Metaphor and NEC Corporation of America Sign Reseller Agreement for Online IVR Applications - Hosted IVR Solution Enables Fast, Inexpensive and Scalable IVR Customer Care for Thousands of Businesses

    WELLESLEY, MA, March 15, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- NEC Corporation of America (NEC) will offer Metaphor's hosted, packaged IVR system to organizations throughout the United States through its direct sales force. NEC Corporation of America is a leading provider of innovative IT, network and communications products and solutions for service carriers, Fortune 1000 and SMB businesses across multiple vertical industries, including Healthcare, Government, Education and Hospitality.

"Our agreement with Metaphor allows us to offer our customers quality solutions that are robust, flexible, easy to deploy, and affordable," said Eyal Inbar, General Manager, Applications Portfolio at NEC Corporation of America. "NEC will integrate Metaphor's IVR and pre-packaged applications with our industry-leading technology to provide additional value to our customers as we help them generate more revenue and improve their overall customer relationships."

"This major new relationship can now cost-effectively bring the benefits of robust IVR to a broad spectrum of businesses. Combining Metaphor's online packaged IVR solution with NEC's strong integration skills and resources is an ideal combination for fast deployment of inexpensive and highly scalable IVR solutions. We've designed our online IVR Solution from the ground up for this type of relationship," said Michael Kuperstein, CEO of Metaphor Solutions, Inc.

The Metaphor online IVR solution provides over 55 pre-packaged IVR applications and supports speech recognition and touch tone call flow processing for both inbound and outbound IVR and self service applications. Each application can be quickly and easily configured and customized for specific customer requirements by configuring call flow elements, data connectivity to web services and event logging.

Although IVR or call automation has been known for many years to have much lower costs than live service agents, many businesses have not been able to afford to deploy IVR due to its very high initial start up costs. Metaphor's Plug & Play IVR Solution breaks through that barrier with its features of "Try before you buy" and "Pay only what you use".

Customers can experience live IVR applications from Metaphor, and create a free account to configure and deploy speech IVR applications by visiting the company website at www.metaphorivr.com. Examples of applications include Inbound and Outbound Customer Surveys, Proactive Notifications, Telephone Banking, Bill Collection, Payment by Phone, Insurance Claims Service, Order Status, Appointment Scheduling, Prescription Refill, Location Finder, Inventory and Pricing Request, and Catalog Request.

About NEC Corporation of America

Headquartered in Irving, Texas, NEC Corporation of America is a leading provider of innovative IT, network and communications products and solutions for service carriers, Fortune 1000 and SMB businesses across multiple vertical industries, including Healthcare, Government, Education and Hospitality. NEC Corporation of America delivers one of the industry's broadest portfolios of technology solutions and professional services, including unified communications, wireless, voice and data, managed services, server and storage infrastructure, optical network systems, microwave radio communications and biometric security. NEC Corporation of America is a wholly-owned subsidiary of NEC Corporation, a global technology leader with operations in 30 countries and more than $42 billion in revenues. For more information, please visit www.necam.com.

About Metaphor Solutions

Metaphor Solutions is a leading provider of Hosted IVR on-demand for mid-market and small businesses. Through its online Plug & Play website, Metaphor offers the largest portfolio of inbound and outbound packaged applications available and the fastest configuration, development, integration and management environment for speech IVR applications in the industry. Metaphor's extensive development and management tools enable the highest level of service quality for end-users. The applications are deployed on standards-based infrastructure for hosted or on-premise environments. Metaphor markets its applications both directly and through a network of partners and resellers. Further information and access to the Plug & Play Speech IVR website is available at www.metaphorivr.com.

Metaphor Contact:
George Adams
800-979-0480, just say "PR"
[email protected]

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