Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Beverly Hills-based TeleSign Innovates with SMS / Phone Verification
The two-factor SMS / phone verification is an efficient way for cloud-based applications to offer an additional level of security beyond a CAPTCHA. Here's the story...
Friday, February 5, 2010
Become a Selling Machine and Not an Inefficient Dialer Leaving Long Incoherent Voice Mails
I just received a call from a local search sales rep. Can't tell you the name of the company because it was inaudible. You have to listen to this message:
MP3 of the message
Goog Voice Transcription:
What Keith did wrong:
1) The company should record a professional answering machine message and let Keith leave this when he hits a machine.
** The FastCall411 dialer - standalone web app, or integrated into Salesforce.com - automates this for Keith
2) Keith should always leave his email on the message. Let the called party respond in their preferred method of communication.
** FastCall411 offers an option for the called party to redial and leave their email address on a voicemail. We then transcribe the email address and subscribe the party to receive addtl info. The process is automated and efficient.
With FastCall411 Keith would become a selling machine and not an inefficient dialer leaving long incoherent voice mails.
MP3 of the message
Goog Voice Transcription:
Hi, My name is Keith, In Name info to win 91886, extension 245 small business. I think that's by more than 658 billion dollars on Internet Marketing Services last year. This band is expected to go buy a more than 2 billion dollars in next 5 years maximize the ship sure David skip and that there'd and that allows you to view the mafia business. My name is Megan Klein keeping all but I think or so. Explain this 12 076 or website management long too many pages. Email Marketing Bay, Public Management. All, in, one. Unbigoted to. I would like to show you a demo food and then have a center for the free drive. Google have business. Please call me Cape, IN 91402 IN 91886, extension 24 flight to see more info please. Is. It's good to know if those dot com. Thank you. Have a nice day.
What Keith did wrong:
1) The company should record a professional answering machine message and let Keith leave this when he hits a machine.
** The FastCall411 dialer - standalone web app, or integrated into Salesforce.com - automates this for Keith
2) Keith should always leave his email on the message. Let the called party respond in their preferred method of communication.
** FastCall411 offers an option for the called party to redial and leave their email address on a voicemail. We then transcribe the email address and subscribe the party to receive addtl info. The process is automated and efficient.
With FastCall411 Keith would become a selling machine and not an inefficient dialer leaving long incoherent voice mails.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
This is Customer Relationship Management?
Yesterday an ad for a Salesforce integrator grabbed my attention in my Google apps-powered FastCall411 email.* I called the number on the landing page and hit an answering machine. So I used the web to lead form to submit an inquiry (a standard Salesforce feature) and received a page error on submit. The company did, however, send me an email confirmation saying thanks for the inquiry, please feel free to call. But they didn't provide a phone number in the email.
Hello? Isn't that the reason I completed the inquiry form? I wanted you to call me? Otherwise, I would have just called you. (Oh I did that.)
The company never called back either as a result of my voice mail or web lead.
Wow. All this from a company who advertised they were experts in customer relationship management. Why spend money in lead generation if your company has no resources to manage those leads?
*I've been heads down on an integration with Salesforce.com (we will be provisioning virtual numbers to local merchant and reporting the call details within Salesforce).
Hello? Isn't that the reason I completed the inquiry form? I wanted you to call me? Otherwise, I would have just called you. (Oh I did that.)
The company never called back either as a result of my voice mail or web lead.
Wow. All this from a company who advertised they were experts in customer relationship management. Why spend money in lead generation if your company has no resources to manage those leads?
*I've been heads down on an integration with Salesforce.com (we will be provisioning virtual numbers to local merchant and reporting the call details within Salesforce).
Friday, November 6, 2009
Call tracking: Slick as snot, or just good service?
This continuing call tracking discussion on Greg Sterling's blog frames a fundamental challenge within mobile local search: data quality. A quick search for plumbers on HelpHive returns 687 results (Los Angeles also returns 687 results so this is perhaps programmed by HelpHive). Search for Seattle Plumber with Google Maps and there are 2,368 results. Directories such as HelpHive aim to help consumers sort through these very unmanageable lists.
In my recent article on iMediaCONNECTION: "Left in the dark: How search fails at mobile local", I provide examples of base mobile local search data that is out-of-date, unverified by the business owner, inaccurate, poorly categorized, etc.
