Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.telcom From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: telcom Mon, Mar 2 1992 Date: Mon, 2 Mar 92 05:57:42 EST Message-ID: 03-02 0000 DECISIONLINE: Telecommunications USA TODAY Update March 2, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network VOICE RECOGNITION V-MAIL ON WAY: Voice-mail systems may be annoying to some people, but not only are they here to stay, new systems that can recognize human speech are on their way. The voice recognition business is soaring. The industry's revenue surpassed $161 million in 1991 and is expected to grow to $576 million in 1995. Voice-mail systems that use voice recognition are already available in some markets. (For more, see special Voice package below.) OCTEL OFFERS V-MAIL SYSTEM: Octel Communications introduced Friday the Octel XC1000, a high capacity voice information processing system. It is designed for large companies and organizations. Fully configurated, it has 144 ports, 672 hours of message storage and supports up to 30,000 mailboxes. The price ranges from $260,000 to more than $1 million. LOCAL MEASURED SERVICE BANNED: Indiana Gov. B. Evan Bayh has signed a bill that bans telephone companies in the state from offering local measured telephone service. The ban is in effect until July 1995. The ban was part of a bill that also calls for up to $22 million in leftover budget funds to be used for public schools. MCDONNELL DOUGLAS MOVES TO MCI: MCI Communications Corp. is replacing AT&T as the primary long-distance carrier for St. Louis-based McDonnell Douglas Corp., the defense contractor says. The firms said the move was a matter of economics. The $50 million contract is for 40 months. INFOTRAX BEING SUED: A Suit against Infotrax Communications Inc. of Mount Pleasant, N.J., could end the biggest 900-line scam in the state's history, officials say. The firm is accused of charging up to $28 to callers who responded to mailers that offered prizes for those who dialed the 900 number. The prize was often junk jewelry, officials say. The firm denies the charges. A hearing is set for March 20. SAN ANTONIO GETS MUSIC SERVICE: Paragon Cable of San Antonio and International Cablecasting Technologies Inc. are set to launch a music service to 240,000 San Antonio subscribers Monday. Digital Music Express is a 30-channel, compact disc music service featuring a wide variety of musical formats programmed 24 hours a day without commercials or interruptions. ICT began its national rollout of DMX in September. CENTEL OF INTEREST TO AMERITECH: The purchase of Centel Corp., as a whole, would not be of interest to Ameritech, says William L. Weiss, Ameritech CEO. Part of Centel might be of interest, he says, depending on specific terms and conditions. Ameritech is the parent of the Bell companies serving Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. Ameritech's 1991 revenues were $10.8 billion. BELLSOUTH SIGNS DEAL: BellSouth and Racal Datacom Inc. have signed a comarketing agreement, the firms say. BellSouth will market its network services in conjunction with Racal-Datacom's line of T-1 multiplexers, as well as other data communications products. Multiplexers are used to improve efficiency of networks by concentrating the traffic. ROCHESTER BUYS 38TH COMPANY: Rochester Telephone Corp. says it has reached an agreement to purchase Statesboro Telephone Co. of Statesboro, Ga. Rochester will exchange shares of its common stock for all Statesboro stock. It is the 38th U.S. telephone company acquired by Rochester. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON VOICE: SALESMEN ENTER ORDERS BY VOICE: Voice recognition is now being used with voice-mail systems. Amway salesmen are spelling out orders over the phone to a computer. Clients of Kaiser Permanente, an HMO, are renewing prescriptions the same way. Callers to the Dallas post office recite addresses, and a computer gives a zip code. If the machine doesn't recognize a word, it asks: "Was that an `a' or an `e'?" AMERICAN EXPRESS TESTING SYSTEM: Some voice recognition systems are now being tested. American Express, for example, is testing a system that lets merchants check credit cards verbally, says Ron Cole, head of the speech lab at Oregon Graduate Institute in Portland. VOICE USED FOR SECURITY: Voice recognition doesn't just save operator time, it can also be used for security. "Every voice is unique, when people speak they create a voice `print'," says John Oberteuffer, president of Voice Information Associates. Banks use this technology to identify customers. Michigan State University identifies scientists trying to enter its animal research labs. VOICE MAIL FRUSTRATES SOME: Still consumers don't like voice mail. A recent survey by Plog Research Inc. found that 56% of consumers have at some point given up trying to reach a company because of frustrations with voice mail. Voice mail, however, makes economic sense. A company can buy a voice-mail system for $10,000 to $800,000, and can often recoup that investment within 24 months. (End of package.) Telecommunications Editor: Ed Kelleher. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM