Five years ago, location-based services (LBS) were lauded as the next “killer apps,†poised to drive wireless usage and wireless telco’s ARPU (average revenue per user). Carriers, especially the combo of Sprint and Nextel, have stopped dabbling and started offering both business and consumer services.
Continue Reading August 23rd, 2005
Speech applications enjoyed dramatic growth among communications service providers in 2004. A number of ‘demos’ and ‘trials’ became fullfledged ‘deployments’ as carriers leveraged investment in resources for customer service, personal communications and enhanced Directory Assistance.
Continue Reading July 15th, 2005
Emergency 911 (E911) services trigger a defining moment for both VoIP carriers and regulators. In a fair fight, “use case‖ rather than regulatory mandate — will govern the flavor of IP telephony that will prevail in the marketplace.
Continue Reading May 12th, 2005
In a comprehensive acquisition campaign dubbed Project Tsunami, ScanSoft acquires three companies: Scottish pure-play, text-to-speech provider Rhetorical Systems, Israel-based automated DA leader Phonetic Systems and another Israeli-based embedded speech solution, ART (Advanced Recognition Technologies). The initial total cash outlay by ScanSoft is only $27.4 million, with the remaining $63 million consideration due later, almost all of it in cash.
Continue Reading November 16th, 2004
>> Wireless 411 Service Implementation: Market Plan & Forecast
>> November, 2004
>> Mark Plakias, Principal Research Analyst
Non-Clients - Click Here to View the Report Summary
A spate of announcements regarding directory assistance information delivery via SMS, including one from Google, prompts a major review of wireless data activity, inasmuch as it opens yet another free online channel that competes with 411.
Continue Reading November 9th, 2004
A querulous cavalcade has arisen over upcoming 411-based access to wireless listings (Wireless 411). Where the likes of Consumers Union and (more recently) Gartner counsel both carriers and their customers to steer clear based primarily on paranoia, a dispassionate analysis exposes the effort for what it is from the point of view of Conversational Access Technologies: a sustainable business model for Federated Identity Management. It is one that employs machine-to-machine (M2M) communications as the back-end for major improvements in person-to-person (P2P) interactions.
Continue Reading October 2nd, 2004
Pat Cox, CEO of Qsent appeared before the House Subcommittee holding hearings on the Boxer/Specter Wireless 411 Privacy Act to plead restraint in passing regulation. Based on the questions from the committee, which included not one but two senators from QSent’s home state of Oregon, it looks as if any restraint will have more to do with a looming recess than the eloquence of Qsent’s arguments, or the mixed results of CTIA CEO Steve Largent.
Continue Reading September 24th, 2004
