Also from my Schwab service. This is another version of the report I posted the other day.
Wildfire and Compaq Announce First U.S. Deployment of Integrated Platform for Voice-Controlled Personal Assistant Solution
BusinessWire, Monday, December 07, 1998 at 09:09
LEXINGTON, Mass. and HOUSTON, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 7,
1998--
Pacific Bell Wireless Installs Industry Standard
ProLiant Servers in Central Office
Forging an industry first in U.S. wireless telecommunications
service offerings, Wildfire Communications, Inc. and Compaq Computer
Corporation (NYSE:CPQ) today announced that Pacific Bell Wireless
(NYSE:SBC) (formerly Pacific Bell Mobile Services) is the first U.S.
carrier to commercially offer the innovative Wildfire(R) electronic
personal assistant. After extensive performance reliability testing,
Pacific Bell Wireless chose to deploy this service based on
industry-standard Compaq ProLiant servers installed in their central
office.
The installed solution comprises Compaq ProLiant 6500 servers
running SCO UnixWare and Wildfire software directly connected to
Pacific Bell Wireless' mobile switching center and Signaling System 7
(SS7) network. The joint Wildfire/Compaq ProLiant platform is a
standards-based, cost-effective solution currently available to
telecommunications carriers worldwide from Wildfire Communications.
California-based Pacific Bell Wireless (PBW) will begin offering
the Wildfire electronic assistant service to Los Angeles area digital
PCS customers on December 7, 1998. Wildfire and Compaq bring an
integrated platform to the market that provides PBW with the required
performance and scalability to deliver this first-ever commercially
available, productivity-enhancing service. Offering this
technologically advanced service reliably serves as another
competitive differentiator for PBW.
"Wildfire" - "Here I Am"
Ideal for busy people, the Wildfire personal assistant uses
speech recognition to manage telephone communications completely
hands-free. Recognized by such industry experts as The Yankee Group
and The Institute for the Future, and by users as an indispensable
tool that dramatically enhances productivity and safety, Wildfire
revolutionizes the way people use the telephone. The Wildfire
electronic assistant is developed for deployment on several connected
industry-standard Compaq ProLiant servers, leveraging the ProLiant's
superior scalability, price-performance and reliability.
When a user says, "Wildfire," the service activates and responds
by saying, "Here I am." Through Wildfire's WildDial Voice Dialing,
users can also place outgoing calls hands-free by simply saying
"home," "work," "other" or by saying the name of a contact in their
address book (WildList). Other service highlights include
voice-controlled voicemail (WildMail) and intelligent call waiting
(WildWhisper). With a hands-free car kit or earpiece, all of
Wildfire's functionality can be accessed without touching the
telephone keypad.
The Integrated Platform Behind the Service
Compaq and Wildfire have been working closely over the past year
to optimize the integrated Wildfire/Compaq ProLiant platform for
deployment. As an integrated solution, Wildfire's electronic assistant
software running on Compaq ProLiant 6500 servers offers
telecommunication carriers industry-leading levels of performance,
availability and transaction processing speed. Compaq equips all of
its servers with industry-leading intelligent manageability tools such
as Compaq Insight Manager, which allows solution customers to identify
and proactively diagnose a problem before it happens. Also offered
with the Wildfire/Compaq server platform are high availability
services to enable optimum, uninterrupted performance -- critical to
meeting 24x7 network performance requirements.
"Wildfire's promise is to make our personal assistant available
anywhere, anytime - requiring a highly reliable and scalable hardware
platform," said William J. Warner, Chairman of Wildfire
Communications. "Compaq's ProLiant servers offer market-leading
performance and manageability - two critical factors for deployment
success."
"By bringing open industry standard servers to the Enhanced
Network Services market, Compaq allows carriers like Pacific Bell
Wireless to more rapidly deliver innovative services to meet the needs
of their most demanding customers," said Rose Ann Giordano, Vice
President, Communications Industry Solutions, Compaq Computer
Corporation.
"Once again, Compaq leads the way by bringing technology to
market that enhances customers' day-to-day productivity," said Eric
Miles, Vice President, North America Industry Solutions Marketing,
Compaq Computer Corporation. "Combining the unique features of
Wildfire's electronic assistant software with the high performance and
reliability of Compaq's servers, this integrated solution will change
the way many Pacific Bell Wireless customers use the telephone in
their daily business and personal lives."
"Pacific Bell Wireless subscribers are eager for tools that boost
their productivity," said Steve Sitton, Pacific Bell Wireless
President and General Manager, Los Angeles Region. "Now, mastering
that tool is as easy as saying 'Wildfire.'"
Availability
Pacific Bell Wireless' Wildfire personal assistant service will
be available as of December 7, 1998 in the Los Angeles market. For
more information and to listen to an audio demonstration about
Wildfire service from Pacific Bell Wireless call, 1-888-310-WILD
(1-888-310-9453). U.S. Telecommunications Carriers interested in
offering the Wildfire/Compaq solution in their regional market should
contact Wildfire Communications on 1-888-675-3252.
Company Background
Founded in 1982, Compaq Computer Corporation is a Fortune Global
100 company. Compaq is the second largest computer company in the
world and the largest global supplier of personal computers. Compaq
develops and markets hardware, software, solutions, and services,
including industry-leading enterprise computing solutions,
fault-tolerant business-critical solutions, networking and
communication products, commercial desktop and portable products and
consumer PCs. The company is an industry leader in environmentally
friendly programs and business practices.
Compaq products are sold and supported in more than 100 countries
through a network of authorized Compaq marketing partners. Customer
support and information about Compaq and its products are available at
compaq.com.
Wildfire Communications, Inc., headquartered in Lexington, Mass.,
is a pioneer in the field of electronic-assistant technology. The
company develops and markets Wildfire(R) as an enhanced service
offered by public telephone network carriers. Wildfire Communications,
Inc., is located at 81 Hartwell Ave., Lexington, MA 02421. For more
information on Wildfire Communications, visit their website at
www.wildfire.com. For a demonstration of the Wildfire assistant, call
1.800.WILDFIRE.
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