<s>
SpeechWorks	B-General_Concept
was	O
a	O
company	O
founded	O
in	O
Boston	O
in	O
1994	O
by	O
speech	B-Application
recognition	I-Application
pioneer	O
Mike	O
Phillips	O
and	O
Bill	O
O'Farrell	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Originally	O
known	O
as	O
Applied	O
Language	O
Technologies	O
,	O
SpeechWorks	B-General_Concept
went	O
public	O
in	O
2000	O
and	O
tripled	O
its	O
value	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
's	O
main	O
focus	O
was	O
bringing	O
speech	B-Application
recognition	I-Application
solutions	O
to	O
phone	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SpeechWorks	B-General_Concept
technology	O
was	O
uniquely	O
suited	O
for	O
these	O
applications	O
because	O
it	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
software	O
that	O
offered	O
a	O
human-sounding	O
voice	O
that	O
asked	O
callers	O
questions	O
which	O
they	O
could	O
verbally	O
answer	O
,	O
allowed	O
callers	O
to	O
interrupt	O
the	O
software	O
before	O
it	O
concluded	O
reciting	O
a	O
list	O
of	O
options	O
,	O
and	O
could	O
learn	O
from	O
previous	O
calls	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
add	O
new	O
vocabulary	O
to	O
its	O
database	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
services	O
were	O
largely	O
successful	O
:	O
SpeechWorks	B-General_Concept
client	O
Thrifty	O
car	O
rentals	O
used	O
this	O
service	O
to	O
give	O
pricing	O
information	O
to	O
callers	O
,	O
and	O
90%	O
of	O
surveyed	O
customers	O
who	O
interacted	O
with	O
it	O
expressed	O
that	O
the	O
service	O
either	O
met	O
or	O
exceeded	O
their	O
ease	O
of	O
use	O
expectations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SpeechWorks	B-General_Concept
 '	O
clients	O
were	O
typically	O
in	O
the	O
financial	O
services	O
,	O
telecommunications	O
,	O
and	O
travel	O
industries	O
,	O
and	O
included	O
FedEx	O
,	O
United	O
Airlines	O
,	O
Amtrak	O
,	O
Thrifty	O
car	O
rentals	O
,	O
and	O
others	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SpeechWorks	B-General_Concept
also	O
developed	O
“	O
multi-modal	O
”	O
and	O
text-to-speech	O
technology	O
as	O
early	O
as	O
2001	O
that	O
enabled	O
people	O
to	O
use	O
spoken	O
commands	O
to	O
navigate	O
cell	O
phones	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Speechify	O
Solo	O
was	O
a	O
text-to-speech	O
software	O
released	O
by	O
Speechworks	B-General_Concept
in	O
2002	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
service	O
was	O
developed	O
in	O
partnership	O
with	O
Quack.com,	O
a	O
voice	O
portal	O
company	O
owned	O
by	O
AOL	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Quack.com	B-Application
utilized	O
SpeechWorks	B-General_Concept
 '	O
Speechify	O
software	O
to	O
power	O
the	O
service	O
's	O
voice	O
recognition	O
capabilities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Two	O
years	O
later	O
,	O
in	O
2002	O
,	O
AOL	O
purchased	O
$5	O
million	O
of	O
SpeechWorks	B-General_Concept
stock	O
,	O
equivalent	O
to	O
1%	O
of	O
the	O
company	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SpeechWorks	B-General_Concept
purchased	O
Ithaca	O
based	O
Eloquent	O
Technologies	O
,	O
Inc	O
.	O
in	O
2000	O
for	O
$17	O
million	O
.	O
</s>
