Nuance Extends Business and Consulting Capability in Australia

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - Nuance Communications today released details of its expanded enterprise services operation in Australia and New Zealand, key to which is the acquisition of iTa (Information Technologies Australia), a highly successful Australian automated customer services provider.

The strategic investment in broadening its delivery capability will help Nuance meet customer demand for comprehensive contact centre solutions. The deal combines Nuance’s market leading speech recognition technology, professional services and user interface design capabilities with iTa’s products and strong delivery capability in contact centre solutions.

“Our customers have been asking us to provide a broader range of products and services to help them satisfy growing expectations for dynamic, intuitive and multi-channel customer service,” said Peter Chidiac, Managing Director, Nuance Australia and New Zealand. “By broadening our local delivery capability we are in an even better position to provide a total customer solution, blending self-service and proactive outbound care with mobile applications and agent productivity.”

Nuance will increase its vertical industry reach and offer an expanded portfolio of system integration capabilities as a result of the acquisition, covering business consulting services, computer telephony integration products (CTI) and managed services. The business consulting team will help customers integrate the next generation of customer care technology, including mobile care and voice biometrics.

“We’re excited to bring iTa’s exceptional talent into the Nuance fold. iTa’s success has been built on a commitment to customer outcomes, technical innovation and a flexible and entrepreneurial approach. We will protect and nurture these special brand strengths,” said Nick Buckle, CEO of iTa. “The combined organisation will provide customers with access to unrivalled local resources in the Australia/New Zealand marketplace, with outstanding experience in designing and delivering automated customer interaction solutions.”

Nuance helps companies maximise call centre performance and optimise the complete caller experience through effective customer interaction solutions for customer support centres. Nuance becomes one of the largest providers of customer interaction solutions in the Australian market, as a result of the acquisition.

Over the years, Nuance and iTa have delivered many of the high profile customer interaction projects in Australia and New Zealand including Telstra’s intelligent call routing system Centrelink’s voice biometrics system and FOXTEL’s open speech and self-service solution.

iTa’s executive team will remain with Nuance to continue growing the business they have helped build. The combined organisation will be united under the Nuance brand as part of the global Nuance Enterprise Services line of business, which in addition to its expanded service portfolio, will continue its current business model of supporting and developing existing partner relationships.

About Nuance Communications
Nuance is a leading provider of speech, imaging and customer interaction solutions for businesses and consumers around the world. Its technologies, applications and services make the user experience more compelling by transforming the way people interact with information and how they create, share and use documents. Every day, millions of users and thousands of businesses experience Nuance’s proven applications and professional services. For more information, please visit: www.nuance.com.