Short Takes: Fidelity: Speech-Recognition Phone System

Boston-based Fidelity Investments recently rolled out an automated speech recognition system for customers dialing in to its mutual fund supermarket.

Investors who gain access to the FundsNetwork program by telephone can now buy or sell a fund or obtain quotes, performance data, or information on a portfolio simply by saying the name of the fund into the receiver, said Matthew Sadler, a senior vice president at Fidelity.

Previously, investors had to know the fund symbol and spell it out using the Touch-Tone telephone key pad.

The capability only applies to Fidelity and third-party funds and does not apply to stocks, said Mr. Sadler.

FundsNetwork has a total of 3,400 funds-including more than 800 no- transaction-fee funds-from 330-plus families.

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