Market Strategies, Inc. Publishes Innovative Benchmarking Study of IVR-Speech Recognition Systems in the Financial Services Industry

PORTLAND, Ore., May 18 -- On Thursday, May 18, 2006, Market Strategies, Inc. (MSI) a full-service, custom and syndicated research and strategic consulting firm, announced the publication of its 2006 Financial Services Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Benchmarking Study for banks, credit cards and auto finance companies. Included in the study are touchtone (TT), Automated Speech Recognition (ASR) and combination TT-ASR systems.

MSI's innovative IVR-ASR benchmarking study examines system effectiveness from both the company and customer perspective and focuses on:

  *  Functionality - Does it have what customers are calling about?
  *  Usability - Does it allow system navigation in a user-friendly manner?
  *  Aesthetics - How good are the pace, tone and overall system quality?

"The uniqueness of this study is that it benchmarks banks, credit cards and auto finance companies on how well they achieve a balance between having internally-focused functional efficiency and customer-focused user attributes," says Mark Camack, Market Strategies' Vice President and IVR-ASR Practice Lead. "The large majority of individual attributes rated in this study are based upon objective criteria established by MSI's system evaluators, who are veterans of call centers, and are usability specialists and market researchers who have interacted with thousands of customers on this topic." He added, "Of note, this is the first time that a speech-recognition system also achieves top honors in our benchmarking, although our most significant finding across technologies is that these systems are function rich and usability poor."

MSI's senior consulting staff evaluated 30 IVR-ASR systems in the Financial Services (including checking and savings accounts and mortgages) as well as Auto Finance industries. Systems not included in the original benchmark can be added to the study for only the cost of the report purchase. Included systems that have changed since the evaluation period will be re- rated for no additional cost beyond the initial report purchase.

  The top tier of systems in overall ratings include (in rank order):

  --  US Bank(R) (Worldperks Visa(R));
  --  Bank of America (credit card)
  --  Discover(R) Card
  --  Lexus Financial Services
  --  Washington Mutual (savings)
  --  Comerica (MasterCard(R))
  --  American Express(R) (Green Card)
  --  Ford Motor Credit
  --  US Bank(R) (checking)
  --  Comerica (checking)

The study report contains over 100 pages of benchmarking charts, tables, graphics and analysis, including:

* Best in class system design criteria for both touchtone IVR and ASR systems, along with migration strategies to speech; do's and don'ts; typical (and often costly) mistakes we've seen over the years.

* Main menus and ratings for each system on functionality, usability, aesthetics and overall, broken into top, middle and bottom tier ratings.

* High-level insights and commentary on each system. Learn from other systems and see what they do and how they do it!

The report's publication date is June 1, 2006 at the sale price of $4,995, with a pre-publication discount price of $3,995 currently available. Subscription to the study will include several additional features. Purchasing companies will receive a free, proprietary teleconference and analysis tailored to that company's IVR-ASR menu structure with MSI's expert system evaluators. Companies not initially included in the benchmark report will be added and compared, and will receive the custom teleconference, all for the same purchase price. Companies already included in the report that wish to include additional systems to the benchmark analysis will pay an additional $2,500 per system, beyond the original sale price for the report.

As an added, optional bonus, any company that purchases the report will also receive a discount, equivalent to the publication purchase price of the report on any Market Strategies' IVR-ASR workshop completed during 2006. The workshop covers IVR menus and scripts in-depth, with instant deliverables designed to help a company save money (from reduced telecommunications charges due to reduced verbiage and enhanced call routing), become more efficient with fewer misdirected calls, improve utilization of automated functions and enhance customer satisfaction. This means the customized $25,000 IVR workshop will be offered to report purchasers for $20,000 ... so the report literally pays for itself.

Order now or email Mark Camack (tel: 503.416.8507) for more information.

Sign up for MSI's online webinar about the study, detailing the benchmark findings and report highlights, on Thursday, June 8, 2006, 2 p.m. EDT (1 p.m. CDT/noon MDT/11 a.m. PDT).

Receive a complimentary copy of Market Strategies Forum, MSI's latest newsletter on automated speech recognition.

This expert study was conducted and written by MSI's four senior IVR-ASR system evaluators and usability specialists. Evaluations were conducted on 30 phone systems on March 30-31 and April 6, 2006. All systems were called and transcribed. Account number access was provided by MSI volunteers. MSI uses a proprietary rating system with equivalent maximum scores for functionality, usability and aesthetics for all companies, regardless of industry segment, which makes all ratings directly comparative. Results are qualitative, as they represent the expert opinions of MSI's trained IVR-ASR evaluation specialists. Objective evaluation criteria were used with the exception of aesthetics, which contributed a maximum of 30 points to a total maximum of 230 points (100 points maximum each for functionality and usability).

Established in 1989, MSI goes above and beyond in delivering unparalleled insight, innovative tools and unique solutions that positively impact clients' ability to succeed. MSI is the 19th largest research firm in the US according to "Honomichl Top 50," published in the June 2005 issue of Marketing News. Corporate headquarters are located in Livonia, MI with regional offices in: Portland, OR; Washington, DC; and New Providence, NJ. Please visit http://www.marketstrategies.com/ for more information.

Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click appropriate link. Mark J. Camack http://profnet.prnewswire.com/ud_public.jsp?userid=10021359