Nortel sets sights on phone-like access to Internet
Wouldn't it be great to be able to surf the Web, start a video-conferencing session or order flowers on-line as simply as we pick up the phone today - just dial a number, without having to connect, dial-up, re-boot, or wait.
This is the enticing picture pained by Webtone - Northern Telecom's vision of making Web communications as reliable as the phone system.
'Ultimately, multimedia calls will be even better than phone calls,' Richard Neale, Nortel's director of strategic marketing and power networks, said.
The objective is to take the simplicity and reliability of phones and bring them to multimedia networks.
Although Nortel has not set a date Webtone becoming mainstream, it has been lining up a strategy, making several acquisitions that underline its commitment to building the Internet protocol (IP) networks and digital infrastructure necessary for the Webtone transition.
The takeover last week of Bay Networks by Nortel is likely to accelerate the process. Bay's products and experience in IP network development is propelling Nortel into the 'switchtone' - a step leading to Webtone - faster than Nortel would have done alone. The building of an IP integrated network, according to Nortel, requires expertise in areas as disparate as terabit routing, optical networking, and wireless communications.
In the meantime, Nortel has launched down-to-earth products that answer immediate user demand, while paving the way for its Webtone vision.
Call waiting, for example, is a typical feature of the telephone that is now available to Internet users with a single phone line so they can monitor and control incoming calls while connected to the Net.
Another example is Nortel's Symposium WebResponse server. Featured at Voice Asia 98 in Hong Kong last month, WebResponse is an Internet-enabled call centre that lets users manage e-mail messages the same way a call centre manages phone calls. Symposium WebResponse is part of Nortel's Power Network products.
According to Mr Neale, WebResponse illustrates Webtone simplicity. E-mails reaching a company are sorted automatically and routed to the right person. Agents can use response templates to answer inquiries or place a phone call automatically if the inquiry has to be answered by voice.
Besides management capabilities, WebResponse also has reporting features such as showing response time, agent efficiency, customer complaints or the backlog of electronic inquiries.
