SAN JOSE, Calif., April 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Notify Technology Corporation (Nasdaq: NTFY) today announced that an agreement has been signed with a Regional Bell Operating Company (RBOC) to begin a Visual Got Mail(TM) pilot program. The pilot is scheduled to begin in June, pending the results of the RBOC's internal testing. Under the terms of the agreement, Notify Technology may not release the name of the RBOC until the pilot begins.
The pilot will introduce Notify Technology's Visual Got Mail(TM) system, which consists of an e-Server, a proprietary scalable Internet Computer Telephony platform, and an e-Light, a visual notification adjunct that connects to a user's telephone line. The Visual Got Mail(TM) system works in two interdependent steps to provide e-mail notification.
The e-Server repeatedly queries all users' e-mail accounts for unread messages. Meanwhile, each user's e-Light, periodically or at the push of a button, dials into the e-Server through a standard telephone line. If unread e-mail is present for that user's e-mail account, the e-Server notifies the e-Light and the e-Light flashes a bright red light.
"Internet chat rooms and message boards, as well as Notify's telephone lines, have been flooded with comments, questions and speculation since the February 2 announcement of Visual Got Mail(TM)," said Paul DePond, president and chief executive officer of Notify Technology Corporation. "The signing of our first pilot agreement is a validation of the Visual Got Mail(TM) business opportunity.
"We anticipate that telephone companies will offer Visual Got Mail as a monthly service," he said. "Notify continues to negotiate with a number of other telephone companies and internet service providers for pilot programs." During the pilot, the Visual Got Mail(TM) system will notify users of unread e-mail in nearly all industry standard -- POP3 and IMAP4 -- e-mail systems, such as Earthlink, Mindspring and UUNet. The majority of the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the United States conform to either the POP3 or IMAP4 standard.
The Visual Got Mail(TM) system will also provide e-mail notification to America Online (AOL) subscribers during the pilot. The system has successfully provided notification of unread e-mail in AOL accounts in a testing environment.
The Visual Got Mail(TM) technology is designed to reduce the frustration dial-up e-mail users endure during the 10-minute ritual of powering on their computers, waiting for the modem to connect with the ISP, opening the e-mail application and checking for unread messages. Many times e-mail users suffer this process only to find there aren't any unread messages. Other e-mail users forget to check their mail -- sometimes for days at a time -- and miss important messages.
Notify Technology Corporation, headquartered in San Jose, California, develops and manufactures telephony adjuncts, devices that add value to business and residential telephone services offered by telephone companies. The Company's best-known product is the MessageAlert, a visual message waiting indicator for telephone company voice mail. The Company also sells a Centrex-based auto attendant product that is marketed under the names Centrex Receptionist and Plexar Receptionist by various telephone companies as part of their Centrex product line |
