High-profile start-up Tellme Networks said today it plans
to provide free software designed to make it easier for businesses and
consumers to build voice-based Internet services.
Tellme, which launched its
service on a trial basis in April, allows anyone in the United States to
call a toll-free number and use voice commands to connect with people, businesses and information on restaurants, movies,
stock portfolios and sports scores.
The company, whose backers include former Netscape Communications
chairman James Barksdale, has garnered attention up to now for offering
its own service for delivering information from the Web by telephone.
The Mountain View, Calif.-based company's latest software, Tellme Studio, is designed to let other companies use its technology to make their own Web sites voice-activated.
The new service allows anyone connected to the Internet
to build a Web-enabled phone site after signing up for Tellme Studio at
the company's free developer Web site.
Many Internet companies seek to make it easier for consumers to connect
with them and to extend their businesses to offline customers. Voice
services like Tellme are increasingly seen as a prime way to reach
consumers who don't have regular access to a personal computer or who
want Internet-based information delivered in a different way.
Last month, telecommunications giant AT&T said it would invest $60
million for a minority stake in Tellme. The deal also calls for AT&T to provide networking services for the start-up, becoming its primary provider of communications services.
"This is all about creating the Web phenomenon on the telephone
network," Mike McCue, Tellme chief executive, said in a statement. "By bringing the Internet's open standards
to the phone, we expect to see the creation of thousands of compelling
phone sites linked together to form a 'phone Web' that can be used by
nearly anyone, anywhere."
Though Tellme has attracted much more attention, there are other
companies offering similar services. For instance, NetByTel.com makes
software that allows e-commerce transactions, such as buying an airline
ticket, to be voice-enabled, though companies must pay for each
application they create.
BeVocal, which launched its own information
service this week, also began offering development technology in May,
though any applications developed using this technology must be hosted by
BeVocal.
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