Our testing at FastCall411 has revealed that if /when the consumer calls the 2,368 results on Google, they will – on average - receive a disconnected number, busy signal or no answer about 700 times. About 700 times they will be connected to an answering machine or IVR (which may in turn connect to a live person or voice mail). The remaining consumers would be lucky to find a plumber who answers their phone. Of these, we can assume some will be available to serve the consumer's need and some will not.
Call tracking enables publishers to apply a level of analysis to a mostly unfiltered database of local merchants well beyond spidering the web. The call disposition (disconnect, busy, etc) provides insight into the status of the merchant that we could never uncover from a base listing or meta data alone. Further, examining average call length reveals even more about the interaction between the caller and merchant. While there are exceptions, I believe average call length – taken over a series of calls – is a great proxy for customer service. Unlike consumer reviews, the call detail records present empirical data.
The net result: plumbers who better serve their clients can be rewarded by tracking calls.
In my recent article on iMediaCONNECTION: "Left in the dark: How search fails at mobile local", I provide examples of base mobile local search data that is out-of-date, unverified by the business owner, inaccurate, poorly categorized, etc.
Our testing at FastCall411 has revealed that if /when the consumer calls the 2,368 results on Google, they will – on average - receive a disconnected number, busy signal or no answer about 700 times. About 700 times they will be connected to an answering machine or IVR (which may in turn connect to a live person or voice mail). The remaining consumers would be lucky to find a plumber who answers their phone. Of these, we can assume some will be available to serve the consumer's need and some will not.
Call tracking enables publishers to apply a level of analysis to a mostly unfiltered database of local merchants well beyond spidering the web. The call disposition (disconnect, busy, etc) provides insight into the status of the merchant that we could never uncover from a base listing or meta data alone. Further, examining average call length reveals even more about the interaction between the caller and merchant. While there are exceptions, I believe average call length – taken over a series of calls – is a great proxy for customer service. Unlike consumer reviews, the call detail records present empirical data.
The net result: plumbers who better serve their clients can be rewarded by tracking calls.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Huge Call Tracking Discussion over on Screenwerk
Greg Sterling's Screenwerk has a hot conversation going on a dispute between Seattle-based HelpHive and a local merchant. The original post and comments are here.
I jumped into the fray and (of course) agreed that if a Merchant fails to meet a publisher's quality of service standard or worse, doesn't pay their bills; the publisher should redirect their calls. [Note: I would council my publisher clients to cover call redirection in their terms of service so that advertisers would have to agree to these terms when they sign the insertion order.]
FastCall411's TryAnother application was designed for this type of call redirection.
Mobile local search has many challenges, and for better or worse, call tracking offers many solutions. In June I wrote in response to Greg's post on pay-per-call: “Will Local Market Ultimately Reject PFP/PPC”
I have argued many times that customer service is the key to success in mobile local search. Consumers expect immediate availability when hiring a local merchant.
FastCall411 research confirms what most of us have experienced: merchants don’t always answer their phones or are otherwise not available.
From the publisher's POV is it a better consumer experience to connect the calling consumer to the merchant's voicemail, or is it a better consumer experience to offer to connect the consumer to other available merchants and redirect the call?
Yes, in this scenario some merchants will lose leads, but others will win. More importantly, the consumer is served.
By tracking calls we are able to identify merchants who are more likely to be available and responsive. This rewards merchants who deliver better customer service. So while merchants should be hyper diligent about who is controlling their identity and reputation, they can find solace in the potential to be rewarded for their good service.
I jumped into the fray and (of course) agreed that if a Merchant fails to meet a publisher's quality of service standard or worse, doesn't pay their bills; the publisher should redirect their calls. [Note: I would council my publisher clients to cover call redirection in their terms of service so that advertisers would have to agree to these terms when they sign the insertion order.]
FastCall411's TryAnother application was designed for this type of call redirection.
Mobile local search has many challenges, and for better or worse, call tracking offers many solutions. In June I wrote in response to Greg's post on pay-per-call: “Will Local Market Ultimately Reject PFP/PPC”
I have argued many times that customer service is the key to success in mobile local search. Consumers expect immediate availability when hiring a local merchant.
FastCall411 research confirms what most of us have experienced: merchants don’t always answer their phones or are otherwise not available.
