OnMobile, one of the biggest providers of ring-back tones in the world, said it has decided to sell its speech recognition software for 650,000 euros, or about Rs 4.7 cr.
The company said the sale was in line with its decision to focus on apps and away from on-deck services of telecom.
Mobile value added services has moved away from so-called ‘on-deck’ technology — where services are delivered using operators’ servers — to app- and data-based ones, which do not depend on service providers.
OnMobile saw big growth in earlier days when ring-back tones — which replace the boring ‘tring tring’ for the calling party — was the height of mobile value added services.
It acquired speech recognition technology from Telisma in 2008 to enable telecom customers to say the name of the song and get it selected from the database maintained by OnMobile. The song would then be set as the default tone for anyone calling that person.
“The speech recognition technology that OnMobile acquired through Telisma in 2008 has served its business needs well, but is no longer imperative for OnMobile’s new offerings, which are focused on smartphone apps. We expect the transaction to close by January 31st,
2016,” said Florent Stroppa, Managing Director, OnMobile SA.
The technology is being bought by Voicebox Technologies France S.A.S. under a deal subject to adjustments, escrows and other conditions. The deal is contingent upon certain unnamed approvals and events.
