Vonwiller linguistics firm speaks right export language

TWELVE years ago, Julie Vonwiller started a linguistic consultancy business from her Gordon home on Sydney's north shore.

TWELVE years ago, Julie Vonwiller started a linguistic consultancy business from her Gordon home on Sydney's north shore.

Today, the family company Appen, jointly run by her engineer husband Chris Vonwiller, has grown to become a world supplier of sophisticated text, speech and language technology.

Almost all automated call centres globally rely on Appen's technology.

About 98 per cent of its products and services are exported and used in some 50 countries worldwide.

For a small family-owned company, Appen's client list now reads like a who's who of business including Microsoft, Google, Nokia, Siemens and Sony.

Last night, the company's success story was recognised when the husband and wife team walked away with the Australian Exporter of the Year award presented by Kevin Rudd at a dinner in Melbourne.

Now in its 46th year, the Australian Export Awards was jointly presented by Austrade and the Australian Chamber ofCommerce and Industry.

Chris Vonwiller said the new trophy would be proudly displayed at Appen's boardroom in Sydney and join another trophy earned three years ago when the company won the national information and communication technology award.

"The award does confer credibility and will open a lot of doors for us," Mr Vonwiller said

"Large government departments and IT firms see such awards as credentials and will help us expand more rapidly overseas.

"Appen's technology is virtually used in most of the world's automated telephone call centres as well as in-car navigation systems. Our customers are large IT firms and government bodies, including the US Defence Department -- Appen is well known in Washington's government agencies."

Julie Vonwiller said it was fortuitous that the husband-and-wife team worked well together. "We divide our work quite nicely as our business is a co-operation of IT and linguistics," Dr Vonwiller said.

When her husband joined the company three years after it started, he decided that since he was already helping his wife during weekends, he may as well retire as divisional managing director of Telstra, to work full time as joint chief executive of Appen. "After 20 years in corporate life, moving to run your own company was a big change," Mr Vonwiller said. "But we're in a sunrise industry serving a niche market. We have a small four-person board including our two grown-up sons. We also have a five-member management team. As a small company, we make decisions very quickly as we are a very nimble company."