Voice Mail on Net Coming Soon
Associated Press Online - October 08, 1999 14:33
By ANICK JESDANUN
AP Internet Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - Voice mail on the Internet? E-mail over the phone?
Both are coming soon, as the line separating phones and computers continues to blur. New products and services will let callers leave messages as e-mail attachments or check e-mail by phone.
"We think voice is going to be the next wave of the Internet," said Judy Radlinsky, spokeswoman for General Magic, which featured both services at the Internet World conference that ended Friday.
Jfax.com and eFax.com are among the other companies offering voice e-mail. Callers use a special number to leave a voice message, and it pops up as an e-mail. Recipients can listen to messages from the computer or by phone.
One drawback: they need separate numbers.
Regular voice mail services offered by phone companies automatically transfer unanswered or busy calls to the voice mail system.
With Internet-based services, callers must make a second call, or recipients must subscribe to a call-forwarding service from the phone company.
Jfax and eFax also offer services that translate faxes to e-mail.
"The idea is you're a moving target," said Josh Mailman, an eFax product demonstrator. "The easier you can be found, capture and get your information, the better."
Internet World, a five-day conference sponsored by publishers of Internet World magazine, brings together Internet companies ranging from Microsoft Corp. to the smallest startups. The show is now in its seventh year.
The show's offerings largely targeted other Internet companies, but a handful of products were designed specifically for consumers or business travelers.
Ancestry.com Inc., for instance, offers databases with 400 million names to help people trace their family roots.
Handspring Inc. and Palm Computing Inc. also showed off their latest handheld organizers.
The Internal Revenue Service had a presence as well, handing out brochures on electronic filing of tax returns and giving away CD-ROMs featuring forms and publications for tax year 1998. No matter that returns were due April 15.
Several services targeted the growing e-commerce business. Some help companies set up online retail operations. Others offer digital cash systems that let buyers shop from different merchants without having to enter a credit card number each time.
Headlines Next
|
