Los Angeles-based Alelo , a USC spinout developing foreign language and culture training tools, said this week that it has opened an office in Suffolk, Virginia. The firm said the new office was opened to better serve government customers interested in its products. Alelo's software uses computer gaming technology to help users learn languages and culture, and is being used by the military for training of troops The new center is in the Virginia Model and Simulation Center (VMASC). Tags: alelo language games trainin

The Smart Action Company--which is headed by Richard Koffler, who has been involved in the Tech Coast Angels and most recently Alelo--said it is looking to provide sophisticated, automated interaction using artificial intelligence, targeting IVR calls that currently can only be handled by human agents. IVR is typically used by companies to reduce their customer service costs, uses speech and keypad input to route calls and provide users information. Playa del Rey-based The Smart Action Company is looking to apply artificial intelligence (AI) to the interactive voice response market, and has released a new producted focused on internative voice response, or IVR.