Voice-to-content messaging vendor SpinVox is at the centre of speculation again, this time linking it to a takeover by American speech-recognition company Nuance Communications for US$150 million. The Times Online has reported that the deal could be announced before Christmas. Neither company has commented on the report. Yesterday the BBC also reported that SpinVox has been given until January to pay back a £30 million (US$49 million) loan to an investor. The initial deadline for that loan was believed to be this week.

It was the BBC that ‘broke’ a story in July focusing on SpinVox’s privacy standards, technology and finances. The article alleged that much of the work of transcribing voice messages was carried out by call centre staff in locations around the world, rather than by its voice-recognition technology. However, SpinVox has never denied that it has used humans for some of its services, and an inquiry by Deloitte, the accountant, and Jones Day, the law firm, into the dossier of anonymous accusations about financial mismanagement did not uncover any wrongdoing. SpinVox is believed to have been up for sale for some time, with Nuance particularly interested in the British firm’s contracts with a number of major international telecoms operators.