Discern Communications, a spin-our of SRI International (formerly Stanford Research Institute), has announced a new product that allows customer service and support centers to answer Web, e-mail or phone inquiries without human intervention, Discern's automated query/response technology is based on more than 10 years of work by SRI and a $25-million technology investment by the U.S. government. Discern can accept customer inquiries in free form, understand the context of the inquiry and provide the customer with a precise answer, as opposed to a series of suggested links or a hierarchical menu. Discern also understands the context of the enterprises' information source, which minimizes the human resources required to implement and support the solution. It allows customers to speak or key in their questions in their own words, using single words, phrases or sentences. Customers need not ponder the key words or phrases that might result in a successful search. In return, Discern delivers the answer, rather than a series of suggested links or a hierarchical menu.

www.discern.com/763-971-2147