Industry Leaders Bring IVR-Enhanced Incident Management System to Market

AUGUSTA, Ga., Jan. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- ESi Acquisition, Inc. and the Vox Generation Group are pleased to announce the formation of a joint venture company, Boards Talk LLC, to deliver an IVR-integrated incident management system to the market.

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Boards Talk™ powered by WebEOC® introduces a direct "voice-to-machine" interface between the award-winning technology of VoxGen and ESi's WebEOC® Professional, the most commonly used crisis information management system in the world.  The result is a software tool which is scalable, configurable and increases data management capabilities without the need for deployment of additional human resources.

Simply stated, Boards Talk powered by WebEOC allows users to dial a phone, connect to WebEOC Professional and verbally post information within WebEOC status boards.  

"Effective emergency management requires close collaboration and effective communication," states F. Paul Butler, the Chief Financial Officer of ESi and President of Boards Talk LLC.  "Boards Talk powered by WebEOC provides emergency responders with a new way to communicate information from the field – by speaking to the WebEOC software to update incident information from the field as events unfold."

Information transmitted through this voice interface is immediately entered, saved and posted to the WebEOC software eliminating delays and errors associated with manual transcription of data.  "Not only can Boards Talk powered by WebEOC deliver data quickly and accurately," says Simon Loopuit, VoxGen's Chief Executive Officer, "but fewer human resources are needed to support information exchange.  This tool frees emergency responders from administrative tasks and allows them to focus on tasks requiring human intelligence, judgment and action."

Boards Talk powered by WebEOC will be released in February 2011.  The initial release of the application will offer tools supporting shelter management, damage assessment and personnel tracking activities.  The application will be offered as a subscription service, and new tools will be added over time to support other core emergency management activities.  

About Boards Talk™

Boards Talk is a joint venture of ESi Acquisition, Inc. and The Vox Generation Group.  Formed in 2010, Boards Talk brings together the market-leading technologies of two innovative companies for the benefit of emergency managers, business continuity specialists and corporate security professionals around the world.  Boards Talk powered by WebEOC®, the first commercial product of this joint venture, brings fully integrated speech application capabilities to WebEOC.  Boards Talk powered by WebEOC will be available on a subscription basis later this year.  Custom development services also are available.  For more information, please visit www.ESi911.com.

About ESi®

ESi is the global leader in crisis information management technology.  ESi introduced WebEOC, the world's first Web-enabled emergency management communications system, over a decade ago and continues to bring exciting technology options to the field of emergency management.  Recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest-growing private companies in America from 2007–2010, ESi connects crisis response teams and decision makers within and across industries as diverse as government, health care, aviation, utilities and corporations worldwide, providing access to real-time information and a common operating picture during any crisis or daily operation.  By offering comprehensive product support and subject matter expertise from initial design and installation through training, implementation, and maintenance, ESi sets the standard for crisis information management.  For more information, please visit www.ESi911.com.

About VoxGen™

VoxGen creates interactive applications, primarily for phone contact, that are easy to use, adapt, integrate and deploy.  Developed for customers around the world, the solutions are based on a passionate belief – that technology designed around the needs of users can make all kinds of organizations more efficient, more cost effective and better equipped to meet their goals.  Bringing together the leaders in linguistics, voice user interface design, integration and usability, VoxGen serves a diverse client base across Europe and the United States and has been recognized with numerous awards and certifications including ISO 9001 certifications for Quality Assurance and ISO/IEC 27001 certifications for Security.  For more information, please visit www.voxgen.com.

SOURCE ESi