Turin, July 2nd 2008

Loquendo, global provider of speech technology, and H-Care, leader in developing multi-channel platforms for self-service and customer care, have revolutionized the customer's online experience with a range of customer care solutions for diverse sectors right across the globe.

H-Care's Human Digital Assistants (HDAs) are avatars that speak thanks to Loquendo TTS. HDAs have found success in a variety of sectors – e.g. as the voice guide for the Fiat online showroom and on Telecom Italia's www.187.it customer care portal.

Now HDAs can also help customers navigate the websites of TIM Brazil and Lottomatica. Visitors to www.tim.com.br can check their bills and make payments online with the help of Tim Brazil's virtual guide - who simplifies yet at the same time enriches the customer online experience, and who can also be found in the kiosks of TIM Brazil flagship stores all over the country. Lottomatica's online assistant, Vicky, helps visitors to find their way around www.better.it - where they can see all the latest results and place bets online. Winners receive a real-time, personalised MMS featuring the animated face of Vicky with the voice of Loquendo TTS.

With the MMS Campaign Management solution, customers receive a short video message featuring one of H-Care's HDAs. MMS Campaign Management is ideal for: marketing campaigns, mobile newscasts, prize winner notification, reminders to pay bills or renew insurance policies, etc., the list of applications is endless.

The MMS Campaign Management solution is also ideal for multimedia kiosks, which focus the customer's attention on targeted products and information: the HDA avatar is wired to a sensor and camera which identify any new customers in the vicinity of the kiosk, after which the terminal directs audio-visual stimuli towards them, enticing them to come closer.
Those who respond will discover that the HDA has transformed the kiosk into a truly interactive experience, displaying targeted information or current promotions, inviting customers to use the terminal and guiding them through its contents. The kiosk is easily adapted to different applications and diverse environments such as department stores, wholesale and retail shops, and banks.

H-Care's innovative Human Digital Assistants feature the expressive voices of Loquendo TTS in all major languages, and help clients to navigate websites or check their bills online, guide them through payment procedures, promotional offers, or help them choose the product that best fits their requirements.

HDAs have been developed by H-Care using their breakthrough animation technology, which enables eyes and face to move in a truly realistic way and fully synched-in with the voice, alongside the award-winning Loquendo TTS, which gives unparalleled fluency and an impressive emotional range.

"H-Care has integrated Loquendo TTS to create customer care solutions that are informative, expressive and fun to use," says Saverio Ricchiuto, Loquendo Area Sales Manager for Italy. "Now visitors to a huge number of websites in all sectors are navigating their way around with ease thanks to the groundbreaking partnership between H-Care and Loquendo."

"The ability to have HDAs integrated with the relevant corporate information sources - such as CRM, Billing, CMS – allows the creation of truly personalized interactions between the avatar and the targeted customer", says Umberto Basso, H-care Founder and CEO. "HDAs are unique in the space of Virtual Assisted Services being able to offer personalized and human-like experiences through every contact channel."

About H-Care
H-Care is the leading developer of multi-channel software platforms for self-service and customer care. The company's award-winning Human Digital Assistant platform allows to build a digital persona who can manage typical tasks performed by call center staff and can be deployed on web portals, mobile devices, IP set-top-boxes, and kiosks, vastly improving the customer experience, and contributing to significant operational savings.
Its technologies are used by customers like Telecom Italia, Fiat, Lottomatica, Eni, Toyota Financial Services, Wind, TIM Brasil.

H-care is a winner of Red Herring 100 Europe, an award given to one of the top 100 private technology companies based in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region each year. The Red Herring 100 Europe was awarded to H-care following analysis of hundreds of technology companies in EMEA, based on financial data and subjective criteria - including quality of management, execution of strategy and dedication to R&D.

H-care is a company in the Comdata Group – www.comdata.it
For more information about H-care and the Human Digital Assistant platform, please visit www.h-care.it

About Loquendo - Vocal Technology and Services
Winner of "Market Leader - Best Speech Engine" at the 2007 Speech Industry Awards, Loquendo is the leading innovator in speech recognition and speech synthesis - providing a complete range of technologies for server, embedded and desktop solutions. Currently available in 23 languages with 57 voices, and constantly growing, Loquendo’s best-in-breed technologies enhance customer satisfaction and greatly reduce costs.

Loquendo TTS, Loquendo ASR, Loquendo Embedded Technologies, and Loquendo Speaker Identification and Verification are high-quality, high-performance technologies which are also available on the Loquendo MRCP Server and VoiceXML and CCXML platforms.

Loquendo Embedded Technologies are innovative and easy to integrate solutions that can be found powering navigation systems, on-board devices and virtual assistants on the websites of leading companies all over the world.

Loquendo is a Telecom Italia company headquartered in Turin, Italy, with offices in the US, Spain, Germany and France, and a worldwide network of partners.

For more information about Loquendo, and to hear demos of all Loquendo voices, go to www.loquendo.com.