Q1. Most mobile phones contain a large memory which enables the user to keep an address book. Most telephone numbers are rarely typed into the keypad, but are mostly picked up from the address book by scrolling through. Thus I never put in numbers but look up: "parents" for example in my address book.
AYes, the Nokia 7110 has 1000 addresses of memory and you can scroll through with a roller button, some Japanese "phones" have a mini joystick. I am sure as they develop, the access of book marked numbers and sites will be in line with the present computer bookmarks and address books. The point is that you record a number in the memory on a portable. To record an e-mail address or a website, with the Ceetel system you also record a number which then accesses the e-mail or URL and that you only have to record the one number for all three main interfaces for that person. For example, If someone has you down under Parents and Parents Nizas for a phone call, he simply hits two buttons to call you. To send an e-mail he has to make another entry with an alpha/numeric entry. With Ceetel it is one entry in the address book and he chooses "tel" or "web" for phone or e-mail. ====
Q2. Businesses would not use Ceetel as they go to great lengths to get attractive names such as Lastminute.com and would not want to use numbers or letters without meaning. Their website addresses are part of their publicity and promotion.
AAbsolutely correct, this is a very strong advantage with Ceetel, companies are spending millions to "brand" their names and this is why the numeric equivalent is so valuable. To type in Lastminute.com on a portable you have to make 20 keyboard clicks to type the name. Like this (cl means an extra click on that number, or you have to hold down the number until the letter appears)
5 cl cl for L With Ceetel the name lastminute is registered as 5278646883, 10 clicks, just as it appears on the keyboard. This is a good example as it seems that they have realised the importance of this and they have actually registered this number as a .com. So have many other companies such as Microsoft (642767638) in anticipation of the wireless application. Millions of numbers which directly represent names have been purchased by the Koreans and Japanese, I have secured a few hundred just to see the system working. The site just switches to the main site, just as av.com switches you to altavista.com. The numbers have a strong meaning on the keyboard of a portable. You just type the word, just like the old days of the UK telephones (WHItehall 1212 for Scotland Yard) ====
Q3. The above might also apply to private addresses, although as the system grows it might become necessary to turn to the Ceetel idea to create enough addresses.
AYes, the number (a persons phone number is all you need for the portable or any computer) is all you need to register all information about a persons communications addresses. However the subscriber can have as many aliases as they like (subject to availability). They can always be found through any International phone directory and the e-mail or URL is automatically deduced, but this can switch directly to any required (available) name. ====
Q4. Many people use a number of servers at the same time for speed and variety. I currently have 5 servers which is not unusual. Why would people rely just on Ceetel? and if they had a number of servers, then the concept would be less relevant.
AI have 3 servers, you and I both work on computers all day. Most people (I will try and get the figure but Aol suggest over 95%) only need and use one server. The reports (Yankee etc) indicate the growth is in the portable market, prediction of a dramatic slowing in computer application for mail and Internet and a rapid take up of wireless which suggests a single ISP for most people. The wireless devices are mostly "tied" to a single ISP at present. The original concept for Ceetel is to find ISP's who want a good Unique Selling Point and to work with them as a partners. For Ceetel, I believe it is important to be first in the field with this service. It is now predicted (Yankee, Gartner etc) that wireless applications will displace the computer as the main access for e-mail and Internet within 18 months. Japan is an extreme current example, 7% of the population has a PC, 47% has a portable phone. In Japan more people now use a wireless phone than a fixed phone. The figures are almost the reverse in the rest of the world. This is not by displacement, but by market growth. ====
Q5. What is your critical mass? For the concept to work it would require a significant number of users to adopt it. What in your view would be a reasonable percentage of overall users to make it viable? How could a server cope with that %?
AI mention in my notes the dangers of a too rapid take up, this nearly killed Hotmail. In many ways Ceetel has the same viral marketing potential that Hotmail succeeded with. As to the numbers for a viable service. I could set up a computer and make a profit with just 1000 subscribers (not much of a living) as the convenience of simple mail and simple dialing became recognised this could grow logarithmically. I don't like saying it as it sounds too "airy fairy", but the Ceetel simple dialing and easy way to find a number concept could make it the biggest ISP, not by displacement but through the market growth of wireless hand-held systems. ====
Q6. My view is that while it is an interesting concept how could you persuade people to accept numbers rather than names?
