When the data mining software being developed at Sonum Technologies finally gets to the marketplace, it will do everything from fight terrorism to enhance customer service at call centers.
The Columbia, Md.-based start-up will present its versatile patented technology next week at Capital Connection 2006, the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association’s annual showcase that matches up-and-coming companies with venture capitalists.
Sonum’s patented Natural Language Processor essentially takes the manual labor out of voice and textual data mining with software that recognizes human language, said Toby Noyes, Sonum’s director of business development. Unlike other data mining software, Sonum’s technology doesn’t just rely on key words, Noyes said. Instead, the program is set up to recognize the nuances of language.
For example, customers speaking with an automated bank teller might have trouble if they don’t say the right key phrases, Noyes said. Sonum’s program would recognize a number of phrases thatmean the same thing, such as “I’d like to check my balance” or “I want to check my checking account.”
The software can also mine textual records such as databases or online information, a technology that will serve the intelligence community, Noyes said.
“The intelligence community is looking to mine untold amounts of data,” he said. “To do it manually, it’s not only slow, it’s often inaccurate and extraordinarily expensive.”
Sonum was founded in 2002 by an experienced team with a background in artificial intelligence. The current management team includes Noyes, Andy Meister, president and COO, and Jim Zombeck, vice president of engineering. The trio met at Aether Systems, a wireless data consulting firm that grew to a $1 billion company.
Sonum, which is considered an early-stage company in the venture capital world, has raised $3 million so far with the help of friends and family. The company is hoping to secure $6 million more through venture capital, an amount Noyes say will help them get their products to the market by the third quarter of this year and turn a profit by 2008.
Sonum’s Pilot Program
» Canon USA announced a partnership with Sonum Technologies in April. The company is piloting Sonum’s analytics software, which will cut down on the manual work Canon does such as mining through customer comments.
» Sonum Technologies recently released a new software product that allows for data mining in language other than English.
