synermind idan gelbourt asaf navon itai ra’anan yoav reshef ziv yiermeyahu the wisdom of synergy

SynerMind

Idan Gelbourt

Asaf Navon

Itai Ra’anan

Yoav Reshef

Ziv Yiermeyahu

The Wisdom of Synergy

Vision

“Developing a new kind of intelligence,

and a human mind’s abilities”

By combining a Computational power

Market Call Center

• Call Centers kinds:

– Tourism, Sales, Banking, Computers etc.

– Information Queries, Consulting, Costumers services

• CC employees In USA = 1% the American work force

• Over 70% of Call Centers costs are labor costs

• A CRM division

• Growing market

• Constant conflict: service vs. cost

Technology Development

Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

1st G: DTMF

2nd G: Voice Menus

The future:3rd G: NLU

SynerMind

The Pain – Voice Menu

• Menus are stiff• Number of options in each menu is limited• Number of menus is limited• Voice recognition errors

Market available for VM is limited

Quality of service is not high

The Pain - NLU

• Computers cannot “understand” natural language!

• The progress in the field is slow.

No breakthrough is expected in the near future.

The Product

Our solution

1. SynMenu, An advanced smart voice menu, which in addition to the usual menu capabilities manages the communication between the computer and an online human Operator.

The application schedules the “understanding” tasks between the computer and the human and manages the control between these two.

Integrating a human operator in the computerized voice response system for online support .

Example

“Hello, you’ve reached SynerMind’s prototype, a simulation of Citi Banks’ Call Center. This is James, your computerized banker, What is your name?”

“George”

“What is your account number?”

“XXXX”

Caller 1 Caller 2

“What is your request?”

“I would like to open a saving account”

“I’m sorry, could you repeat your request?”

“I’d like to open a saving account.”

“I understand that you want a saving program.Let me recommend the one we have today on sale…”

Example

)Failure(

Caller 2Caller 1

Features and Capabilities

• Menu with certain open questions – SynMenu can cover most of the call centers functions

• Smart Menu - decisions on line• Unique graphical interface• Several response possibilities for the agent.• Learning system• Modules of control and supervision – online

and offline

Architecture

Prototype Performances

• The test:– 2 callers, 3 calls each, a few times.– 1 agent handling the exceptions

• For comparison (calls on average):– Normal call length: 50 seconds

• As a result of using SynerMind:– Agent time for each call: 9 seconds

Prototype Performances

• Average time spent by an agent: down 82%

• An agent can handle (on average):

more then 5 calls at once.

• Average time/call for client: no change

• For all calls going through the system the call center can use only 18% of it’s labor

BenefitsLower Operational Costs

Shorter time spent on each call Fewer agents needed – significant savings

Increased RevenuesResources saving – allocating human agents to

complex tasks such as sales

Increased customer satisfaction and retentionHigher error resolution, less holding time, easier

navigation, less abandoned calls

Unique capabilities and featuresA single agent handles multiple callers, agent voice

response, first sentence redirection etc…

Competitive Advantage

NewMarkets

ImmediateMarket

Entrance

LeadingFuture

Progress

Strategy Guidelines

• Fast entry to the market – get market share• Enhance the system as we go• After launching the product: acquire NLU

capabilities for the next product generation

• Using technology developments in recognition and understanding to improve our product

Development Plan

• Prototype

• Pilot at a simple call center

• Pilot at a complex call center

• SynMenu 1.0

Bezeq 144 –Simple Call Center

• Record & Play: simple system, Minimal voice recognition.• Our incentive:

– Implementing with systems in a call center, Testing a part of the concept, Making a connection with a big Integrator (Alcatel)

• Bezeq’s incentive:– Building a program suited to it’s needs– A possibility to upgrade to NLU with us– Very competitive price:

• Location, Cheap resources, Imitations of existing solutions, Not our flagship product

The Market

The Voice Market

time

Sep. 2000

Nuance =

150$ /shareJuly 2002

Nuance =

3.8$ / share

SynerMind

Voice Market

Value

Customers

• Criteria for voice applications

• 3 alternative call centers:– In-House - Alone– Full Outsource– In-House - with an Integrator

Integrators (Coopetition)

• Nortel Networks

• Accenture

• Alcatel

• Ness

CompetitorsTop Shipments of IVR ports, US, 2000

12%

10%

8%

7%6%5%4%2%2%

44%

InterVoice-Brite Nortel Avaya

Edify Intel Interactive Intelligence

Aspect Syntellect IBM

Others

Financial Plan

Estimated Burn Rate

• Based on industry assumptions of USD 8000 per employee per month.

First year’s total costs: 1.2M USD.

2002Q4 2003Q1 2003Q2 2003Q3

Personnel 5 10 15 17

Quarterly cost 150,000 180,000 300,000 384,000

with 20% safty margin

180,000 216,000 360,000 460,800

Pricing the Product

• One-time costs:– Software license

– Hardware costs

– 3rd party software license

– Customization

– Implementation

• Recurring costs:– Maintenance (software, hardware, 3rd party software)

– Support

Revenues

2003H1 2003H2 2004H1 2004H2

New Customers Small 1 2 3 4 Medium 0 1 1 3 Large 0 0 1 1One-Time Revenues 92.5 370 832.5 1295Recurring Revenues 10 50 139 278Total 102.5 420 971.5 1573

All sums are in 1000’s of US Dollars

3rd party costs (Hardware, Software) have been subtracted from these figures

Prices are based on comparative system prices from other companies such as Nuance, Speechworks etc

Revenues

102.5

420

971.5

1573

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600T

ho

usa

nd

s o

f U

SD

2003H1 2003H2 2004H1 2004H2

Tim e

Forecasted Revenue, 2003 & 2004: ~ USD 3.1M

Risks

• Educating customers – change in concept

• Volatile market

• Long and expensive integration

• High competition - imitation

Rewards

• Wealthy customers• Big and growing market

certainly a paradigm shift

• Unrealized potential – voice products• Potential market leader• Short term ROI

– 100-agent call center, 3M$ annual costs w/o SynerMind

– SynerMind saving: 900K$ annually, ROI: 6-7 months.

Thank You,

SynerMind July, 2002