From the publisher's POV is it a better consumer experience to connect the calling consumer to the merchant's voicemail, or is it a better consumer experience to offer to connect the consumer to other available merchants and redirect the call?
Yes, in this scenario some merchants will lose leads, but others will win. More importantly, the consumer is served.
By tracking calls we are able to identify merchants who are more likely to be available and responsive. This rewards merchants who deliver better customer service. So while merchants should be hyper diligent about who is controlling their identity and reputation, they can find solace in the potential to be rewarded for their good service.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Google Voice Integrated in Goog Comparison Ads
Over at Search Engine Land Danny Sullivan wrote about the new Google Comparison Ads. Sold on a cost-per-lead (CPL) basis (initially just Mortgages). The Comparison Ads (a typical format in lead generation) enable consumers to fill out a form and the lead is delivered to multiple vendors. However, Google is not giving the vendor, in this case the mortgage broker, the consumer's phone number (to abuse) but rather Google is provisioning a Google Voice *Virtual* number so that Goog can intermediate the call between the broker and consumer. This is a great feature for the consumer and sure to drive innovation in lead generation.
Here's the quote from Danny's article and the post:
Here's the quote from Danny's article and the post:
Ads are sold on a cost-per-lead basis. When someone clicks to receive a quote, the advertiser is forwarded the information and billed. The advertiser also receives no personal information about the person. In fact, they don’t even get the person’s real phone number. Google provides a temporary bridging number that connects the advertiser to the customer. After that, it’s up to the customer to provide their own “real” number if they want follow-up, Fox said. more...
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Five Rules For Running A Successful Pay-Per-Call Campaign
My column on pay-per-call success recently published on Search Engine Land:.
Oct 16, 2009 by Rich Rosen
Although it’s been around for years, pay-per-call advertising may be finally hitting its stride. Greg Sterling, a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land, recently wrote:
Sterling sees pay-per-call growth in traditional media and mobile. He also notes that pay-per-call programs are now increasingly being used in print Yellow Page directories such as AT&T which just announced pay-per-call programs via the YPmobile App for iPhone and iTouch . Merchant Circle also recently announced pay-per-acquisition pricing – including pay-per-call.
And it’s not just AT&T and Merchant Circle. Other traditional yellow page publishes are renewing interest, and venture rounds by MojoPages, Balihoo, RingRevenue, as well as the TechCrunch50 launch of Redbeacon and Yext show that there is a growing supply of pay per call offerings coming into the mobile local search market.
more on SEL...
Oct 16, 2009 by Rich Rosen
Although it’s been around for years, pay-per-call advertising may be finally hitting its stride. Greg Sterling, a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land, recently wrote:
We’ve long known that calls are much more valuable than clicks to small businesses in particular, but also to many larger entities with call-center sales operations. However… it’s taken PPCall much longer to get going than I originally anticipated.
Sterling sees pay-per-call growth in traditional media and mobile. He also notes that pay-per-call programs are now increasingly being used in print Yellow Page directories such as AT&T which just announced pay-per-call programs via the YPmobile App for iPhone and iTouch . Merchant Circle also recently announced pay-per-acquisition pricing – including pay-per-call.
And it’s not just AT&T and Merchant Circle. Other traditional yellow page publishes are renewing interest, and venture rounds by MojoPages, Balihoo, RingRevenue, as well as the TechCrunch50 launch of Redbeacon and Yext show that there is a growing supply of pay per call offerings coming into the mobile local search market.
more on SEL...
Sunday, October 4, 2009
PPCall is an Opportunity for Innovation, Not a Necessity out of Desperation
At the mobile local search industry confab, the Kelsey Group’s DMS ’09 conference held recently in Orlando, Telmetrics CEO Bill Dinan, urged traditional yellow page companies to move to performance based pricing (press release.)
In his panel and press release Dinan argued that traditional media has proven its worth – when the number and length of calls are tracked the metrics are successful - and said now is the time to prove it with pay per call (ppcall) pricing. Dinan told Kelsey’s Charles Laughlin that he expects ppcall will become the largest revenue category for Yellow Pages, from overwhelmingly subscription today to 70-30 in favor of performance pricing within a few years.
