Cambridge-based speech recognition outfit Vocalis has been sold to Netdecisions Holdings Ltd for just £1 after calling in the administrators.

News that Vocalis was in talks with the IT services group surfaced last week - six weeks after Vocalis revealed that it had received no new orders since March.

The July statement warned that as of 30 June the company had £1.1 million in the bank but was burning cash at around £375,000 a month. With time running out, the company confirmed that it was "currently pursuing a number of strategic options".

Today's announcement of the sale to Netdecisions means that the company can move forward while safeguarding the future of around 57 jobs at Vocalis.

Vocalis will become part of Fluency Voice Technology Ltd - Netdecisions' speech application business.

Vocalis was an early player in the development of the UK speech recognition market. It was formed in 1993 by a management buy out from Logica PLC.

Parent company Vocalis PLC was listed on the UK Stock Exchange in July 1996. ®