July/August 2001

Price: Workgroup Service, $495: Subscriber and four other users share 4,000 domestic minutes of call time for one year. Each workgroup user receives individual account and reception page.
Basic Service (single user), $14.95/month
Basic Caller Service, Free

RATINGS (05)
Installation: 5
Documentation: 2.75
Features: 3
GUI: 2.5
Overall: B-

INSTALLATION
acallto does not require any installation to speak of, and account setup is simply a matter of entering credit card information and service options into a Web-based form. Corporate users may wish to have their Webmaster add a link to their reception page on the company Web site.

DOCUMENTATION
Help documentation, which is all found online of course, covers all of the basics. It was found to be somewhat cursory in places, and perhaps could better clarify some of the conceptual material through a comprehensive overview of the service (found in one place, as opposed to parceled throughout). It could also better help new users navigate the way through a new and in some ways different sort of service -- while offering more in the way of topical organization.

FEATURES
acallto provides users with a unique Web "reception page" bearing their choice of photo and company logo and, if they choose, a link to their choice of telephone -- similar in concept to the Voice-over-IP (VoIP) "push-to-talk" buttons seen on e-commerce and customer service Web sites. They may additionally offer a text messaging feature, through which visitors can send messages to the user's choice of e-mail account. As for the phone options, when a visitor clicks on the phone links, acallto connects him or her to the user, without ever displaying the actual telephone number being dialed. Since visitors have to login in order to access these links, users can create access lists for various types of known or potential visitors -- including personalized messages and forms of contact. They may also choose to offer no form of contact whatsoever, creating a "pests" list, for example, for pushy salespeople. People contained on this list might receive a blank screen with a generic message: This as opposed to a world without acallto, where such callers may still be able to clutter our voice mailboxes with persistent messages.

OPERATIONAL TESTING
The Labs test account was somewhat customized by acallto when Technology Editors first began working with it, including a CASP logo and a pre-populated example of the acallto directory feature showing links to various editorial and sales staff. By clicking on the configuration screens we were able to not only see how this logo could be easily uploaded from a file contained on the user's PC through an Explorer-style browser window, but were able to recreate the process of building a similar directory. We additionally uploaded a headshot of a particularly distinguished and photogenic Technology Editor, as if he were using acallto as an editorial contact page for Communications ASP. Specifying which phone number links on the reception page to call and when (i.e. during business hours call an office phone, otherwise call a cell phone), and then identifying an e-mail address to which text messages would be sent, we set about testing these features as if we were unknown visitors.

When accessing the reception page from a second PC as an unknown or "anonymous" visitor, we were required to briefly register with acallto, after which point a user name and password could be entered at member sites. On subsequent visits the system would remember who this user was, allowing us to configure more open or restrictive access rights based on this person's identity. In one instance we created a customized message, as if this person were a close contact, and offered access to a direct business line. In another option we only offered access to an auto-attendant screened number, and in another case offered no contact links at all ... just a generic message. To configure and try these various permutations was relatively quick and simple, involving the process only of logging in to the system, making changes, and logging out -- rendering the changes active.

Having registered, we subsequently visited and placed calls to the Labs reception page. When a visitor logs into acallto and accesses the user reception page, a notification message is sent to the user's PC indicating the login identity of the visitor. Once a visitor clicks on a link for, say, the user's desk number, acallto first dials the visitor's phone then connects them to the user.

There were some drawbacks to this process, the major one being a slight delay and some fuzziness on one end of the call. Though the delay would not be noticed by distant talkers who couldn't see each other, we were able to see it visually in close quarters. The line disturbance on the other hand may be noticeable -- though it won't hinder communication. As for text messaging, this was as instantaneous as sending an e-mail addressed directly to the recipient, with the advantage being complete anonymity and the ability to subsequently remove e-mail privileges from certain individuals if desired.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
One branding-related concern that came up right away was this fact: Visitors are taken to a separate acallto-branded Web site upon interacting with the service. Further, the process of having to login -- indeed, of having to register in the first place -- may be somewhat daunting to users who just wish to contact a given recipient. While a similar model has worked for Adobe and Real Networks, which offer a one-time download process analogous to acallto's registration process, there is a significant difference: Subsequent usage of Acrobat Reader or Real Player is automatic, and these applications are launched automatically upon clicking a requisite link. Perhaps a similar, light, phone-type application (as opposed to the more network-oriented model used by acallto) might allow them to better replicate the successful implementations of Adobe and Real Networks.

acallto would also be significantly improved by a "find me/follow me" feature, in which calls made from select and previously specified site visitors would be continually forwarded until the recipient was reached. Features like this would begin to bring acallto into the realm of unified communications, but with a twist: The company could not only meet but expand upon the formidable first attempts of CASPs like Orchestrate -- extending the portal concept through their acallto reception page toward a public- or customer-facing purpose.

The last suggestion should come as no surprise to readers of past CASP reviews: Tighten up those interfaces. For some reason, and we witness it again and again, communications ASPs may realize a truly innovative concept that requires bringing together a lot of impressive technology and systems in the background, but they often do so without paying attention to simple design principles. This shouldn't be so easy to forget, as they are using the most design-centric medium to deliver their services. Again, in bringing up this suggestion there is some difficulty in qualifying exactly why we found it a bit clunky. The answer would be to have a Web designer -- someone who understands navigation, ease-of-use, and creating an appearance of legitimacy, establishment, and professionalism -- walk through the service and make some suggestions. But of course this costs money, doesn't it? And money isn't exactly flowing like it used to these days...

CONCLUSION
It was difficult to decide upon an overall grade for acallto. While some noticeable issues were uncovered -- the call quality, the required visitor registration, and login -- we were still impressed by the concept behind the service enough to give acallto the benefit of the doubt and see these issues for what they may very well be: Growing pains. A much higher if not perfect rating would be easy to assign should they improve their call quality and work out a slightly smoother and virtually transparent process for visitors, as their core concept appears to be a truly sensible one. Conversations with chairman and CTO Allen Razdow revealed not only a sense of an individual and a company with a vision, but open-mindedness and a plan to institute the changes needed to fully realize their concept. A few minor improvements were actually implemented during the course of our evaluation period; we trust that within the coming months, if the company can keep up the good fight, users will be due to see even more.

[ Return To The July/August 2001 Table Of Contents ]