Vue Entertainment Ltd, the UK's leading developer and operator of state-of-the-art cinemas, and Eckoh plc, the UK’s leading provider of speech recognition services, have extended their partnership for another three years. Under the renewed contract, Eckoh will be providing speech recognition telephony services and a live contact center to Vue. This deal has shaped Vue as Eckoh’s largest revenue client to come up for renewal this financial year.

The three-year contract, which will last until October 2015, includes provision to include social media monitoring and broader customer interaction that will further utilize Eckoh's multi-channel service offerings. Eckoh will also supply a customer service solution that includes speech-enabled cinema information and ticket booking service, as well as a live UK-based contact center that will manage customer calls and e-mails as well as Vue's gift card operations.

Powered by Eckoh's VoiceXML (News - Alert) processing platform, the speech recognition solution is used for processing over a million calls every year from Vue's customers.

In a statement, Nik Philpot, CEO of Eckoh, explained how the renewal is one the company is pleased about, describing Vue as a “dominant player in the UK cinema sector.” Philpot goes on to say, “Collectively, we share the same passion for innovation and progression, broadening the way we interact with the end customer. Our shared commitment to service excellence and regulatory compliance will provide us with new opportunities to leverage our multi-channel expertise over the next three years."

Steve Knibbs, CEO at VUE, similarly raved, saying, "We have been working with Eckoh for almost a decade and they have consistently demonstrated an unrivalled level of flexibility, responsiveness, and expertise in the delivery of their telephony and contact centre services. Vue strives to set the highest customer service benchmarks for the cinema industry and as our partner, Eckoh has helped us to achieve that goal. We look forward to exploring other multichannel services with them to provide a more satisfying experience for our customers."