AThey are not, they are simply using the visible letters on the alpha/numeric pad for existing URLs and keying a word which is apparent and the number is invisible. They actually just key in LASTMINUTE which is also 5278646883 and they go straight to lastminute (once they hit the web key). Or they key in a quickly located number, (a persons phone number) to locate the e-mail address. We can ensure at Ceetel that no one can register their identity through a phone number that is not issued to them, this essential disclosure of profile makes the ownership of a Ceetel address a high status point and clearly only people with an address and a paid phone bill can register. This eliminates the crooks who use Hotmail and Yahoo for illicit purposes and e-mail scams. The number is just the first reference point, after that any alias can be applied to the subscriber and the number is invisible. The branding issue is so vital to the success of many Internet businesses that this is why cyber squatters, many in Korea and Thailand for legal reasons, are buying the portable phone number equivalents (millions of them it seems) of these names. Lastminute.com have secured theirs, as has Virgin, CocaCola and Microsoft. But most companies have not, Jaguar and PepsiCola for example (as it happens I have these but only to prove a point). With Ceetel, only the authorised owner of a brand name can register, just as only the subscriber to a telephone number can have that number allocated in Ceetel. So all companies can have their own brand, if they are Ceetel subscribers and no one else. If they choose not to subscribe to Ceetel than we will never allocate that keyboard name (number) to any other person or company. The overhead is that the Ceetel identifier must be keyed in first (2331 for example for a US company). ====
Q7. Can you give an indication of the investment needed and the returns expected
AIn my outline I hope I explain that the essence of the work I have done has been to secure the operating viability of the project and I have only just started to structure the financial side.I realise that the proposal is incomplete without a strong financial summary and accurate projections. I am in the process of talking to business and technical people who can complement my skills and experience, most important is a financial controller and someone who can present the investment figures needed.
There are several levels of entry into the service provider market, I will quickly outline three here.
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Q8. I do not use e-mail directories, but learn e-mail addresses by receiving them and replying, never needing to key the e-mail address again until it changes. New e-mail addresses are added to my address book only at rate of one a week, or so. I assume that is true for most of us. I do add URL's at a high rate - several per day, but CeeTel does not help here.
AThe idea for Ceetel grew from my personal need to be able to quickly and accurately locate and send e-mail to people, mostly customers inquiring to us about vacation property, where they had sent me an incorrect e-mail address on a booking form or in their e-mail. I could find their phone number easily, but rarely an e-mail address. There are many directories, but as yet, no central register. I also find that e-mail addresses are changed, for various reasons, more often than phone numbers. A domestic phone number or business number usually is kept for the duration that a person or company lives in a region. I am a very small one man (and wife) business, my own uptake of new e-mail addresses is over 600 per week, these are automatically logged by my e-mail client so the reply or the resending becomes automated and reasonably accurate, I am always "weeding out" these directories and only keep subscribers or firm inquiries. The number of URL's I save is much less, about 20 a day according to my files. The computer is not the predicted growth area for e-mail and Internet applications. It is the application of wireless devices with their access to e-mail and Internet where the convenience of a single numerical identity is a big advantage. The Nokia 7110, for example, has a 1000 address memory and it is most probable that this will continue to increase with all new equipment. I expect that increased memory capacity will also soon allow a similar recognition for short cuts keyed in as with most computer e-mail clients. At present the 7110 has to be scrolled through to find the addressee. The problem comes when you wish to key in or search for an alphabetic address. As there are only 8 keys for the whole alphabet this necessitates repetitive key strokes or holding down with constant reference to the screen. On simple tests I have done and with many friends the error rate is over 50% for keying in an eight letter name not including the ISP address. =====
Q9. Large proportion of e-mail is B2B and C2B. ( I found that my e-mail address book is 40% corporate addressess.) Don't know if CeeTel would work for corporates as many corps do not have direct dial. Nor would I know the private phone numbers of business contacts.
