While few have heard of its benefits to date, voice recognition technology could become commonplace in a few years, provoking cheers from the folks at San Diego-based Interactive Telesis.
The 6-year-old firm now provides voice response services for businesses, the kind that allow customers to obtain data or reach others using touch-tone telephone technology.
But in the near future, its strategy is to get into automated speech recognition, the kind that allows computers to understand the human voice over the phone and provide the desired information and services.
“Simply put, we’re a provider of speech recognition solutions that will allow access to the Internet using the telephone,” said CEO Don Cameron.
Right now, few companies are providing such access, but it’s in the pipeline by the likes of AOL, Yahoo!, and other big name Internet players, Cameron said.
And there’s a slew of smaller competitors specializing in automated speech recognition.
IT got a little closer to its goals last week by securring a $4.15 million financing package from Hambrecht & Quist Guaranty Finance LLC.
The deal consists of a $1.15 million three-year loan and $3 million in an equity line of credit. The latter entails the sale of Interactive Telesis preferred shares to H & Q; on a prearranged discount.
Interactive Telesis plans to use the funds to buy the necessary telephony lines and other equipment needed for its speech enabled hosting services. Over the past year, Interactive Telesis has more than doubled its staff to about 45.
Revenues for Interactive Telesis this year were up 60 percent to $4.8 million, but it reported a net loss of about $132,000, mostly caused from the purchase of 51 percent ownership in another company. That compared to revenues of $3 million and net profit of $322,000 in the prior fiscal year.
Stock of the company once was as high as $5 earlier this year, but has taken a beating along with most of the tech market recently traded just below a buck on the over the counter board.
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IP Strategy Finds Strategy Guy: Ben Fisher gets a lot of surprised looks when he hands out his business card.
His new job title for IP Strategy, a local Web site development firm, is chief strategist.
“It’s a very interesting title, but it really best summarizes what my skills are,” said the 28-year-old.
In his new job, Fisher works with clients to determine what their Web needs are, and manages a product division. He also spends time managing corporate alliances and business development activities for the eight-person company based in Mission Valley.
IPS President Dave Heistein suggested the job title to describe a broader range of responsibilities than the position he originally interviewed for , project manager.
One-year-old IPS isn’t likely to be on too many radar screens, but this year it expects to log some $300,000 in sales. Next year, the goal is to more than double that and come in at $700,000.
By the end of next year, the increased business should also cause a rise in staffing to 21, Fisher said.
The IPS client roster has mostly smaller to medium-sized businesses across a broad range of industries and include such local firms as Minerva Associates, Travel Planet, SeraCare, INET Legal Network and Software Partners.
A typical client is spending between $20,000 to $70,000 on a variety of services associated with designing and maintaining an Internet site, he said.
Before being named chief strategist, Fisher put some 10 years in the computer field, and started a computer repair business in his hometown of Mt. Laurel, N.J. He moved to Arizona to find a more conducive lifestyle, and set up another business, Virtual Flagstaff.
“We mostly built Web sites for realtors and travel companies in northern Arizona,” he said. “I’ve overseen the development of over 200 Web sites.”
The Internet consulting and Web design business is exploding, with more companies realizing just erecting a site doesn’t necessarily translate to increased business.
“There is no perfect fit as far as a Web site goes for everyone,” Fisher said. “It all depends on what business it is, what its needs are, and what its objectives are.”
To accommodate the growth, IPS has added two new hires in recent weeks. It’s currently looking for a creative director, and is always on the hunt for Web and multi-media page designers.
Hamilton Gets License: Hamilton Technology Ventures LP, a new local VC aimed at early stage tech firms in Southern California, said it received approval from the Small Business Administration to operate as a Small Business Investment Company. The designation allows the VC to collect $2 from the SBA for every $1 the fund raises from private-sector investors.
Because of the arrangement, Hamilton expects to have some $75 million to invest in startups by the time the fund closes later this month, with some $50 million provided by the SBA.
The targeted number of companies for the fund is 35. Hamilton has already provided equity funding to four local startups: Azur, Cargo Technologies, Egea Biosciences Inc. and Egea Genomics Inc.
Hamilton’s management team includes executives with extensive entrepreneurial and operating experience from a broad range of industries, the fund said. The fund lists several high-profile investors including DaimlerChrysler, Titan Corp., Indofin, NV, and Price Communications.
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JNI Appoints New Prez: JNI Corp., a San Diego-based manufacturer of components for storage area networks, named Neal Waddington as its new president and CEO in a move that has taken on a higher profile than the company anticipated.
Last month, the tech firm called a press conference to counter two published reports it called erroneous. The reports by TheStreet.com and Dow Jones Newswire in mid-November may have worsened an already skittish Nasdaq market sell-off and resulted in JNI’s shares falling $38 in a single day. In October, amid rumors JNI was on the selling block, the stock rose to about $120.
JNI said the Dow Jones article contained incorrect information that one of its key customers was discontinuing purchasing its products and that it was replacing CEO Terry Flanagan. Yet JNI had disclosed Flanagan’s resignation in September and his departure was well-planned.
Flanagan, 62, asserted he wasn’t abandoning the company he helped launch, and was simply stepping aside for a talented CEO “to take JNI to the next level.”
While the news of Waddington’s appointment last week gave an initial small spike to the stock, it took another hit the following day and was trading at about $44 late last week. But that was far off its earlier highs this year.
“There was no true bad news that came out,” said JNI spokesman Chris Wildermuth. “(The stock drop) was all based on false reports.”
Waddington, 53, is the former COO for a $300 million division of Quantom ATL, a data storage manufacturer. Before that, he was the CEO of Expersoft, a San Diego software firm.
He has more than 15 years’ executive experience with several other high-techs, including EMC, Tandem and Unisys.
Waddington takes over fast-growing JNI which had a net profit of $5.2 million in $38 million in revenues last year. The firm has about 225 employees, up from about 100 at the time it went public in October 1999.
Stellcom Signs Deal: Stellcom Inc., a San Diego-based wireless systems integrator, announced a partnership agreement with San Diego-based Mitchell International. Stellcom will develop a wireless tool suite and integration service to Mitchell’s e-commerce site.
Mitchell is a provider of information software and e-business solutions to the insurance and auto collision repair industries. Stellcom said the partnership should yield in the millions of dollars in revenue.
Send tech finance news to mallen@ sdbj.com.
