Out With the Old, In With the New

Touch-tone takes a backseat to VoicePorts speech IVR at Star Tribune in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Pittsford, NY/Minneapolis, MN. January 17, 2006. VoicePort, LLC announces the start of live traffic at Star Tribune, a McClatchy Company Newspaper. Star Tribune selected VoicePort's industry leading speech IVR application, CircPort, to replace its outdated touch-tone system.

The CircPort speech IVR is completely integrated, handling numerous circulation tasks through speech-driven automation.  Its functions include reporting delivery problems, placing vacation holds, & checking account status.  CircPort eliminates customer hold times, and allows for live agents to concentrate on higher value tasks. This increases both productivity and customer satisfaction, while decreasing call center costs.

As the newspaper industry has continued to lose readership over the last few years, Star Tribune is one of the few newspapers in the country whose daily circulation numbers are on the rise. Current circulation figures are over 650,000 on Sundays, with daily circulation nearing 380,000. CircPort has handled in excess of 800 calls per hour at Star Tribune during peak times.  Initial progress reports show a significant improvement in automation rates over the previous touch-tone system.     

"It was time for a change," said Steven Alexander, Vice President of Circulation at Star Tribune. "Speech recognition is a superior technology to that of touch-tone, providing our customers with a better caller experience. Having already deployed speech automation in classified, the implementation of CircPort builds on our continual effort to utilize speech across the newspaper."

"Where many newspapers are stuck in the past, Star Tribune is a pioneer. For this they are rewarded with a significantly improved customer experience, more self-serve automation and a better return on investment." said Tom Dunne, VoicePort's co-founder and Vice President of Sales. "We are thrilled to have expanded our working relationship with Star Tribune, a leader in the newspaper industry."

About VoicePort:

Located in Pittsford, New York, VoicePort is the leading provider of speech recognition applications for the newspaper industry. The CircPort product is a robust application which has found a home in numerous papers across the country, in both hosted & ASP models.  VoicePort has expanded their call center and circulation solutions to include WebPort and Dispatch, two products which help to increase customer interaction and satisfaction. To find out more, please visit www.voiceport.net.

About Star Tribune:

The Star Tribune Company, a news and information company serving the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, is owned by The McClatchy Company of Sacramento, Calif. (NYSE:MNI). Star Tribune newspaper is one of the top 20 largest newspapers in the nation, with a daily circulation of 378,316 and a Sunday circulation of 655,196 (per Audit Bureau of Circulation report 03/05). The companys Web site, www.startribune.com, is the most frequently used local news and information service for the Twin Cities market. The Star Tribune Foundation has been supporting Twin Cities' communities since 1945 and currently distributes about $3 million annually. On the Net: The Star Tribune Company: www.startribunecompany.com/company/, and The McClatchy Company: www.mcclatchy.com.