Enterprise search firm Autonomy today expanded its significant footprint in the electronic discovery space with a new technology designed to save costs and man hours by allowing legal teams to speedily evaluate audio assets for use in court cases.

New features include speaker identification, the ability to perform audio redaction in a similar way to text redaction, and the ability for investigators to expand or tighten the focus of each search, said Autonomy.

The audio capabilities have been integrated into Autonomy's existing Zantaz e-discovery platform, so that the end-to-end solution can now perform keyword and conceptual search, speech analytics, advanced visual analysis, redaction and all aspects of the legal review and production process on all electronic forms and formats, the firm added.

"The current economic environment has brought e-discovery to the forefront, with investigators increasingly looking for potentially incriminating evidence in previously overlooked formats, such as audio and video," said Mike Sullivan, chief executive of Autonomy Zantaz.

"Autonomy's audio e-discovery allows legal teams to quickly evaluate audio assets and prioritise review, resulting in substantial cost savings and providing organisations with a distinct advantage in and out of court."