Dinan backs up his argument with data that he says indicates print yellow page (PYP) leads are more valuable than internet yellow page leads (IYP) – as measured by average call length. Here’s the data:
• Print Yellow Pages ads average 20.5 calls per month at 2.7 minutes in length
• Internet Yellow Pages ads average 20 calls per month at 1.3 minutes in length
• Direct Mail ads average 8.4 calls per month at 1.7 minutes in length
• Interactive / SEM average 6.4 calls per month at 1.3 minutes in length
With several years in the call measurement space serving Yellow Page publishers, I concur that Print YPs deliver leads and should not be afraid to report them. However, the difference in the data – average call length of IYP (1.3 mins) vs PYP (2.7 mins) - strikes me as unusually high. I look at the Telmetics data above and I do not see the superior quality of PYP leads and an argument for pay-per-call, I see a fundamental issue with IYP call tracking and an opportunity to solve the challenge revealed within the data: Why are IYP leads 50% in quality compared to PYP leads?
Wrong numbers are one reason that IYP publishers would see very low average call lengths. However, after so many years in the space, Telmetrics should be well beyond the learning curve of dealing with wrong number calls. It’s also possible that their clients are recycling numbers on their end - or using dynamic number insertion and that is causing wrong number calls. While these actions would be beyond the call measurement provider’s control, the resulting data should raise a red flag for the client and the vendor.
Another likely explanation of the significant difference in the average call length between PYP and IYP calls is relevancy of the IYP listing. Print yellow pages are accurately targeted - nearly all listings are in my neighborhood. Online I often see ads for merchants several cities away.
I have a saying: if a merchant receives 10 calls and the average call length is 15 seconds, I don’t know what the question was, but the answer was most likely “NO.” Multiple calls to a merchant listed in an IYP heading resulting in “no” responses means the merchant isn’t relevant to the consumer search (out of business, mis-categorized, etc.) This scenario would skew average call length.
I do not view accountability and performance pricing as a requirement born out of desperation. The local mobile search industry has an opportunity for innovation and it is not limited to pay-per-call. For example, many merchants want a fixed budget and will be well served with ROI reporting (call tracking.) The mobile local search industry needs to move beyond call tracking or pay-per-call with Voice 1.0 applications and embrace the benefits of today’s innovative Voice 2.0 applications.
Yext demonstrated an example of innovative Voice 2.0 applications at TechCrunch50. The company has identified and is trying to solve the problem of leakage and dirty calls within pay-per-call. Yext Calls uses voice recognition and analytics to examine key words - within a phone call - for relevance and to filter out junk calls or non-sales leads. For example, calls such as “what are your hours of operation?” may not be charged as a lead. Yext wowed the crowd at TechCruch50 and followed-up with an announcement of a $25M venture round. (I previously commented on Yext Local Search: Enormous Opportunity – Complex Solutions.)
Another innovator in mobile local search, and the TechCruch50 winner, is Redbeacon. While not focused on pay per call, or calls at all – they are trying to solve the problem of merchant availability. This is more closely related to pay-per-call than most realize. If the merchant's staff is not available to respond to a call, the consumer is not served (and you typically cannot bill for the call). The merchant who answers the phone is generally more available than the merchant that does not - especially over a series of calls.
FastCall411 also offers an exciting fix for leakage, dirty calls and merchant availability. The goal of TryAnother, our patent-pending parallel dialing application, is to deliver more quality leads to available merchants by capturing real-time connection rate data on each call (paid and organic listings). Merchants are offered the ability to accept (and optionally pay for) a lead only when they are available to provide the service. Merchants want good clean calls.
The next generation of Voice 2.0 applications insure a high level of satisfaction with the quality of your callers (consumers) by including detailed analytics and reporting to identify repeat calls by caller ID and other calling patterns; category management to deliver the best leads to the right merchants; pricing models that optimize value; and finally advanced, real-time call routing applications to deal wrong numbers, vendors, and other unwanted calls. As innovation continues improving phone leads delivered to local merchants, the replacement (virtual) phone number will no longer be an objection to overcome with the merchant, but another useful feature delivered by Yellow Pages publishers to help the merchant manage their lead pipeline.
No doubt ppcall is a big opportunity – only by tracking calls could we learn that IYP calls are half the average call length of PYP calls giving us an awesome opportunity to find out why. I am excited by the innovative, fresh thinking of the new Voice 2.0 applications coming into the market.
