L&H recovers power of speech recognition

Troubled vendor says things can only get better

After months of financial turmoil, troubled speech recognition company Lernout and Hauspie (L&H) claimed that it had "changed gear" and is to release a new channel programme.

The company has struggled since last year when reports arose of financial malpractice. It has announced that by the end of this year it will create a new company from its Speech and Language Technologies (SLT) division.

Peter Hauser, vice president, international and automotive, said the new firm will operate under a different name, which is yet to be chosen, and will not include L&H subsidiary Dictaphone, leaving L&H as just a shell. "SLT will buy L&H's assets. We believe this will maximise the value for creditors and shareholders," he said.

The company will create two channel programmes, one for its document creation systems and another for its wireless applications.

Hauser said that the company plans a two-tier channel, and has already signed distributor Northamber in the UK. Both programmes include certification, training, and support services. "Our goal is to have specialised, quality resellers. We want partners to have margins, not a saturated market," he explained.

He added that, despite the company's problems, including the arrest and imprisonment of both founders in April, it has not lost business "because partners are able to see the market opportunity and that our technology is good".

One reseller, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "We have no end of problems obtaining products. [L&H is] good at technology, bad at products."