Vocollect Continues Record Growth in 2003

Strong Financial Performance Seeds Reinvestment; Reflects Growing Customer Base

PITTSBURGH – February 2, 2004 - Vocollect, the global leader in voice-directed distribution systems, announced today that the company achieved record sales in 2003, increasing its revenues to over $45 million, driving Vocollect’s compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to more than 60 percent over the last three years. Each day, more than 50,000 warehouse workers in 14 countries worldwide, use the wireless “hands-free, eyes-free™” Talkman® voice solution to increase order accuracy, boost productivity and improve safety, adding millions of dollars to their companies’ bottom lines.

Vocollect reported significant accomplishments for 2003, including:

  • Explosive growth in the European market, requiring additional staff and a new, larger office for customer support and training.
  • Surpassing the 50,000-user watermark for its Talkman wearable computers.
  • Orders grew even faster than revenue at nearly 60 percent as compared to the previous year.
  • Expanding key partnerships with leading Warehouse Management System (WMS) vendors and material handling / system integrator firms with the addition of Catalyst International, Delfour, ICS and RedPrairie in North America; Seal Technologia in South America; and KNAPP and Microlise in Europe.
  • Broadening the use of voice technology in the warehouse to include more customers using voice for applications such as put-away, line loading, transfers, replenishment and receiving.

    • According to Vocollect’s President and CEO, Jack LeVan, “We’re proud of all our achievements last year, and we’re very grateful to our customers. Many of them have relied on our Talkman solution for years and they just keep finding valuable new applications. Because Vocollect’s voice solution delivers core benefits of accuracy and productivity gains, along with a fast payback and high return on investment (ROI), an increasing number of our customers are expanding how they use voice technology to automate many common warehouse operations.”

    LeVan also commended partners as a critical component of the company’s growth and success. “We are proud of our truly select group of world class resellers representing Vocollect on five continents. Through our collective efforts, we continue to provide an expanding range of new applications for many industries.”

    Beyond customers and resellers, LeVan said, “In 2003, Vocollect succeeded in earning scores of new customers in key market segments. Working ‘hands-free, eyes-free’ with voice has gained wide acceptance as a cost-saving business tool. Just a couple of years ago, we concentrated on the major grocers in North America. Even with continued strong growth in the grocery industry, the majority of the tens of thousands of new Talkman users we added in 2003 have come from these new market segments.”

    LeVan said the sound balance sheet of 2003 will support continued heavy investment in new products and an expanding global reseller and service network in 2004. Anticipated highlights for 2004 include:

    • An expanded and improved line of robust headsets delivering startling sound quality.
    • A multi-platform application for enterprise-wide management of Talkman systems.
    • The ability for “part time” users of voice to run Vocollect’s industry standard voice technology on general-purpose terminals.
    • Multiple new applications with direct-to-WMS interfaces from the top WMS providers.

    LeVan added, “And there’s much more on the way, including a prototype RFID (radio frequency identification) reader module, being developed with several of our users and resellers, that allows Talkman users to hear what an RFID tag ‘says’. In sum, we can’t thank Talkman users enough for our continued rapid and profitable growth in 2003, and 2004 looks to be even more rewarding for them and Vocollect.”

    About Vocollect
    Since 1987, Vocollect Inc. has delivered dramatic improvements in productivity, accuracy, cost reduction and workers satisfaction for mobile employees. Vocollect’s voice-directed work applications literally talk people through their daily tasks, replacing traditional work lists and cumbersome data capture methods with personal voice dialogs. The company’s global network of resellers and supply chain performance experts enables more than 100,000 people on six continents to use voice to improve work every day. Vocollect is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pa., U.S., and supports its clients and resellers through regional offices in Europe, Latin America and Asia. For more information, visit www.vocollect.com. Vocollect®, Talkman®, Vocollect Voice®, Vocollect VoiceConsole®, Vocollect VoiceLink®, and Voice-Directed Work® are registered trademarks of Vocollect Inc. All rights reserved.

    VOCOLLECT EUROPE CONTACTS:
    Marie-Eve Fonlupt
    Raf Jezierski
    Tel:+44(0)1628 552900

    STRATEGIC CONTACTS:
    Amy Redhead
    Strategic for Vocollect Europe
    amyr@strategicpr.net
    +44 1494 434 434

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