In his panel and press release Dinan argued that traditional media has proven its worth – when the number and length of calls are tracked the metrics are successful - and said now is the time to prove it with pay per call (ppcall) pricing. Dinan told Kelsey’s Charles Laughlin that he expects ppcall will become the largest revenue category for Yellow Pages, from overwhelmingly subscription today to 70-30 in favor of performance pricing within a few years.
Dinan backs up his argument with data that he says indicates print yellow page (PYP) leads are more valuable than internet yellow page leads (IYP) – as measured by average call length. Here’s the data:
• Print Yellow Pages ads average 20.5 calls per month at 2.7 minutes in length
• Internet Yellow Pages ads average 20 calls per month at 1.3 minutes in length
• Direct Mail ads average 8.4 calls per month at 1.7 minutes in length
• Interactive / SEM average 6.4 calls per month at 1.3 minutes in length
With several years in the call measurement space serving Yellow Page publishers, I concur that Print YPs deliver leads and should not be afraid to report them. However, the difference in the data – average call length of IYP (1.3 mins) vs PYP (2.7 mins) - strikes me as unusually high. I look at the Telmetics data above and I do not see the superior quality of PYP leads and an argument for pay-per-call, I see a fundamental issue with IYP call tracking and an opportunity to solve the challenge revealed within the data: Why are IYP leads 50% in quality compared to PYP leads?
Wrong numbers are one reason that IYP publishers would see very low average call lengths. However, after so many years in the space, Telmetrics should be well beyond the learning curve of dealing with wrong number calls. It’s also possible that their clients are recycling numbers on their end - or using dynamic number insertion and that is causing wrong number calls. While these actions would be beyond the call measurement provider’s control, the resulting data should raise a red flag for the client and the vendor.
Another likely explanation of the significant difference in the average call length between PYP and IYP calls is relevancy of the IYP listing. Print yellow pages are accurately targeted - nearly all listings are in my neighborhood. Online I often see ads for merchants several cities away.
I have a saying: if a merchant receives 10 calls and the average call length is 15 seconds, I don’t know what the question was, but the answer was most likely “NO.” Multiple calls to a merchant listed in an IYP heading resulting in “no” responses means the merchant isn’t relevant to the consumer search (out of business, mis-categorized, etc.) This scenario would skew average call length.
I do not view accountability and performance pricing as a requirement born out of desperation. The local mobile search industry has an opportunity for innovation and it is not limited to pay-per-call. For example, many merchants want a fixed budget and will be well served with ROI reporting (call tracking.) The mobile local search industry needs to move beyond call tracking or pay-per-call with Voice 1.0 applications and embrace the benefits of today’s innovative Voice 2.0 applications.
Yext demonstrated an example of innovative Voice 2.0 applications at TechCrunch50. The company has identified and is trying to solve the problem of leakage and dirty calls within pay-per-call. Yext Calls uses voice recognition and analytics to examine key words - within a phone call - for relevance and to filter out junk calls or non-sales leads. For example, calls such as “what are your hours of operation?” may not be charged as a lead. Yext wowed the crowd at TechCruch50 and followed-up with an announcement of a $25M venture round. (I previously commented on Yext Local Search: Enormous Opportunity – Complex Solutions.)
Another innovator in mobile local search, and the TechCruch50 winner, is Redbeacon. While not focused on pay per call, or calls at all – they are trying to solve the problem of merchant availability. This is more closely related to pay-per-call than most realize. If the merchant's staff is not available to respond to a call, the consumer is not served (and you typically cannot bill for the call). The merchant who answers the phone is generally more available than the merchant that does not - especially over a series of calls.
FastCall411 also offers an exciting fix for leakage, dirty calls and merchant availability. The goal of TryAnother, our patent-pending parallel dialing application, is to deliver more quality leads to available merchants by capturing real-time connection rate data on each call (paid and organic listings). Merchants are offered the ability to accept (and optionally pay for) a lead only when they are available to provide the service. Merchants want good clean calls.
The next generation of Voice 2.0 applications insure a high level of satisfaction with the quality of your callers (consumers) by including detailed analytics and reporting to identify repeat calls by caller ID and other calling patterns; category management to deliver the best leads to the right merchants; pricing models that optimize value; and finally advanced, real-time call routing applications to deal wrong numbers, vendors, and other unwanted calls. As innovation continues improving phone leads delivered to local merchants, the replacement (virtual) phone number will no longer be an objection to overcome with the merchant, but another useful feature delivered by Yellow Pages publishers to help the merchant manage their lead pipeline.
