EPX Teams with Audium to Offer Voice Application for Internet Orders Purchased by Phone
System enables Internet merchants to cost-effectively increase sales by offering telephone payment option to consumers
New Castle, Del (May 21, 2001) - Electronic Payment Exchange (EPX), a full-service payment processing company, has partnered with Audium, an innovative leader in the emerging Voice Web space, to offer its clients PaySafe, a low cost, automated solution that allows consumers to complete online transactions through any phone.
PaySafe gives consumers an additional payment option when ordering items from an Internet storefront. After filling their shopping cart, consumers may choose to pay over the phone, and are provided with a toll-free number and unique order code to access the PaySafe application. Shoppers call in, enter their order ID to authenticate, listen as their invoice is read, and then speak their credit card number into the phone to complete their purchase. Authorization approval codes, as well as the data needed to fulfill the order, are transmitted and processed within seconds.
"In today`s market, merchants are looking for cost-effective ways to increase their sales, but do not want to invest in an unproven infrastructure that may, or may not, work for their business," explains Ray Moyer, CEO of EPX, "PaySafe addresses their needs by enabling merchants to provide an alternative to online order forms, while minimizing their investment risk. PaySafe is much less expensive than operating or outsourcing a call center, and merchants are only charged if a consumer uses the PaySafe system - proving that they`ve gained a sale."
Audium has developed PaySafe on its standards-based Voice Application Server, allowing EPX`s merchants to deploy Paysafe with minimal infrastructure changes at greatly reduced costs. The highly scalable application offers features such as speech recognition, personalization, and robust order tracking and reporting.
"EPX has long demonstrated a commitment to providing best-of-class, comprehensive payment services to their clients," said Michael Bergelson, President and CEO of Audium, "Integrating our Paysafe application with EPX`s processing platform clearly demonstrates the value that voice applications can add to existing business processes. We`re thrilled to have found a partner like EPX who is willing to embrace voice technologies and take the lead in this exciting new market."
Merchants can license the application from EPX and Audium on a per-transaction basis, with fee-structures based on overall transaction volume. Items purchased with Paysafe will appear the same in a merchant`s system as purchases made using an online order form.
About EPX
Founded in 1979, EPX is a full-service ePayment processing company, which specializes in enabling businesses to accept credit card, debit card and electronic check transactions. Notable EPX milestones have included: processing the first Internet credit card and electronic check transactions, developing the first real-time transaction reporting website and creating the first merchant financial risk transfer processing guarantee for banks. EPX has a vast array of clients, from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies, and currently processes over $5 billion in Internet transactions a year. For more information visit www.epx.com.
About Audium
Audium Corporation provides the most comprehensive development platform available for next-generation (VoiceXML-based) voice applications. These systems leverage both advanced speech and web technologies (e.g., personalization) to improve the automated phone system for customer-service and mobile Internet access. Audium`s Voice Application Server accelerates the development of feature-rich, scalable voice applications using the VoiceXML standard that can be run through multiple telephony hosting platforms. For more information on Audium, please visit www.audiumcorp.com or call (212) 609-4000.
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