(Photo via Blog.Spoken.com)

Avaya Holdings, a business communications company based in Santa Clara, Calif. has agreed to acquire Seattle’s Spoken Communications using cash on-hand. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The acquisition is expected to be complete by the second quarter of this year.

Spoken Communications uses speech recognition technology to automate processes in call centers. Its core product is its cloud-based Contact Center as a Service (CcaaS). In the 12 years since launch, the company has attracted investors, like Ignition Partners and Riverwood Capital, by selling services to large Fortune 500 companies.

The acquisition will help Avaya migrate its enterprise communication products to the cloud. Avaya will also integrate Spoken’s IntelligentWire into its platform. IntelligentWire learns by analyzing live calls and provides follow-up tools afterward. The technology catches keywords when they are spoken and uses them to initiate process in its system. For example, when IntelligentWire hears the word “return” it initiates a return process automatically. Avaya says it will absorb Spoken’s 170 patents and patent applications as part of the acquisition.

In 2015, Spoken Communications raised $28 million, bringing total funding at the time to $49 million. The company grew quickly in the Seattle area under the leadership of tech veteran Howard Lee initially; Lee was succeeded by current CEO Mo Afshar.

In 2017, Spoken and Avaya entered a co-development partnership to help Avaya automate more of its call center processes.

“With this acquisition, Avaya’s large contact center customer base around the world will have a clear migration path to the cloud,” Avaya CEO Jim Chirico said in a statement.

This post has been updated with Spoken Communications current headquarters and CEO.

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