Contract Win

Eckoh Technologies PLC
28 November 2005



For Immediate Release                                          28 November 2005

                               Eckoh Technologies

SCOTTISH POWER PREPARES FOR WINTER WITH SPEECH RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY FROM ECKOH

Advanced speech recognition service from Eckoh Technologies plc keeps consumers
in the picture

Severe winter weather is one of the most common causes of power outages across
the 3.4 million UK homes and businesses served by Scottish Power's electricity
distribution network. This winter, consumers affected by power outages will have
24-hour access to an automated telephone service that uses advanced speech
recognition that is able to provide up-to-the-minute service restoration
information. To deliver this service Scottish Power's in-house capability has
been supplemented by the High Volume Call Answering Service (HVCA(R)) from
Twenty First Century Communications, Inc., (TFCC) which incorporates advanced
speech recognition technology from Eckoh.

The HVCA(R) service can deliver location specific information thanks to Eckoh's
advanced speech recognition technology, which can capture the caller's spoken
post code and address and entered telephone number, use that information to
pinpoint the location for which the caller is reporting an outage and then
provide available service restoration information for that location. The system
will also recognise callers registered with Scottish Power as being 'at risk' -
individuals, for example, whose medical needs depend upon electricity - and can
pass them directly to a contact centre agent for personal attention.

"Our previous automated solution depended upon Caller Line Identification (CLI)
- a system by which the caller's telephone number is broadcast to us through the
telephony network, allowing us to identify the source of the call," says Kate
Walker, Distribution Call Centre Manager for Scottish Power. "This was not a
fool proof system since it couldn't cater for individuals calling from mobile
phones, phones that don't broadcast CLI or from alternative locations. The new
system is more accurate and comprehensive because it uses personal information
delivered verbally by the caller to give location-specific information."
                       
Scottish Power can also be confident that the service will accommodate the high
call volumes that can occur when power outages are severe because the speech
automation capability is hosted via Eckoh's own technology platform. Able to
handle more than 8,000 calls simultaneously and up to 650,000 calls per hour, it
is the most flexible speech platform in the UK.

Eckoh's technology will also help Scottish Power to maintain its reporting
commitments to the regulator, Ofgem, by allowing an end-to-end record of every
service enquiry to be kept, whether dealt with by an agent, the automated
service or by a combination of both.

The new service between Scottish Power and TFCC has been in place in Scottish
Power since May this year, allowing its potential and robustness to be tested
during the relatively quiet summer months.

Eckoh Technologies, a leading supplier of automated speech solutions for the
contact centre industry, has established a partnership with US based TFCC to
deliver power outage communications solutions to UK utilities. This is the
second substantive deal signed for the partnership, the first being with
Northern Ireland Electricity for HVCA(R) service, which went live in December
2004. Jim Hennigan, Eckoh's Managing Director, estimates that, "the market for
automated speech solutions within the UK utilities industry will be worth around
£3 million in 2006 and will grow at a CAGR of between 25 and 30% between now and
the end of the decade as customer service quality becomes an ever more
imperative concern for utilities providers in both regulated and de-regulated
areas of their business. With TFCC already providing services to over 70 million
households in the US utilities market, we believe there is considerable
potential to extend our reach here in the UK."

                                     -ends-

NOTES FOR EDITORS


About Eckoh Technologies:
Eckoh Technologies plc designs, builds, hosts and manages Speech Solutions for
large corporations and organisations using ASR (Advanced Speech Recognition) and
IVR (Interactive Voice Response) technologies. It is a leading UK service
provider and infrastructure owner/operator, and intends to exploit the
anticipated growth in demand for Speech Solutions across Europe.

Eckoh has direct contracts to supply hosted Speech Solutions to clients
including Vue Cinemas, William Hill, 02, Virgin Mobile, Ideal Shopping Direct,
Tote and The London Stock Exchange.

Eckoh has a partnership with US-based TFCC to provide power outage communication
services for the UK utilities industry.

Eckoh has a call processing platform of 10,000 lines (capable of handling over
650,000 calls an hour) of which over 8,000 lines incorporate speech recognition
technology making it the largest speech enabled call processing platform in
Europe.

Eckoh also operates the following businesses:

   •IVR - Eckoh is one of the largest providers of managed IVR and SMS
    services in the UK to media clients including ITV, BBC, Trinity Mirror,
    Channel 4, Endemol, IPC and EMAP.


   •Network Services - under the "Symphony" and "Anglia" brands, Eckoh
    supplies fixed line and mobile telephony services, broadband and data
    services to SMEs in the UK and Ireland. Following the acquisition of Anglia
    Telecom Centres Limited in April 2005, Network Services now has an SME
    customer base of over 15,000.

In the year to 31 March 2005 Eckoh Technologies plc generated a turnover of
£79.7 million and had a cash balance of £13.3m. Further information can be found
at www.eckoh.com.

Further information: www.eckoh.com

About Twenty First Century Communications
Twenty First Century Communications, Inc., (TFCC) is an Ohio-based privately
held corporation founded in 1989. TFCC serves over 70 major utility clients in
North America covering over 70 million customer meters, as well as serving over
4 million customer meters in the UK. In 2004 TFCC processed over 32 million
inbound and outbound call minutes.

Further information: www.tfcci.com

About Scottish Power
Scottish Power is a leading international energy company that includes serving
over five million homes and businesses in the UK. Scottish Power generates
electricity, operates and maintains large power delivery networks and provides a
full range of energy supply services including metering, billing and call centre
support.
                                                                      

Further information: www.scottishpower.co.uk

For further information & access to interviews please contact:

Eckoh Technologies plc              Tel: [phone]
Martin Turner, Chief Executive Officer
Nik Philpot, Chief Operating Officer

Buchanan Communications             Tel: [phone]
Mark Edwards/Jeremy Garcia

Annie Garthwaite Communications     Tel: [phone]





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