In
an exhibition for analysts and the press in November 1999, I demonstrated GeoWeb, a system
that incorporates some of the VoiceXML processing software that I was working on.
Here I am getting ready to show off the system, standing in front of a misleading
flat-panel display (misledaing because the service is delivered over the phone, and does
not depend in any way on a graphical web browser).
In its case, The
8130 phone looks much like other AT&T phones. What is special about it is that it
connects to the PC. It comes with Windows software that allows the PC to control the
phone.
The application
has a directory, from which you can dial, a log of all incoming and outgoing calls (from
which you can dial), and a display that retrieves directory information based on the
incoming call. You can take notes on calls, and these notes later show up in the call log.
Unfortunately the higher-ups discontinued this product after it had been on the market only one month -- too soon to even judge how well it would do. The decision had more to do with a desire to reorganize the Consumer Products business unit so that it could be sold to Phillips.
AT&T built a whole factory to manufacture this phone in Guadalajara, Mexico. They ran the factory one day, producing seventeen thousand phones. I think they sold a substantial number of these the first month, and then wound up selling most of the rest to a "clearance catalog" reseller.
Note: Many people ask me how to get the Windows 95 software upgrade. Since AT&T and Lucent have stopped distributing it, I am unofficially providing a copy here.
Virtual Telephone was announced at CT Expo in March 1998. Here are a few pictures of our booth.
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That is Kevin on the right at out table, getting our software set up. This was taken the day before the show opened. |
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Taken after the show closed, Kevin and Lisa are celebrating our success. |
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This is a picture of the building in which I work. It is a beautiful building,
set in farmlands. The walls and ceiling are glass, with terrific views of the
countryside in every direction. This shows a view across the atrium on a sunny day. |