BY Tom Keating

With all of our high-tech messaging options, we supposedly enjoy the sensation of being "connected." But how connected are we, really, when each of us is buried under piles and piles and piles of messages? For the messages do pile up, and quickly, particularly since many of us are in the habit of sending the same information via multiple media.

Between voice mails, e-mails, faxes, and pager notifications, there are just way too many ways for people to reach each other. For example, it's common for me to receive a press release in my e-mail, only to receive the same press release, via fax, about an hour later. Then, about two or three hours after the fax, I receive a voice mail from someone asking me if I had the chance to read the e-mail or fax. If I don't return the voice mail, I receive another e-mail. This one asks me if I was aware of voice mail about the previous e-mail or fax. Fax, e-mail, and voice mail -- all for the same bit of information. This is madness!

If I were to account for the time it takes me to process duplicate information, including the confirmation notifications, I'm sure it would add up to a good 5 to 10 percent of my workday. Actually, that may be too conservative an estimate. Consider what would happen if I were to return a call. I would probably land in voice mail. I would then leave a message, which would then require another call back to me. More calls, more missed connections, more calls, and so on. And all the while, precious time is frittered away.

But let's say I attempt to break up this game of phone tag. I page someone, and request an immediate call back. I compliment myself for being proactive, for taking charge. I confidently await my call. But wouldn't you know it? As soon as the paged party gets to a phone and dials me, I've been pulled away, into a meeting or some other task, and I miss the call. The runaround continues...

CTI: THE PROBLEM, THE SOLUTION, OR BOTH?
As an editor of CTI magazine, I have to admit I've got mixed feelings about articulating the frustrations of messaging technology. CTI is, in a sense, a big part of the problem. It's even expanding the problem into new territory. Look at remote access. People on the road used to be relatively immune to message overload. Not any more.

Today, there are dozens of CTI solutions that allow you to access your corporate e-mail as well as your corporate voice mail. And any one of these CTI products could include features that would make us easier to reach (and interrupt). You could even have your e-mail forwarded to an alphanumeric pager. That way, you could check out e-mail headers while you're in a meeting. Now, whether you would find having such a capability a nuisance or a godsend would depend entirely on the quality of the messages you received. For my part, I find it all to easy to imagine a pager urging me to read some emergency spam.

Yet, while CTI contributes to information overload, it also promises to help us better manage our messages. A simple example is unified messaging. With unified messaging, all your messages reside within a common inbox, which makes it easier for you to recognize which messages are redundant. Without unified messaging, your messages are scattered according to how they were transmitted. Even if a common sender were explicitly indicated on redundant messages, you'd have a hard time recognizing it without unified messaging.

TIME TO BUILD A BETTER FILTER
The message glut will only worsen. So, what should we do? Should we drop out, and start practicing the philosophy espoused by the Unabomber? Hardly. No, what we need is something that will get rid of the junk for us, and pass on what we really need to see. We need a filter.

The filter function is already addressed by CTI in some respects. Again, unified messaging is a good example. With a unified inbox, you can order all your messages any way you'd like, by sender, for example. If you saw multiple messages, each of a different type (e-mail, fax, voice), each with the same sender, each sent within a short span of time -- well, you might recognize whether they all pertained to the same piece of information.

However, unified messaging isn't a cure-all. For example, your voice messages won't always indicate who the sender is. That is, you may have caller ID, but you could easily get calls from people who aren't in your database, or people who call from behind a PBX, or people who decide to call you from a different phone than usual. In such instances, caller ID would be useless.

Of course, you could create an IVR solution to help you screen your calls. Such a solution needn't be limited to refining your caller ID database. You could ask callers to answer questions that would let your system prioritize your calls. (I can hear it now: "If you are a PR rep calling to follow up on a press release, press 1 now." Straight to voice mail!)

Faxes pose additional problems. Here, you might have to rely on OCR (optical character recognition) to extract information that would help identify the sender and/or the subject matter. Unfortunately, OCR isn't flawless. However, better OCR, combined with message handling technology, could prove valuable. For example, imagine being able to pick up key words within a fax, and handle it accordingly. In the case of press releases, I'd like to parse out articles and prepositions, as well as words like "first," "only," "best," "revolutionary" -- and anything enclosed by quotation marks. Any remaining text could serve as the keywords!

A similar parsing scheme could be applied to voice messages. However, you'd have to implement speech-to-text technology. I'm not aware of an alternative way to selectively forward calls to your attention, while relegating others to voice mail. Of course, you could ask the callers to designate their calls as urgent or otherwise, but then you're relying on callers to exercise restraint. Good luck.

