In May 2021, the firm that has long-time provided the conversational AI innovations that have brought intelligence to everyday work and life and (still May 2021) trading as Naunce Communications (the latest name in a complex naming history) when the firm was acquired by Microsoft in an all-cash transaction valued at $19.7 billion—second only to what Microsoft paid (a $26.2 billion deal) for LinkedIn in 2016. Complex early history: The original SBIR funding was made to Eloquent Technology, Inc. (ETI), a text-to-speech software company. In 2001, the founding President and CTO of ETI moved to Speechworks - now part of Nuance Technologies. In Dec 1998, name changed to SpeechWorks International from Applied Language Technologies. On August 2003 ScanSoft (NASDAQ:SSFT) of Peabody MA, acquired SpeechWorks International in an all-stock transaction. Through all the many andvaried transactions, the firm offered software products and professional services that enable enterprises and communications carriers to offer automated, speech-activated services over any telephone. With the Company's speech recognition solutions, consumers can direct their own calls, obtain information and conduct transactions automatically, simply by speaking naturally over any telephone, anytime. The Company's solutions are designed to help businesses build sustainable customer relationships over the telephone, provide improved and cost-effective customer service systems, increase the returns on their Internet-related investments and capitalize on a variety of new business opportunities.