No doubt ppcall is a big opportunity – only by tracking calls could we learn that IYP calls are half the average call length of PYP calls giving us an awesome opportunity to find out why. I am excited by the innovative, fresh thinking of the new Voice 2.0 applications coming into the market.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Local Search: Enormous Opportunity - Complex Solutions
I enjoyed the Yext presentation at TechCrunch50. The challenge in pitching a local solution is the enormity of the opportunity and complexity of the needed solutions. The panel’s questions demonstrated why pitching local search is so hard. Marc Andreessen didn’t seem to agree that local businesses want phone calls and not clicks. Marc asked about emails – seeming to question why any business would bother answering their phone when they could respond to email (btw Marc, many merchants do not answer the phone and that’s part of the problem). The questions rolled over to categories and again illustrated the unique challenges in local (2000+ categories)
I agree with Yext that leakage and dirty calls are a real problem with ppcall. My company, FastCall411 uses parallel dialing as one potential fix - not only to connect to multiple merchants but more so to capture connection rate data on multiple merchants. Find out who will answer the phone (and wants the lead) and each future call is more efficient. Yext is using analytics to examine key words. This is very clever and hopefully not too complicated (though I'd hate to try to explain it to a local merchant). Merchants want good clean calls and Yext is clearing the way for innovative solutions in this market.
BTW, The awesome use of the word awesome!
I agree with Yext that leakage and dirty calls are a real problem with ppcall. My company, FastCall411 uses parallel dialing as one potential fix - not only to connect to multiple merchants but more so to capture connection rate data on multiple merchants. Find out who will answer the phone (and wants the lead) and each future call is more efficient. Yext is using analytics to examine key words. This is very clever and hopefully not too complicated (though I'd hate to try to explain it to a local merchant). Merchants want good clean calls and Yext is clearing the way for innovative solutions in this market.
BTW, The awesome use of the word awesome!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Redbeacon - New Entrant in Mobile Local Search
Redbeacon just launched at TC50. Given the breath and depth of the great ocean that is mobile local search, it is understanable that the TechCrunch comments are pretty mixed. Here's my take:
The Redbeacon team is impressive (all x-Google) but the stated strategy "without any phone calls" seems off target given this market. HelpHive in Seattle seemed to start with a similar strategy and deeply hid the merchant's phone number. They've since uncovered the number to appear in the listing. I've said many times that you can't route leads to SMBs without including phone calls. Will Redbeacon prove me wrong? (I am doubtful that Helphive's local number with extension will work either)
Back to Redbeacon, my experience with FastCall411, and prior, confirms that merchants want phone calls. I agree that availability is key in this market and have written on this topic many times. Getting the merchant to answer the call and show up for the appointment are the second and third biggest challenges in mobile local. The listing data is the first challenge. I am routing for Redbeacon and hope they can push the market forward.
The Redbeacon team is impressive (all x-Google) but the stated strategy "without any phone calls" seems off target given this market. HelpHive in Seattle seemed to start with a similar strategy and deeply hid the merchant's phone number. They've since uncovered the number to appear in the listing. I've said many times that you can't route leads to SMBs without including phone calls. Will Redbeacon prove me wrong? (I am doubtful that Helphive's local number with extension will work either)
Back to Redbeacon, my experience with FastCall411, and prior, confirms that merchants want phone calls. I agree that availability is key in this market and have written on this topic many times. Getting the merchant to answer the call and show up for the appointment are the second and third biggest challenges in mobile local. The listing data is the first challenge. I am routing for Redbeacon and hope they can push the market forward.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Traffic numbers: Yelp vs MerchantCircle
I just noticed that MerchantCircle is reporting 20M unique monthly users. Yelp's CEO Jeremy Stoppelman stated at last week's Local Search Summit that they have 25 million unique visitors per month. Closer than I expected.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Voice-powered Mobile Local Search
Mike Boland (Kelsey Group) has a nice write-up on voice-enable search at SearchEngineWatch. He reviews Vlingo, Tellme, Google and Sensory, Inc.
... http://searchenginewatch.com/3634640
Voice search could have a bright future in mobile, and even evolve beyond the phone itself. For example, an area known as speech controlled Internet devices (SCIDs) transforms the myriad electronics that surround into their own little search engines.
