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August, 1998 |
  
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Breakthroughs on the E-mail FrontierFree E-Mail By PhoneNo matter how easy e-mail services claim to be, they always need a computer that’s usually tethered to the phone system. A new service out of the suburbs of Chicago, though, promises to take the PC out of e-mail retrieval. Glencoe, Ill.-based Planetary Motion said its CoolMail consolidates all your e-mail accounts and then gives you access to messages from any or all of them with a simple call from a car, a plane, a hotel or anywhere else you find a phone. CoolMail’s automated attendant "reads" messages to users via state-of-the-art voice technology that converts text to speech. Users receive their own e-mail address, ending in "@planetarymotion.net." A member can respond to the e-mail by using any of four predefined replies that they create at Planetary Motion’s Web site. Members can also send audio replies to any other CoolMail user, who can then also reply via a voice message. What’s more, CoolMail delivers its basic services for free. Target markets for the new service include the traveling sales and business executive, although "we quickly found that almost everyone on the go would benefit from this service," said Michael O’Roark, Planetary Motion president. Planetary Motion makes its money from advertising, similar to radio or TV ads, and additional services. For the ads, Planetary Motion asks potential users for "simple" demographic data during the sign-up procedure, and the company guarantees it will never divulge specific information about its members. Additional fee-based services include long distance access to the network at $0.10 a minute; responding to non-CoolMail members by voice and having the CoolMail system transcribe the message, at $0.02 per spoken word, and sending audio replies to non-CoolMail members, for $0.10 per reply. CoolMail debuted in 13 major markets earlier this month: New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington, DC, Dallas, Atlanta, Seattle, Miami, Denver, Milwaukee, Boston and Toronto. Planetary Motion said it plans to take its service nationwide by the end of 1998. CoolMail’s and Planetary Motion’s Web site is located at http://www.planetarymotion.com. (Contacts: Allison Clark or Elizabeth Costabile, S&S Public Relations, 847-291-1616) You’ve Got Certified E-MailA new service from Certifiedemail.com lets a person track e-mail he or she has sent and know those e-mails are picked up. The service is a "less expensive and faster alternative to registered mail and overnight delivery services," company officials said. In addition, the service reportedly protects against hackers and viruses: Messages are sent through Certifiedemail.com’s own secure e-mail port. Any message sent or received via the system is scanned for viruses before it is stored in the system. After customers register for an account at Certifiedemail.com’s Web site, they can compose a message on their own computer system. They then log on to the service, which contains instructions for account set-up and use. Senders receive a delivery confirmation as soon as the recipient "picks up" his or her message. Certifiedemail.com customers can log onto the site to "track" the status of their certified e-mail messages, much the way a person tracks packages through the UPS or FedEx Web sites. Recipients are notified that they have a certified e-mail message waiting for them at the Certifiedemail.com Web site, where instructions lead them to their letter. If the recipient does not immediately pick up the message, he or she will continue to get notifications for 30 days. If the recipient does not pick up the certified e-mail within 30 days, the message is returned to the sender. Individual messages can be sent for $2 each. Up to 20 messages per month can be sent for a subscription of $3.95 per month, with additional messages billed at a reduced fee. Charges can be billed to a credit card under either plan, and corporate plans are also available, company officials said. Certifiedemail.com’s Web site is at http://www.certifiedemail.com. (Contacts: Lisa Wolford, 212-484-7058, or Jeanine Smartt, 212-484-6713, of Robinson Lerer & Montgomery, for Certifiedemail.com)
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