Science & Technology 
Science and Technology
Science and Technology 
Wed, February 11, 2009
Tue, February 10, 2009
Ditech Networks to Enable Voice-Based Interaction With Web, Social Networks During Mobile Phone Calls
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--[ Ditech Networks ] (NASDAQ:DITC), a global leader in mobile voice solutions, today announced that it will soon launch mStage, a revolutionary network-based platform for mobile carriers that allows the web to become part of a voice conversation. mStage will enable mobile subscribers to use their voice as well as their thumbs to interact with web applications like social networking and IM on-demand, even during a phone call. Through its open API, mStage is designed to allow web developers to effectively integrate voice into applications built for the mStage platform, enabling mobile carriers to continuously innovate, create additional demand, and increase revenue opportunities for mStage-enabled networks.
mStage will empower users to bypass keyboards, touch screens, and styluses to employ the most intuitive access method available — the human voice. Engaged with one word spoken in the midst of a phone call, mStage will instantly connect callers with the web where they can interact in a variety of ways, including checking email, communicating with social networks, researching local entertainment, and so on. mStage is also being designed to allow the web to reach out to a subscriber while in a call in the form of a ‘whisper' message that could be an important reminder or an IM message from a friend. This addresses two of the primary challenges facing carriers today — declining per-minute voice usage and lack of a compelling, sustainable value add in the mobile application marketplace.
"The voice application market has experienced a great deal of recent growth. While this looks promising, most of these apps rely on time-intensive, costly, or unsustainable means of supporting or initiating their service, such as calling a toll free number to access the application or depending on manual speech-to-text entry, all of which stand in the way of full-scale adoption," said Andy Seybold, renowned mobile industry analyst and CEO of Andrew Seybold, Inc., a strategic consulting firm. "With mStage, Ditech is taking the logical step of handing voice applications over to the experts — the carriers. By combining a network-based solution with an Open API, carriers will be able to offer a seamless, always-on voice application to the subscriber."
As a provider of carrier-grade voice processing platforms that handle billions of calls annually for mobile operators, Ditech is leveraging this expertise to develop a carrier-grade product capable of supporting heavy traffic loads. mStage is a media processing platform, which is being designed for installation at either the core or edge of a network based on traffic requirements. This allows the service to be scalable, cost-effective, and available to every subscriber on any call, expanding the use of voice in carrier networks beyond typical point-to-point phone service.
"With mStage, Ditech is aiming to help carriers avoid the ‘pipes and ports' scenario, and allowing them to reinvent their business model by offering on-demand voice services that provide subscribers with significant incremental value," said Hossein Eslambolchi, former AT&T CTO and technical advisor for Ditech Networks. "mStage will make voice relevant again, empowering mobile carriers to leverage this valuable technology within the mobile application market for the first time. mStage will provide mobile carriers with a creative method of engaging in the web application and social media revolution using the most intuitive tool of all — the human voice."
Ditech plans commercial availability of mStage in the third quarter of calendar year 2009 and will be demonstrating it at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona February 16-19, 2009 at booth # 2E35 (2-0).
About Ditech Networks
Ditech Networks is revolutionizing modern communications with advanced voice processing solutions that perform tasks spanning from voice-enabled Web 2.0 and unified communications services to network and speech enhancement. Ditech believes in the power and simplicity of human speech; its technology delivers compelling voice capabilities to new communications methods like social networking and text messaging, allowing consumers to use voice in ways that make sense in today's Web 2.0-savvy world.
Leveraging over 15 years of deployments with communications providers around the world, Ditech's products help global communications companies meet the multiple challenges of service differentiation, network expansion and call capacity, by delivering consistent, dependable voice quality. Ditech's customers include Verizon, Sprint/Nextel, Orascom Telecom, AT&T, Telus, Global Crossing and West Corporation. Ditech Networks is headquartered in Mountain View, California. For more information, visit [ www.ditechnetworks.com ].
Forward Looking Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding Ditech Networks' expectations of the capabilities of and the benefits from using mStage, and the timing of commercial availability of mStage. Actual performance of mStage could differ materially as a result of unanticipated factors and events, including that mStage is currently in product development, and Ditech could experience unexpected difficulties in the development of mStage. The timing of commercial availability of mStage could be delayed in the event any such unexpected difficulties arise. Further risks inherent in the development by Ditech Networks of new products, such as mStage, are detailed in the "Future Growth and Operating Results Subject to Risk" in Part I, Item 2 of Ditech Networks' Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended October 31, 2008 (filed December 8, 2008, with the Securities and Exchange Commission).
Ditech Networks, mStage, Voice Quality Assurance and VQABlue are trademarks or registered trademarks of Ditech Networks, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.