American adds customer-recognition technology

American Airlines says customers who call for flight information will get it faster because of new speech-recognition technology.
The technology is designed to save the airline money by reducing the need for employees to handle customer calls.
American said Thursday that the "Remember Me" system will recognize phone numbers and greet customers by name if they've signed up under American's frequent-flier program, AAdvantage. They can list up to three phone numbers from which they'll call the airline.
If the customer is booked on a flight that day, the system will offer gate and flight information without prompting, the airline said.
The technology was provided by Tellme, a company that Microsoft Corp. bought last year. [click heading for more]