There are of course call-screening devices/products that are quite useful in distinguishing low-priority and high-priority calls before answering the phone. You can screen callers by having them state their name and company, or by listening as they record their messages. (Just hearing the caller's name and company may not tell you whether or not it's an important call. In this case, you could, after noting to the caller's name, hang on until the caller left a message. At that point, you could listen in on the voice mail message, and pull the caller out of voice mail if the call seemed important.)

But even this call-screening method isn't perfect. Inevitably, you will get those voice mail hang-ups -- left by those callers who just hate leaving voice mail, and who will keep calling you until they reach you live. Another problem is that these call-screening features often work only from your desk, and not when you are on the road.

TOMKEATINGUS OF BORG
While we can keep trying to build a better filter, we'll probably always have more messages than we know what to do with. The problem is that when we send information or direct a question to someone, we expect a personal reply in a timely manner. If we don't receive a reply, we follow-up with a phone call, another e-mail, a fax, etc. Sometimes, just to be safe, we'll send a voice mail, fax, and e-mail simultaneously, just to make sure the intended recipient actually gets it. (Developers: Please don't automate this process, say, by providing a "send by all available media" button.)

What we really need is the ability to know if someone received our information, but without actually having to go through the trouble of calling, e-mailing, faxing, or paging them.

Maybe we're just not connected enough. Maybe what we need is the ability to automatically pass information from brain to brain, a sort of mind reading, if you will (we could call it computer telepathy integration). Actually, it's more of a "push" technology in this case, since you are actually pushing your thoughts. Imagine being able to take your thoughts (such as "Hey, I got your fax, no need to call me") and project them onto another person's mind. I can see it now: Microsoft dumps current CDF (Channel Definition Format) "push standard" for new PYT (Push Your Thoughts) standard.

If you are a Star Trek fan, you are no doubt familiar with the Borg. The Borg have no difficulty collecting and processing many pieces of data. They use their collective consciousness, which allows them to apprehend any piece of information needed or processed by any individual Borg anywhere in the universe. Whatever one Borg knows, every Borg knows. Well, I say let's bring on the Borg! I'm on information overload!

Intel's Mobile Data Initiative Improves Digital Wireless Data Access With Mobile PCs
The Mobile Data Initiative (MDI) is a cross-industry effort formed and led by Intel, whose purpose is to provide mobile PC users with simple, easy-to-use wireless access to corporate data networks and the Internet. With mobile data solutions, business travelers can stay productive and connected when away from the office.

Intel recently demonstrated Pentium II processor-based mobile PCs with recent improvements that deliver on MDI's objective of extending the benefits of wireless data solutions. For instance, IrDA (infrared) ports on both the mobile PC and digital cellular phones eliminate the need for cables. With IrDA and a software modem, simply placing the phone next to the PC can make a wireless Internet/e-mail connection.

This technology, in combination with Intel's Quick Web technology, will compensate for the lower bandwidth of wireless connections by serving Web pages faster. The basic equipment needed includes: a mobile PC; a digital cellular phone and service with data capabilities; and a cellular modem (plug and play PC card today, software modems in the future).

Periphonics Introduces True CTI Server-Based Product
Traditionally known for their powerful IVR systems, Periphonics has recently expanded their portfolio with a true CTI server-based product, which can integrate with other vendor's equipment. Called CallSPONSOR, this is a CTI solution for improving call center productivity and customer service levels.

CallSPONSOR integrates a wide range of telephony and call-center related equipment, including PBXs, ACDs, and IVRs. Functionality includes large-vocabulary recognition, digital voice recording, desktop application integration, and preview dialing. CallSPONSOR is a CTI solution which interfaces to your corporate PBX/ACD and which enables a call center to manage multiple lines via a datalink, allowing for full telephony control and data synchronization.

This product provides a full array of CTI applications, including screen pop, skills-based routing, virtual call center, event-based reporting, call blending, and Web-based call center management and reporting. CallSPONSOR comes in a choice of servers: CallSPONSOR/500, a midlevel server for up to 500 clients, and CallSPONSOR/2000, an enterprise-level server for up to 2,000 clients, and which is scaleable for even larger configurations. For more information, check out www.periphonics.com.

Xinex Networks Introduces A PC-PBX System Using ATM Technology
The Xinex PC-PBX is in some ways similar to Sphere Communications' product. Xinex Networks' phone sets have a sleek design, as well as an extensive feature-set. These phones have caller-ID support, 2x16 LCD display, programmable keys, navigation keys for scrolling through lists, speakerphone, and other features. Interestingly enough, these phones plug right into the ATM Vortex Network Interface Cards. In addition, their system features PC phone functionality, unified messaging, call management, receptionist functionality, as well as a videoconferencing package. For more information, check out www.xinex.com.

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