AThis is certainly representative of European and North American applications at present. The current studies suggest the growth of wireless applications will be greater in the domestic market, but in any event I would expect the growth in commercial applications to be strong for wireless applications. If you telephone a receptionist you drill down to speak to an individual who will deal with your specific inquiry. Most e-mail is also eventually to an individual and it is that person you address directly, but frequently there is a general first e-mail to admin@ or help@. The same with a numeric addressing system, by identifying the phone number of a corporation you can send the first e-mail request for information. When you have located the individual you need to deal with you will have their direct phone number and now also their direct e-mail. I have just checked my own phone book, all the business numbers I have happen to be direct dial numbers, either through a large corporate system, or to a small enterprise where the corporate number is in effect the personal office number for an individual. Interestingly most small enterprises in France give only their portable numbers as office numbers. One point I would make here is that it is likely that most e-mail messages and e-mail use by wireless devices will be by voice, either voice mail or voice recognition. With a numeric addressing system voice recognition will be far more accurate as numbers are much clearer and easier for all current software to transcribe. Many email addresses will be "tricky" to dictate , Ceetel, for example, is a nightmare for a straightforward voice recognition and the necessity for absolute accuracy in addressing, where 233235 is clear (this is also the Ceetel secured e-mail address, not active at present). =====
Q10. People have multiple phone numbers which change from time to time for variety of reasons. Each phone number often has multiple users. CeeTel confusion?
AOne Internet growth area is the number consolidation service, mostly 7000 numbers. There are a number of start-up companies like www.yac.com and www.winbox.com who are serving the perceived need for a central addressing service. This is usually by using premium rate phone services to integrate phone, fax, e-mail , URL's and voice mail. You have to register yet another new 11 digit number and this is a limited geographical facility. It is a little illogical to consolidate numbers buy adding yet another number to the list of numbers for people to record or remember and this is yet another source where there is no central directory system. If you look at the services offered by these consolidation companies, all can be offered by Ceetel with the advantage of a shorter number and International directory access. There can be as many aliases at the same number as you wish. If you change your phone number then Ceetel can adjust this and you will be as accessible as the updates to any telephone directory system. =====
Q11. If only small % (say "X") have CeeTel addresses, then only X% of attempts to use the phone-number based e-mail address would be successful, leading to disuse. Will all parties that adopt a CeeTel e-mail address need to advise all their contacts of the change of address?
AAs an ISP service, the Ceetel addressing system offers exactly the same facilities as any other ISP, with perhaps the perceived advantage of a National branding with the URL (23333 23344). However there is the Unique Selling Point of having this bonus identity of the registered phone number which will only ever be allocated to the address and name registered by the PTT. Ceetel is the only provider able to offer this globally through the names and number sets secured. As the service grows, the value of the application grows rapidly and the perceived value of the number service rapidly enhances the service to the point that the Ceetel service could be the preferred service of consolidation and convenience. Your existing e-mail address or addresses can be retained and you can choose if these are incorporated into the service or not. =====
Q12. I assume that WAP devices will have downloadable (and synchronisable) e-mail address books and bookmarks. This will eliminate need for most keying - apart from for first time a new address or URL is entered.AI covered part of this question in reply to question 8. The evidence is that for some time yet (DoCoMo in Japan for example) that the hand held applications will need a lot of convenience numbers to be effective. There is no cut and paste with a portable device and simple addressing, preferably numeric, systems are a logical application.=====
Q13. Many people will not have URL for their own website, esp nearly all corporate individuals. Is the CeeTel concept of linked e-mail addresses and URLs therefore a big advantage?
AOne application (of many) I have not elaborated on is the (Microsoft have stated this and it is becoming more commonplace already e.g. www.redgorilla.com) change to on-line software and a wide range of services though ASP, Application Service Providers. Two thirds of German and U.K. companies expect to buy services from an application service provider (ASP) in the next 18 months according to a new survey announced March 29 00. Website hosting, e-commerce, e-mail and customer relationship management emerged as the preferred application services in the study of the European ASP market, performed by U.K.-based consultancy Ovum on behalf of the ASP Industry Consortium (ASPIC). Microsoft hope to only licence their software on-line and not to sell packages with CD's etc. I already use a dedicated on-line invoicing system and I am changing to all services, accounts and even I expect word processing through an "on-line only" licence. This will mean that far more people will use Internet sites for their day to day office and domestic routing applications. Shopping, banking and bill payment, not just by logging into another site, but by utilising their own web space to consolidate a wide range of services. Linking the URL, e-mail and phone systems through a consolidation service like Ceetel yet being able to retain all your individual names and addresses is very convenient.
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