Nuance Communications, Inc. announced Dragon Notes, a new app for Windows 8 that lets people quickly speak notes, to-do lists, reminders, status updates, web searches and emails -- or anything that comes to mind. Dragon Notes is optimized for Microsoft Windows 8 touchscreen tablets, including the Microsoft Surface Pro. Dragon Notes is also great for quickly capturing and organizing notes and ideas on Microsoft Windows 8 touchscreen PCs and Windows 7 PCs. Dragon Notes is a quick and fun app that gives people a simple way to capture notes and ideas in the office, at home or on the go keeping all those sticky notes and paper lists at bay for a more organized digital lifestyle. Dragon Notes takes full advantage of the Windows 8 touchscreen and tile interface just tap the app and speak to save a note, share a post, send an email or search the web. Whip up a shopping list, share that great recipe via Facebook, or send an email of the action items coming out of a meeting. Dragon Notes supporting U.S. English will be available for download May 15, 2013 through the Nuance.com online store for $19.99 for Windows 8 tablets, as well as for PCs supporting Windows 8 and Windows 7. Language packs supporting Spanish and French can also be purchased in addition to the US English app as an add-on for $9.99.

Nuance Communications, Inc. announced that Barclays Wealth & Investment Management has deployed Nuance's FreeSpeech voice biometrics solution to securely and automatically confirm the identity of Barclays customers -- using the sound of their voice. No longer will customers need to answer intrusive security questions in order to verify their identity. By simply speaking with an agent, a customer's voice is verified using Nuance voice biometrics technology, making the authentication process quick, secure and transparent. Until now, when people have called a bank to access their account, they have typically been forced to prove their identity though a series of intrusive security questions -- what the industry refers to as 'knowledge-based authentication.' This time-consuming line of questioning can lead to even more frustration when customers can't remember answers to obscure security questions such as 'What is the name of your favorite pet?' or 'What is the name of your best childhood friend?' and are further annoyed if they are ultimately denied access to their accounts for misremembering. Even when a customer does succeed at accessing their account, if they call back a few minutes later, the process -- and the intrusive questioning -- starts all over again from the beginning. To solve this, Barclays, through a partnership with Nuance, is using secure voice biometrics technology to turn back the clock to the days when a customer could be taken at their word when verifying their identity. When a customer calls in to Barclays to access their account, they engage in 20 to 30 seconds of natural conversation with a customer service agent. During that time, Nuance FreeSpeech voice biometrics technology is used to compare the customer's voice to their unique voiceprint on file, and silently signals to the Barclays representative when the customer's identity has been verified. If the customer is not verified by the system, or if the transaction request is above security thresholds, Barclays agents can seamlessly move to a traditional, knowledge-based authentication process.

Government Employees Insurance Company, Inc. has revolutionized the mobile customer experience by partnering with Nuance Communications, Inc. to introduce voice assistant technology in its GEICO App. The integration of voice technology enhances the customer experience and provides a multi-modal user interaction within the GEICO App. Exceeding the limitations of standard voice technology, Lily is engaging and insightful as she helps GEICO App customers make an insurance payment or find answers to questions about their policy. Lily has a calming and enthusiastic demeanor and will also provide her candid opinion on the GEICO Gecko and a variety of topics if asked.