Sensory Inc. is working on this proposition. It's spent the past 15 years embedded speech recognition chips in about 60 million products -- everything from in-car voice command systems to Bluetooth headsets, to voice controlled toys.
... http://searchenginewatch.com/3634640
Friday, July 31, 2009
Continental Airlines launches Alex the Virtual Expert
Continental Airlines just launched Alex, a Virtual Expert. Type a question, she answers and provides the search results. Its really awesome and a glimpse of what's to come in search. A voice-powered version will follow (mobile, IVR). I also like the use of Virtual Expert rather than Virtual Agent.
Check her out on the Continental web site
The technology is powered by Next IT Corporation. Here's their summary:
Next IT’s Human Emulation Software, ActiveAgent, creates Virtual Experts that are redefining the communication between people and technology. ActiveAgent, accurately understands and interprets natural language questions and delivers exact results across multiple service channels such as the Web, contact center, intranet, mobile devices, and more. For more information on Next IT and its customers, please email info@nextit.com or visit www.NextIT.com.
Check her out on the Continental web site
The technology is powered by Next IT Corporation. Here's their summary:
Next IT’s Human Emulation Software, ActiveAgent, creates Virtual Experts that are redefining the communication between people and technology. ActiveAgent, accurately understands and interprets natural language questions and delivers exact results across multiple service channels such as the Web, contact center, intranet, mobile devices, and more. For more information on Next IT and its customers, please email info@nextit.com or visit www.NextIT.com.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Bing to Power Yahoo Search - First of Many Deals?
The Yahoo / Microsoft deal was announced this morning. I wonder if we will see more of these deals from msoft? With a Bing-powered back-end, yellow pages publishers such as Idearc and RHD, or newspapers could focus on sales and marketing. The cost of maintaining a competitive, independent local property / IYP is too great, and dooms the publisher to mediocrity and/or losses. Outsourcing the back-end and operations would enable many publishers to remain competitive and reduce costs. These deals would make sense, but is msoft likely to try to integrate more than one partner? I hope we see msoft make this a strategic imperative and aggressively recruit media partners.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
From GigaOM: iPhone’s Voice Control
"Is iPhone’s Voice Control the Sound of Things to Come?"
Yes, and not just mobile devices, voice control (voice search, voice portals) will be prolific. There is a convergence of technology, cost, and usage. Microphones and speakers are cheap, bandwidth is easy and voice applications are up to the task. There will be voice control at retail ("tell me the specs of the new Sony flat screen"); voice portals built into vending machines; at tourist attractions - everywhere that a kiosk with a touch screen is cost prohibitive or otherwise inaccessible.
From GigaOM: "Apparently, Apple believes that speech recognition is the sound of things to come for mobile devices and applications. Apple’s attention is a welcome development, and will undoubtedly accelerate the shift that began with the success of Goog411, Vlingo and other speech-enabled mobile apps. Despite the fact that mobile devices are well-suited for speech recognition — they do, after all, have microphones already built in — no OEM or operator to date has delivered a speech solution that is easy to use, much less promoted the feature to users as a key distinction. Apple is changing that, and other device makers and mobile operators that fail to keep up will be left behind in the competition for users who value simpler, more intuitive UIs."
Yes, and not just mobile devices, voice control (voice search, voice portals) will be prolific. There is a convergence of technology, cost, and usage. Microphones and speakers are cheap, bandwidth is easy and voice applications are up to the task. There will be voice control at retail ("tell me the specs of the new Sony flat screen"); voice portals built into vending machines; at tourist attractions - everywhere that a kiosk with a touch screen is cost prohibitive or otherwise inaccessible.
From GigaOM: "Apparently, Apple believes that speech recognition is the sound of things to come for mobile devices and applications. Apple’s attention is a welcome development, and will undoubtedly accelerate the shift that began with the success of Goog411, Vlingo and other speech-enabled mobile apps. Despite the fact that mobile devices are well-suited for speech recognition — they do, after all, have microphones already built in — no OEM or operator to date has delivered a speech solution that is easy to use, much less promoted the feature to users as a key distinction. Apple is changing that, and other device makers and mobile operators that fail to keep up will be left behind in the competition for users who value simpler, more intuitive UIs."
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