Redwood adding detail to mobile email, calls

Professional services organizations such as lawyers, accountants, public relations consultants and other power BlackBerry users could soon have the ability to more effectively bill time they spend on client files, with the launch of a new service by a Calgary start-up. Redwood Technologies Inc. is receiving accolades for "momentem" - a mobile telecom management subscription software that allows BlackBerry and smartphone users to categorize calls, email and other messages for particular purposes. And the company is also getting customer traction in the UK where Orange, with nearly 16 million mobile customers, will launch the service this month. Redwood is also in talks with several North American wireless operators to offer the service here. "All anybody has right now is the date, time, number dialed, duration and cost - these five things. We can add two or three layers to that," Redwood's CEO Terry Hughes tells Report on Wireless. "It gives valuable information to the user." Hughes was in Toronto last week touting the capabilities of the company's momentem software at the Canadian Innovation Exchange's venture capital pitch fest. The application sits on the deck of the device and is automatically prompted once a call or activity is complete. The user can then "tag" it to a specific project for billing purposes or to simply summarize the nature of the email or conversation for later reference. These records are stored to the momentem service using the phone's data connection, until requested by the user. Information isn't stored on the device, ensuring inboxes aren't clogged with unnecessary data. This also safeguards the data in case of theft or loss. Users can generate on-demand reports of all their tagged activities directly from their handsets. Much like a database query, users can request data sorted by date, clients or projects. Spreadsheets are then sent via email, enabling them to invoice billable hours sooner, make sense of their monthly bill or reference notes for upcoming meetings. With cost-conscious users in mind the service is affordable to enterprise and power users, alike. Hughes expects carriers to offer the service for approximately $10 per month. "Our target user is the prosumer. But we have plans to move it down to the mass public," he says. "The target user initially will be the business person who spends all day talking and typing on their BlackBerrys." Pointing to the success of SMS, Hughes is optimistic the service will appeal to a wide range of smartphone users. "When I was working with Vodaphone, we couldn't fathom that text messaging would have been so successful. It's really not all that entertaining," he explains. "But then people started using it and it's caught on so much, it's nearly an addiction." SMS has ballooned in Canada in recent years. According to the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, Canadians sent more than 10.1 billion text messages in 2007, doubling the 4.3 billion sent in 2006. While Redwood's momentem is gain momentem, Hughes doesn't plan to sit still with the current iteration of the software. He says the company plans to add more features to future launches. "We're looking at doing a voice interface, so you'll actually be able to tag your calls via voice. When you're finished a call, the device will actually ask you if you'd like to tag the call, and you can record your data orally," Hughes says. "This will be geared towards the consumer who doesn't want to spend time texting and typing." The software has earned Redwood praise and accolades, including "Company of the Year" at the 2007 Banff Venture Forum and a top 10 spot for the True Mobile Start-up Award at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last February, but little revenue. Redwood is currently operating at a loss. "We've had some seed money and been very cautious about what we spend, and we're raising more funds now. We've got serious validations from carriers, but we'll be in the red for some time," explains Hughes. Once launched with several carriers, that could change. Redwood's business plan is primarily based on revenue sharing with carriers, and there is little more to do in terms of development. "There isn't a huge amount of R&D. This isn't like building the next generation chip for mobile phones. Most of the R&D has been done. It's really about rolling out the road map," Hughes explains. "If we can make it really simple to tag a call, we have the potential to transform the cellular industry," he states.

Redwood adding detail to mobile email, calls

News | 05/09/2008 6:01 pm EDT

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