Telephone Presence from "Tello"

["David Farber" <dave () farber net>]

  _____  

From: Atkinson, Robert [mailto:rca53 () columbia edu] 
Sent: Monday, January 23, 2006 9:59 AM
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Telephone Presence from "Tello"

 

> From today's Wall Street Journal:

 

 

New Internet Firm Lets Users Locate Telephone Contacts

A group of telecommunications-industry veterans has formed a company to
offer businesses an Internet-calling service that lets users keep tabs on
the whereabouts and communications activities of each other.

The founders of the company, called Tello Corp., include Jeff Pulver, a
longtime Internet-calling pioneer; Craig McCaw, credited with building the
first national U.S. cellular network; Michael Price, a long-time telecom
investment banker now at Evercore Partners; and John Sculley, former chief
executive of Apple Computer Inc. and PepsiCo Inc.'s Pepsi-Cola unit.

Beginning today, closely held Tello will offer a service that will let
workers see on their computers or mobile devices whether the person they are
trying to reach is on an office phone or cellphone or is logged on to
instant messaging. If the person is off the office phone, Tello can let
others know how long ago he or she last made a call.

Mr. Pulver says Tello aims to extend the "presence" feature that users of
instant messaging have come to rely on, letting them know when other users
are logged on and available. "For the last three years, I've been telling
people that presence is a $25 billion industry that we don't know how to
describe," said Mr. Pulver, a co-founder of Vonage Holdings Corp.

Mr. Pulver has long complained that Internet calling, while increasingly
popular, is mostly used as a way to make cheap calls. The technology, known
as voice over Internet protocol or VOIP, also could be used to develop a
wide array of features that combine the Internet and phone service, he says.
"I believe when [Tello] starts to take off, it will show that voice over IP
is not just about cheap calling," he says.

Tello's chief executive, Doug Renert, a former executive at Oracle
<http://online.wsj.com/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=orcl>  Corp., said
the company will join forces with Cisco
<http://online.wsj.com/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=CSCO>  Systems Inc.
and Avaya <http://online.wsj.com/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=AV>  Inc.,
which make Internet phone systems for business customers.

The service is likely to raise privacy questions, as it will provide
companies with another way to easily monitor the communication activities of
their workers. Employees of different companies also will be able to keep
track of each other if the businesses decide to link their Tello services
together.

Mr. Renert said Tello can be configured by individual users to turn off the
services. "It's not a Big Brother application," he said.

Mr. Renert said the service also will let multiple users work on tasks such
as spreadsheets or Power Point presentations simultaneously.

A limited version of the service for individuals will be available free of
charge. Users who download it will be able to track each other's cellphone
and instant-messaging activities but not their home or office phones. The
enterprise version of the service will cost $30 a user per year. Initially,
BlackBerrys will be the only mobile devices it will work with, but others
will be added.

 

 

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