. Applications range from voice-activated dialing and call center services to voice banking and sophisticated customer relations management. A user can call the system from almost anywhere.

The Conversational System provides instant access to backend databases via voice, and can sustain a free-flowing conversation with the caller. Callers can use the system to perform a variety of tasks, the range of which would depend on the application’s objectives. He or she could access information, make reservations, or even execute a variety of processing actions simply using voice.

The Conversational System’s large vocabulary, coupled with statistical language and NLU models, gives the system the capability to carry on a fully interactive conversation with individual callers; this is as opposed to the caller being directed through a structured dialogue. Utilizing artificial intelligence, the system is capable of extracting the key meaning underlying speaker utterances. It then uses this input to retrieve the relevant information from the database.

The Conversational System, as a whole, is easily scalable across multiple machines and operating systems, and can be connected to multiple databases of various types. It can be configured to run a number of applications simultaneously on several parallel lines in different languages (currently English and German). It can run a simple voice-activated dialing application on a single-machine, Windows 2000 configuration, or it can be scaled up to a 1,000-line call center configuration capable of running a complex flight information and reservations application.

The Sail Labs Media Mining System is designed to automatically index a variety of media streams (video, audio, and broadband streaming) in real time. Utilizing specific search criteria, the system retrieves and translates information from the indexed files, and displays content using a standards-based, Internet-enabled browser.

Technologies such as Automated Speech Recognition, Speaker Identification, Named Entity Detection, Topic Classification, and Story Segmentation have been integrated into the Media Mining System, and together produce comprehensively indexed files from the media stream input.

Businesses can turn indexed media into an easily accessible, organized, and powerful information resource. The system’s modular structure can be easily scaled to match a clients’ specific needs. Applications can range from broadcast news transcription and indexing, digital media asset management, and video editing and cataloging to corporate education, presentation indexing, and call center data mining.

Founded in 1986, Uptime Integrated Systems, Inc, is a technology industry leader with corporate offices in Los Angeles and operating divisions throughout California, New York, and New Jersey. The company’s business IT solutions include systems integration, custom application development, network management, disaster recovery, security, remote access, video and data streaming, and teleconferencing. Providing full service systems integration, UIS utilizes today’s advanced technologies and is prepared to develop hardware and software strategies to enhance its clients’ abilities to manage current operations and offer the versatility for future growth. For more information go to www.uptimeis.com.

SAIL LABS Technology (from ‘Speech–Artificial-Intelligence–Language Laboratories’) is one of the world’s leading innovators in the field of Speech Technology and ‘Natural Language Understanding.’ In the company’s locations in Europe and the USA, speech experts are creating and deploying leading-edge speech technology solutions. SAIL LABS Technology’s products address the high-value speech technology markets of spoken dialog systems, media indexing, and media mining. Together with a global network of partners SAIL LABS provides comprehensive solutions for vertical markets. Continuous innovation at the leading edge of linguistic and IT research drives the SAIL LABS vision of creating technologies that enable spontaneous human-machine interaction. For more information about SAIL LABS Technology, visit www.sail-technology.com.

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