November 13, 1995

NYNEX CONTACT: Media Relations, (212) 395-0500

NYNEX VoiceDialingSM Expanded in Central New York

NEW YORK -- For more than 400,000 NYNEX customers in Central New York, placing a call is now as simple as saying a name or a place.

NYNEX has expanded its VoiceDialingSM Service to include residential and business customers in Syracuse, Utica, Rome and scores of other communities throughout the region. The advanced NYNEX service allows you to associate up to 50 numbers with particular names or places. Dialing one of those numbers is then as simple as picking up the telephone and saying the name or place associated with that number. For example, the service may be set up to allow a child to pick up the phone and say, "Daddys office," and the number for her father's office is automatically dialed by the service.

As part of the service introduction, NYNEX will waive the initial connection charges of $16 for residential customers and $56 for business customers until Dec. 15, 1995.

The technological breakthrough was developed by NYNEX Science and Technology Inc., the company research and development organization, and has been licensed for use by two other regional Bell companies -- US West and SBC, formerly Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. "VoiceDialingSM service is more than another consumer communications product," said Casimir Skrzypczak, president of NYNEX Science & Technology. "Its the worlds first glimpse into the exciting era of network-based speech recognition technology for the mass market."

Unlike other voice-activated dialing services, VoiceDialingSM does not require customers use special equipment or dial an access code before giving the telephone a spoken command. The customer also has the ability, at any time, to reprogram the service for different names, phrases or telephone numbers.

To use VoiceDialingSM, a customer picks up the telephone receiver, hears a beep after the dialtone and says a name or place. The sound of the customers voice travels within a fraction of a second over the telephone line to a speech recognizer at the VoiceDialingSM center. The speech recognizer matches the name or place to a previously stored name or place programmed by the customer. Once the match is made, the VoiceDialingSM technology connects with the switching center serving that customers home or business to complete the call.

The monthly charge for residential customers is $4.50 for 30 names or places and $5.50 for 50 names or places. For business customers, the monthly charge is $8 for 30 names or places and $10 for 50. The numbers associated with the names and places are stored in the VoiceDialingSM center and can be reviewed at any time by the customer.

The service can be used with a customers current home or business phone -- rotary or touch-tone -- and the names or places can be entered in any language.

Customers can also use VoiceDialingSM to activate other network-based services, such as Voice Messaging Service and Phonesmart features, eliminating the need to memorize access codes.

Placing the voice recognizer at a central location to serve multiple customers at the same time provides economies of scale for a highly cost-effective service.

"VoiceDialing service is as revolutionary to the telephone network as remote access was to the television industry," said Susan H. Kennedy, NYNEX vice president and general manager of operations in Central New York. "Talking to customers has convinced us that people are ready for the ultimate user-friendly way to place a call."

Residential customers may obtain additional information about VoiceDialing by calling 890-7100, while business customers should call 890-6464.

NYNEX is a global communications and media company that provides a full range of services in the northeastern United States and high-growth markets around the world, including the United Kingdom, Thailand, Gibraltar, Greece, Indonesia, the Philippines, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

The Corporation is a leader in the telecommunications, wireless communications, cable television, directory publishing and entertainment and information services.

FAX copies of recent NYNEX news releases are available free of charge, 24 hours a day. Call 1-800-331-1214 and an automated system will provide instructions.

return to news archive