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Now that voice portals have arrived, you make the call: Are theymerely a slight improvement over frustrating voice mail, or willthey emerge as a major new medium that rivals the wireless Web?
Voice-activated services such as BeVocal (800-4-B-VOCAL) andTellme Networks (800-555-TELL) have launched nationwide networks,providing voice-recognition menus where spoken keywords summonsound bites in either text-to-speech synthesis or recorded audio.Staples include news, sports, weather, stocks, traffic updates andmovie listings. Some services offer driving directions, horoscopes,personalization features and even text-to-speech e-mail. But voiceportals aren't really portals at all. Rather, they'redesigned to provide snippets from a fairly limited selection ofmajor content sources.
Start-ups have been piling on the trend, including AirTrac.net,Audiopoint, HeyAnita, Mobilee, NetByTel, PhoneRun, TelSurfNetworks' 888TelSurf and Tellsoft Technologies' iTalkWeb.The Kelsey Group predicts the voice-portal industry will representa $12 billion "voice e-cosystem" by 2005, with more than$5.6 billion of that revenue generated from sales of theservices.
Drive-time information such as traffic and directions are themain draw, says Rachel MacAulay, a Kelsey Group analyst for voiceand wireless commerce. For drivers, she explains, voice portalshave safety and convenience advantages over the wireless Web."You're not going to drive and look at your tiny phonescreen," she says.
Some analysts are skeptical about the services' revenuemodels and long-term consumer appeal. Almost all the services arefree, but most are sprinkled with short ads. Many demandregistration and require a password. Will consumers bother toremember passwords, and will they stay on long enough to hearads?
Thanks to support from AT&T, front-runner Tellme Networkslures new users by skimping on ads and forgoing registration.Tellme is concentrating its efforts on seeding the market withopen-source licensing of voice-activated site-creation tools. Withcustomer calls costing businesses about $5 apiece, custom voiceportals open up intriguing support and marketing possibilities.Others see the technology's text-to-speech focus as a pathwayto universal messaging. Companies such as NetByTel and Tellsoft,for example, sell business portal kits with integrated applicationssuch as call-center support, e-commerce, e-mail and scheduling. Thetechnology could also be integrated with car computers andlocation-based GPS to improve driving directions and steerconsumers toward offline stores.
Mainstream players are entering the market, too. Lycos struck adeal with Mobilee to launch its voice portal, and Lucent teamed upwith PhoneRun and Worldcom to launch a voice-activated, radio-style"phonecasting" portal. Expect to see more phone companyinvestments in these players, followed by voice-portal servicesshowing up as another cheap, extra-cost option bundled into yourphone service. We'll also see phone-portal ISPs that offer thesame content destined for both WAP smart-phone screens and handsetspeakers. BeVocal is already heading in that direction.
Eric Brown, a regular contributor to PCWorld.com, is afreelance writer living in the Boston area.
Contact Source
- The Kelsey Group, (609) 921-7200, www.kelseygroup.com
