McLean, Va. – August 22, 2008 – Angel.com, the leading provider of on-demand call center and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) solutions, announced today that it has won a 2008 Speech Industry Implementation Award for the success of its IVR solution for the International Republican Institute (IRI). The award, presented during the 2008 SpeechTEK Conference & Exhibition, August 18-20 in New York, recognizes user companies that have achieved a significant business benefit after implementing a speech solution or upgrading an existing system.
“It’s incredibly satisfying when our voice solutions help a customer exceed their business goals,” said Michael Zirngibl, CEO of Angel.com. “That IRI nominated Angel.com for this award speaks volumes about their success with our IVR solution.”
The International Republican Institute (IRI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization committed to advancing freedom and democracy worldwide. Among its many activities, the IRI sends delegates to foreign countries to monitor and observe election processes to insure they are open and transparent and follow the democratic process. IRI has monitored more than 130 elections in more than 40 countries.
Traditionally, field delegates would record observations in a hand-written notebook. Due to travel and other challenges, such a practice resulted in a two- to three-day turnaround from observation to reporting.
With spotty Internet access in many of the areas in which delegates operate, IRI leveraged an IVR solution from Angel.com to facilitate more immediate data collection and reporting. IRI first used the solution during the April 2007 elections in Nigeria. The speed and accuracy of the phone-based reporting system allowed IRI to quickly update the media on its findings.
“The biggest benefit of the Angel.com IVR is the benefit of real-time information,” said Shawn Beighle, Information and Technology Director at IRI. “As reports in Nigeria poured in from across the country, we were immediately able to see what was happening throughout the region.”
Another advantage of the Angel.com solution for IVR was the ease of implementation. Beighle was able to build and deploy the IVR application himself without leaning on IRI’s small IT team thanks to Angel.com’s easy-to-use SiteBuilder interface.
“The empowerment of SiteBuilder is a great advantage for Angel.com and for IRI,” said Beighle. “The user-friendly and intuitive solution enabled me to easily create my own application. The menu-based platform lets me make changes quickly, and they’re active almost instantly.”
IRI has since used the solution to observe and report on milestone democratic elections in countries such as the Ukraine and Kenya.
“We greatly value the ability for a non-profit organization such as ours to leverage high-level technology that truly helps make a difference,” said Beighle.
