Allfirst Bank Chooses Syntellect to Optimize Its Customer Relationship Management
Business Editors
PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 18, 2002--Syntellect Inc. (NASDAQ: SYNL), a global leader in speech-enabled customer, employee and supply-chain self-service software solutions and hosted services, today announced that it has been awarded a contract by Allfirst Bank to design and implement a Vista Interactive Media Response (IMR) solution. The solution -- made possible in part by Syntellect's recently validated Vista IMR Integration Feature for Siebel Systems eBusiness Applications -- is expected to help Allfirst improve its customers' telephone experience, whether self-service or agent-assisted.
"The new system from Syntellect, consisting of over 300 IVR ports with CTI functionality for 250 agents, will guide the front-end conversation and information-gathering process for all callers, who will be able to complete a self-service transaction or at any time choose to be transferred to a live agent," said Eileen Battee, vice president, Customer Contact Center at Allfirst Bank. "We anticipate that this will improve agent call handling, reduce average call length, and increase customer satisfaction and retention. The same information can even be forwarded to a fellow agent for optimal servicing," Battee added.
"We have recently invested in Siebel 7.0, a state-of-the-art customer relationship management (CRM) system; and once it is operational, we plan to maximize its effectiveness by integrating it with Syntellect's Vista IMR self-service software solution," Battee said. "When integrated, the unified solution will provide a full-service history of both assisted and self-service voice interactions, allowing the agent to better serve the caller. Integrated reporting, for call center managers to optimize service effectiveness, will also be provided."
"Our old IVR system needed to be replaced, and we scoured the market for the best vendor and product available," said Chuck Hersl, senior vice president for Allfirst Bank. "We chose Syntellect's Vista IMR solution due to its full-featured software platform. This allows us to speed our deployment and simplify ongoing system management. We contacted several Syntellect customers, whose input gave us confidence in the company's ability to successfully deploy an integrated solution including installation, project management, functional specification and test plan development, training, and even professional voice recording services. We expect that the Syntellect solution will be an integral part of Allfirst Bank's CRM strategy for years to come," Hersl added.
About Syntellect Inc.
Founded in 1984, Syntellect has sold more than 7,000 interactive voice response systems in 55 countries. Vista IMR, our fourth-generation voice processing software platform, is the only open, standards-based, software platform available from a major supplier that runs on servers utilizing Microsoft's Windows NT and 2000(R) operating systems and supports custom industry and company specific applications written in the Java and VoiceXML programming languages. Syntellect is a leader in speech recognition based self-service solutions having delivered over 70 enterprise-class implementations. Syntellect solutions give customers, employees, suppliers and partners real-time access to business information, self-service applications and online transactions wherever they reside via phone, fax, e-mail or the Web. Designed to be deployed on our customers' premises, within Syntellect's hosted service facility, or a combination of both, our technology, and systems integration expertise help enterprises take advantage of solutions that increase customer satisfaction, deliver incremental revenue, reduce costs, and enhance employee productivity. For solutions that talk, talk to Syntellect. Call us in the U.S. at 1.800.788.9733, or in the U.K. +44 (0) 1628 897500, or visit us on the Web at www.syntellect.com.
About Allfirst Financial Inc.
Allfirst Financial Inc. is a regional, diversified financial services company headquartered in Baltimore, Md., offering a full range of financial services including banking, trust, investment and insurance to retail, business and commercial customers. Its banking subsidiary, Allfirst Bank, operates 260 bank branches and 597 ATMs throughout Maryland, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Northern Virginia, and Delaware. Allfirst Financial Inc.'s assets were $17.9 billion as of March 31, 2002. Information about Allfirst Financial is available at www.allfirst.com.
This news release contains forward-looking statements based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, technological or market changes that affect the use of telecommunications or interactive media response technology, dependence on maintaining and improving current products and services and developing new products and services, the loss of licenses for technology embedded in our products, the loss of key personnel and the inability to attract additional skilled personnel, and other additional cautionary factors discussed in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
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