News Release

For Immediate Release:03 Dec 2001

Mexico City Mexico -

Avaya Inc. (NYSE:AV), a global leader in corporate networkingsolutions and services, announced an agreement with Ford Credit, aleading financing, insurance and leasing company in Mexico, for thedeployment of Avaya Multi-Media Contact Center Solutions and LatinAmerica's first advanced Self Service Solutions with naturallanguage speech recognition (NLSR) in Spanish.

The new implementation enhances Ford Credit's self-servicecapabilities to improve customer service and control costs percontact. Self-service options reduce hold times, offload repetitivetransactions and provide service 24 hours a day. In addition,natural language speech recognition makes automated self-servicefaster and easier.

"Our goal is to make each telephone interaction as natural andhuman as possible for our customers, and Avaya's solution gives usthe opportunity to meet their expectations with the higheststandards of service," said Gabriel Guerrero, systems engineer atFord Credit. "This technology will enable us to route calls to theagents who are most qualified to respond to a customer based on thecar financed and the type of credit required, all aimed atproviding a unique and satisfying customer experience with eachinteraction."

Designed to recognize natural language, Avaya's Self ServiceSolutions give callers the ability to obtain information abouttheir credit balance and different forms of payment available, aswell as to request invoices and car insurance quotes without havingto navigate through cumbersome menus or to press buttons on thetelephone touch-tone pad. Instead, a customer can provide orrequest information simply by speaking commands into the handset.The advanced characteristics of the natural language speechrecognition software, supplied by SpeechWorks International, Inc.(Nasdaq:SPWX), a global leader in speech recognition andtext-to-text speech (TTS) technologies and services, include a widevocabulary and complete grammar analysis in Spanish, enabling thesystem to understand conversational language. The natural languagespeech recognition software increases the options for customerself-service in the contact center, thereby increasing customersatisfaction and loyalty, as well as improving the productivity andcost-effectiveness of the contact center.

"Avaya aims to be at the forefront of offering innovativesolutions to businesses in Mexico so they can excel in the newcustomer economy," said Laurent Pruvost Cantú, managing director ofAvaya in Mexico. "This innovative solution allows Ford Credit toprovide unparalleled customer service by enabling customers tosimply speak their request and get the information they needquickly and easily."

Once customers have navigated through the system, they canchoose to speak to an agent or hang up. When the choice is made toreach an agent, Avaya's Multi-Media Contact Center Solution willintelligently route the call to the agent most qualified to respondto the specific customer request. To speed service and accuracy,the agent will also automatically be able to view the customer'sinformation on a computer screen. Avaya's Multi-Media ContactCenter Solution provides the intelligent routing and ComputerTelephony Integration (CTI) capabilities that enhance the qualityof the customer's interaction with the company and optimize the useof the agent's knowledge and skills, which improvesproductivity.

"We are excited to deliver this advanced speech service to FordCredit, improving the customer experience and reducing costs," saidSteve Chambers, vice president of worldwide marketing,SpeechWorks.

Avaya is a global leader in contact centers. Avaya CRM leveragesexpertise in Interaction Management, Commitment Management, andBusiness Intelligence to deliver customer-focused solutions thatturn a variety of today's business problems into opportunities.

These customer-focused solutions are designed to help businessesbuild long-term customer relationships consistently andcost-effectively by managing customer interactions across all formsof communication channels (including the Web, e-mail, fax andadvanced telephony systems), delivering on commitments, andmeasuring the results of those interactions.

About Avaya
Avaya, headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., USA, is a leadingglobal provider of communications solutions and services that helpbusinesses, government agencies and other institutions excel in thecustomer economy. Avaya offers Customer Relationship ManagementSolutions, Unified Communication Solutions, Hosted Solutions,Multi-Service Networking Infrastructure, and Converged Voice andData Networks " including the company's no-compromiseEnterprise-Class IP Solutions (ECLIPS) " all supported by AvayaServices and Avaya Labs. Avaya is the worldwide leader in unifiedmessaging, messaging systems, call centers and structured cablingsystems. It is the U.S. leader in voice communications systems.Avaya is an official partner for the 2002 FIFA World Cup¢, the 2003Women's World Cup and the 2006 FIFA World Cup¢ championships. Formore information on Avaya, visit its website at http://www.avaya.com.

AboutSpeechWorks
Through the power of SpeechWorks technologies, the human voice isall a caller needs to access instant information and conducttransactions from any landline or wireless phone. Around the world,customer service innovators such as CIBC, Thrifty Car Rental andHyundai Securities are realizing returns on SpeechWorksapplications that consistently delight and serve customers 24 hoursa day. With over 100 partners, SpeechWorks (Nasdaq:SPWX) deliversnatural language speech recognition, speaker verification andtext-to-speech (TTS) solutions to leading corporations,telecommunications providers and government organizationsworldwide. For a description of our products, services and uniquecustomer programs such as the SpeechWorks Here¢ Guarantee, call617.428.4444 or visit www.speechworks.com.