Tech Bytes: Voice-Response Quotes For Schwab Customers

Charles Schwab & Co. and Nuance Communications are using speech recognition technology to provide stock, mutual fund, and market indicator information over the phone to retail customers.

They jointly developed VoiceBroker, which can interpret and respond to inquiries on any security listed on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange, and Nasdaq, the companies said.

Callers can state the name of any of more than 13,000 stocks, funds or indicators, and hear up-to-the-minute quotes. The system is available in a dozen states and will go national over the next several months.

"The Nuance-based system is surpassing all our expectations," said Alan Nathan, Schwab's vice president of voice technologies. "We are already seeing dramatic results. A majority of VoiceBroker customers surveyed say it's easy to use and fast." - Jennifer Kingson Bloom

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