Ask Jeeves to Tackle Spoken Questions

Ask Jeeves Inc., the information source Internet junkies depend on to answer almost any question users type in on its Web site, has joined forces with Nuance Communications Inc. and General Magic Inc. to help businesses answer spoken questions. The three companies said they were working on products to provide more sophisticated telephone information systems that would allow people to get answers to questions they would normally have to ask a person or search for on the Internet. They will jointly market the products to companies who want to completely automate their customer service or change automated systems that require typing in choices on a telephone keypad. In Nasdaq trading, Nuance shares jumped $14.06, or 16%, to close at $101.94, while Ask Jeeves rose $1.63, or 11%, to close at $16.69 and General Magic rose 53 cents, or 12%, to close at $4.91.