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To: JC who wrote (2894)	7/23/1998 10:19:00 AM
From: Kurt Goebel	Respond to of 10081

JC, how are those competitors doing? Are any big carriers using them or trialing them. How many resellers do they have? How many customers? I heard PacBell was planning to carry Wildfire, but that was suppose to start this summer and I've seen no news at all on that since very early this year. Maybe it is not a done deal? Certainly there is some competition and it is possible for one or more of them to get it together and do well, but let us know how they are doing today and what their plans are for the future. How are they going to make money? Portico entering the market agressively is only going to hurt them more.

To: JC who wrote (2894)	7/23/1998 10:27:00 AM
From: Mike Gordon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 10081

JC, I did a little research on the 2 most-similiar competitors that you mentioned in your post, Webley and Wildfire. By the way, it is important to note that both offer less than Portico in way of functionality and quality of VUI (voice command driven rather than natural speech) At first glance, Webley may appear to be cheaper than Portico, but not when you dig a little deeper. The fee is $14.95 per month plus 14.9 cents per minute for all usage over the toll free number. The most basic Portico plan is 60 minutes for $19.95, including "airtime" on the toll-free number, as well as any domestic U.S. long distance charges for outgoing calls (I will not include the savings on long distance for this analysis, though, and will treat it as an additional functionality selling point instead). If you used 60 minutes per month on Webley, that puts you at $23.89 per month. Only a small difference. However, the other thing to consider is whether you want to include the e-mail over phone option which will cost you another $5 per month, and whether you want the fax forward and store service which is also another $5 per month. This brings you to $33.89 per month, or 70% higher monthly charge than Portico. The Portico 1300 minute plan costs $149.95 per month. Webley would run you $218.65 for the same amount of usage. Wildfire is even worse. $150 initial setup fee. $29 per month base fee plus 15 cents per minute. You get substantially more for less money with Portico. Yes, I agree they are competition. However, they are competition with a higher priced, inferior product. They will fight it out in the marketplace. I know who I've placed my bet on.