01 Communique introduces new wireless unified communications application

01 Communique Laboratory Inc has taken wireless messaging to the next level with a unified communications service that makes multimedia functionality an inherent part of the system. The service – I’m InTouch – gives subscribers access to a single mail box that can open and view various types of attachments, including audio and video files, from a variety of mobile devices. The system supports more than 200 different file types. Andrew Cheung, president and CEO at 01 Communique, describes its latest product offering as a personal data gateway that enables mobile users to stay in touch with the office from different locations. To be able to open and read a pdf file, spreadsheet or MS Word document on a wireless device – as you would from a desktop computer – is considered a breakthrough in unified communications. The company tested the product on several types of mobile devices to ensure the potential subscriber base was as large as possible. Currently, Research in Motion’s BlackBerry device, the Palm Pilot line, Handspring’s Visor and WAP-enabled cell phones are supported by the I’m InTouch service. The service is aimed at the small office and home office (SOHO) and the small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) markets. Later this summer, a more robust version for the large enterprise market will hit the market. It sells for $9.95/month or $99.95/year and users can download the appropriate version from the company’s website. The Mississauga ON-based company plans to augment sales through a variety of channels. First it will encourage its five million existing subscribers to upgrade to the newer version, explains executive VP Brian McElwain. The firm will also beef up its direct sales force and begin using value-added resellers (VAR). The VAR sales channel is considered strategic to the company’s longterm growth. VAR representatives offer the technical expertise and the ability to go after vertical markets. Less emphasis will be put on its direct sales team, although it will still play an important role in expanding the subscriber base, explains McElwain. The key to the wide-spread deployment of such a system is to partner with both the device manufacturers and service providers. McElwain says a big effort will go into partnering with the carriers to bundle the software with devices and then pursue a co-marketing/co-selling type of strategy. The ultimate goal is to entice subscribers with compelling applications, explains Kerry Munro VP marketing at 01 Communique. "This is something that not only augments technology, it dovetails (to) a way of life," he says. The company is increasingly tying its future profitability to a service provision model – one that relies on recurring monthly revenue from the I’m InTouch model, rather than the more volatile shrink-wrap retail market. While 01 Communique won’t exit the retail market completely, it wants to rely much less on it going forward, explains Cheung. No competing against RIM’s BlackBerry handheld The granting of a patent to Research in Motion for its single mailbox function within the BlackBerry email system doesn’t present any liabilities for the company, says Cheung. 01 Communique’s patent-pending process is one that is based on a "pulling" technology rather than a "pushing" on which RIM’s patent is based. Via a Linux-based server, the system finds the PC and connects to the wireless device, explains Cheung. As a result, he says, the two technologies complement each other.

01 Communique introduces new wireless unified communications application

News | June 11, 2001

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