[More Bandwidth Consuming Offers]
From "T". If "Chat 'N Talk" is first, could "Chat and View", with video, be too far behind?
The pace of technology is truly moving at at blistering pace. I can hardly wait to see what the next few years will bring.
Perhaps, if we get enough good news, it'll move the price AMTX up a notch or two.
;))
Steve
Monday June 29, 8:33 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
AT&T Unveils New Communications Services, Combining Power of Internet With At&t
Voice Network
First AT&T Inter@ctive Communications To Be Offered Through Excite, Lycos
BASKING RIDGE, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 29, 1998-- AT&T (NYSE:T - news) today introduced the first of a family of AT&T Inter@ctive
Communications services that enable consumers to engage in a variety of new communications experiences using the Internet.
Developed by AT&T Labs, these new services place a variety of communications capabilities at Internet users' fingertips. Now, consumers can turn any
online chat into a phone conversation, initiate and manage a conference call with up to seven people, and utilize other services that leverage the power of
AT&T's voice network and the World Wide Web.
''These new services add voice to today's most popular Internet activities and applications, including online chat sessions and Web directories,'' said Dan
Schulman, President of AT&T WorldNet(R) Service and AT&T Interactive Communications. ''As the Internet evolves into a rich multimedia
experience, AT&T will be there, driving the transformation from text-based communications to voice-enabled applications.''
AT&T Inter@ctive Communications are an integral part of the company's strategy to enable Internet users to go anywhere on the Web to experience the
IP communications of tomorrow - today. Beginning today, these services are accessible through leading portals Excite (Nasdaq:XCIT - news;
www.excite.com) and Lycos (Nasdaq:LCOS - news; www.lycos.com), as well as the AT&T Web site (www.att.com) and the AT&T WorldNet(R)
Service site (www.att.net).
Available now, the first AT&T Inter@ctive Communications services require one telephone line separate from the Internet connection. They are:
AT&T Chat 'N Talk (www.chatntalk.att.com): What is it?: Internet users can add the warmth of voice to a textual online chat session. Make a phone
call to anyone in a chat room while retaining confidentiality.
How does it work?: Chat participants who want to have a one-on-one phone conversation click on an AT&T Chat 'N Talk icon, enter their phone
numbers and billing detail, and then establish contact through their second phone lines. The AT&T network connects both parties without revealing phone
numbers.
AT&T Click2Dial (sm) Conferencing (www.click2dial.att.com): What is it? Internet users set-up and control their own conference with up to 7 people at
any time, without operator assistance. How does it work? The conference host uses a Web interface to enter the telephone numbers of the people they
want on the call. They can then oversee a variety of conference functions, including the ability to mute, add or delete participants.
AT&T Click2Dial (sm) Directories (www.click2dial.att.com): What is it? People can auto-dial a person found in AT&T's Anywho (sm) directory
(www.anywho.com) with the simple click of a button. How does it work? Enter the name and state of the person to be contacted, and a second later,
the phone number and address of every person matching the criteria appears. Simply click on the appropriate person and connect with him or her on a
call.
AT&T Inter@ctive Communications are economical and easy-to-use. Click2Dial Conferencing and Click2Dial Directories are available for $0.15 cents
per minute, per each person called anywhere in the continental United States, Hawaii and Alaska. There are no additional fees for using Click2Dial
Directories. AT&T Chat 'N Talk has a set-up fee of $0.50, with a charge of $0.25 cents per minute.
To expedite the evolution of AT&T Inter@ctive Communications, AT&T will open up the service's APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) for
licensing later this year, empowering developers to create additional applications. These applications will eventually benefit online gamers, shoppers,
educators and others seeking to enhance their communications experiences on the Web.
System requirements: 486 or higher PC, running Windows 95 with at least 16 megabytes of RAM; Internet Explorer 3.02 or above, Netscape Navigator
3.0 or above; one phone line separate from an Internet connection.
About AT&T
AT&T is the world's premier voice and data communications company, serving more than 80 million customers, including consumers, businesses and
government. With annual revenues of more than $51 billion and some 121,000 employees, AT&T provides services to more than 280 countries and
territories around the world.
AT&T runs the world's largest, most powerful long-distance network and the largest digital wireless network in North America. The company is a
leading supplier of data and Internet services for businesses and the nation's largest direct Internet service provider to consumers.
AT&T's businesses are backed by the research and development capabilities of AT&T Labs, which is working to create the information services and
communications network of tomorrow.
About Excite
Founded in 1994, Excite, Inc. is a global media company offering consumers a personalized Web start page on www.excite.com and a 'back to basics'
Web search service on www.webcrawler.com, and advertisers the best one-to-one marketing services available online. The Excite Network consists of
two of the largest brands on the Web, Excite and WebCrawler, and its subsidiaries; Classifieds2000, MatchLogic, Inc., Excite Japan Co., Ltd. and
Excite UK, Ltd. Localized versions of Excite are available in France, Germany, the UK, The Netherlands, Sweden, Japan and Australia. Based in
Redwood City, Calif., Excite, Inc. has strategic relationships with America Online, Inc., Apple Computer, Inc., CUC Investments Inc., Intuit Inc.
[Nasdaq:INTU - news], Netscape Communications Corp. [Nasdaq:NSCP - news], Prodigy Internet and Tribune Company [NYSE:TRB - news].
About Lycos
Founded in 1995, Lycos, Inc. is a New Generation Online Service that combines all aspects of community, leading Web navigation resources and
cutting-edge business and consumer e-commerce solutions. Located at lycos.com, Lycos - ''Your Personal Internet Guide'' - is dedicated to
helping each individual user locate, retrieve and manage information tailored to his or her personal interests. Through the acquisition of Tripod, Inc., the
leading community site on the Web, located at tripod.com, Lycos has become the most full-featured community-oriented home base on the
Internet, providing free personal homepages to all users. Headquartered near Boston in Waltham, MA, Lycos maintains U.S. offices in New York City,
Pittsburgh, Dallas, Los Angeles and San Francisco. International offices are located in Japan, Germany, Italy, France, the UK, Spain and The
Netherlands.
Click2Dial is a service mark of AT&T
Contact:
Jonathan Varman
AT&T |
