Nuance Powers Pegasus Airlines’ Voice Portal in Turkey

Pegasus Airlines’ new Customer Information Portal uses Nuance speech recognition and text-to-speech technology to gain customer satisfaction and optimize costs

Belgium, Ghent – September 19, 2007 Nuance Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: NUAN), a leading provider of speech and imaging solutions, has today announced that its advanced speech recognition and text-to-speech technology is being used in a Customer Information Portal application deployed by Pegasus Airlines. Providing customers with an easy-to-use interface for flight and other related information, the new system allows callers to simply state their destination, departure point and date of flight to immediately access the required flight information. Pegasus is the first Turkish airline company to adopt a Speech Application Service for handling flight information calls.

Pegasus Airlines’ call centre is open 24/7, and can be reached by dialing 444 0 737 from anywhere in Turkey. Launched in July 2007 by Pegasus Airlines, all flight information calls are handled by VIASES, a Turkish-language Interactive Voice Response (IVR) service, allowing redeployment of human agents where they are more valuable. To purchase tickets, make reservations and request advice on a flight, callers are helped by a Pegasus Airlines agent. In a second phase scheduled for 2008, sales and reservation calls will be answered by IVR as well, increasing the volume and capacity of the call centre to handle an increasing number of calls.

“The call centre manages approximately 8,000 to 9,000 calls per day, and productivity is a real blocking point with call volume changing dramatically within days or between months. By pre-qualifying the calls made to the call centre, a significant proportion of them are now handled by speech-enabled IVR. The voice solution has enabled Pegasus Airlines to increase its productivity and boost customer satisfaction, while at the same time optimising costs,” said Güliz Öztürk, Operation Manager of Pegasus Airlines.

Steve Miller, Senior VP and General Manager Nuance International said: “The deployment at Pegasus Airlines is an excellent example of how speech technology can heighten the customer experience, while addressing internal issues such as controlling costs and maximizing the effectiveness of the company’s existing call centre team. The application of IVR proves the business benefit of speech technology, and the value it can return back to the business in a very short time-frame.”

The speech-enabled IVR was developed by Speechouse, a service provider that uses speech recognition and synthesis engines powered by Nuance. Together with Pegasus Airlines, Speechouse has run the project and application developments, using Nuance’s guidance and expertise. Before developing the speech-enabled IVR, Speechouse analysed call volumes and studied recorded calls during a period of four months. First results of a study of the speech-enabled application show that 85 percent of the information calls are handled without the encounter of a call centre agent. The caller satisfaction level is particularly high with customers receiving the information they need without being put on hold. Both Speechouse and Pegasus Airlines agree that these are very satisfying results, setting a performance precedent since it’s the first speech-enabled IVR service being applied in the airline sector in Turkey.

Other leading airlines such as United, Air France, Delta, Lufthansa and Qantas have already installed speech solutions from Nuance to improve the overall customer experience. Travellers can access schedules, check reservation status, or book tickets simply using the power of their voice and phone. Speech solutions from Nuance allow callers to complete self-service tasks more naturally and accurately, while providing intuitive and immediate access to a live agent for more complicated problems. Nuance® automated applications meet the customers’ need to get information quickly and accurately, giving customers an improved perception of the company.

About Pegasus Airlines

Pegasus Airlines is established in 1990 and operating successfully since then. In the beginning of 2005, Pegasus is bought by Esas Holding which is owned by SABANCI family, a well known Turkish family in Turkey. Until November 2005, Pegasus was operating on charter basis and with the new owner and the new strategies, in November 2005, they have started domestic scheduled flights and as of this year, they have also scheduled international flights to Germany, Switzerland, UK, Denmark and North Cyprus.

About Speechouse

Formed in 2006, SPEECHOUSE offers to furnish its customers with solutions using best of breed Speech technologies that use natural speech to give information or perform transactions over the phone. SPEECHOUSE uses Speech Recognition, Voice Verification and Text-to-Speech technologies to offer services designed to meet the specific needs of its customers, thus helping companies to successfully meet the high call volumes confronted at live environments and enabling them to reduce operational costs, improve customer satisfaction, increase revenue, differentiate and stay ahead of the competition.

About Nuance Communications, Inc.

Nuance (NASDAQ: NUAN) is a leading provider of speech and imaging 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 Nuance.com.

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