kanika singh meenu gupta pratik mehan shourya asthana vikas srivastava

WHAT IS A VOICE PORTAL

can be defined as "speech-enabled access to Web-based information."

a voice portal provides telephone users with a naturallanguage interface to access and retrieve Web content
an Internet browser provides Web access from a net enabled computer but not from a telephone. A voice portal is a way to do that

TELL ME NETWORK
founded by Mike McCue (31 years) and Angus Davis (22 years) in 1999

in 2000, Tellme launched an internet platform that delivered content to telephones: a concept frequently called voice portals
early competitors included TelSurf Networks, BeVocal, Hey Anita and Quack.com Tellme's phone network processes more than two billion unique calls per year

SERVICES RUNNING ON TELL ME

directory assistance (4-1-1) for Cingular & Verizon customer service for Merrill Lynch, E*TRADE Financial and American Airlines e-commerce services for Amazon.com and Fandango.

STRENGHTS
seasoned Management Team strategic Alliance with AT&T in initial years association with AT&T gave it validation and credibility in the eye of the consumer business model based on providing convenience to customer customers need not have specific skills to use it now a subsidiary of MICROSOFT

STRENGHTS cont
cost effective-replaced human operators with an easy to use automated solution (each human-assisted call costs $3-compared
to the 20 cents for a call with automated response)

Tellme supports a variety of connectivity solutions to link voice applications with users backend systems: Standard HTTP, Secure HTTPS, Co-managed VPN

WEAKNESS
information provided through voice is limited as compared to visual media it is far from the free-form "search for anything" approach possible with a web search engine to much dependency on speech recognition

THREATS
easy to replicate technology third generation mobile telephony (3G services)

OPPORTUNITIES
increasing number of mobile phone users-1.3 billion around the world, compared to 250 million computers with internet access there are large number of people who do not own PCs people with low technical skills several technology trends like Voice XML open source programming, are speeding the emergence of voice portals growing demand for application based softwares in mobiles, with the advent of iPhone

TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS
more Choices: Open systems promote multiple-vendor participation in the marketplace. lower Costs: Solutions built on open standards cut development time for solution providers. innovative Services: Working to standards, frees developers to concentrate on adding value. lower Risk: Compatibility with products and technologies from many suppliers decreases the risk of ownership.

SOCIAL FACTORS
busy lifestyle, and lack of time: people want information at their finger tips convenience, voice portal is convenient to use than web portal more

less technology savvy people can also access information

SOCIAL FACTORS constant demand for information and services in the society as the society is constantly becoming technologically driven
older population on the increase who are not that technologically savvy

MCCUES ENTREPRENEURIAL TRAITS

Energy Hunger for Success Self Confidence Good Interpersonal skill Creative
His Target: top computer engineering students at Stanford University. His secret weapon: free pizza. McCue planned to personally deliver pizzas to the Stanford computer lab in hopes of convincing a handful of top students to quit school and join Tellme.

MCCUES ENTREPRENEURIAL TRAITS

Risk Taker Self Belief Courage Drive Set high achievable goal
The now 32 year old McCue himself had skipped college and joined IBM as a graphic specialist.

MCCUES ENTREPRENEURIAL TRAITS

Visionary
Our long-term goal is to create Dial Tone 2.0 McCue said, envisioning a future when user would not even need to dial Tellme.

MCCUES ENTREPRENEURIAL TRAITS

Energy Creativity Hunger for success Willingness to take calculated risk
McCue got involved with computers at fairly young age. He wrote several video games in high school and after graduating he joined IBM as a graphic specialist.

MICROSOFTS ACQUISITION OF TELL ME

Microsoft saw mobile phone searches as a relatively untapped market where it could compete more favorably with Google Inc Microsoft also aims to combine Tellme's experience in offering voice services like automated directory services to its web-based phone systems.

emergence of Next Generation Networks with a common packet infrastructure means convergence of voice, wireless, and the internet

PORTERS 5 FORCES ANALYSIS

Threats of new entrants-MODERATE Threats of substitutes-HIGH Threats of competitors-MODERATE Bargaining power of Buyers-HIGH Bargaining power of suppliers-LOW

SUGGESTIONS
to focus and expand on voice based e-commerce back end operations not to let the brand equity of TELL ME be diluted in MICROSOFT though at the same time use the deep pocket and wider avenues opened up, to expand its market invest heavily development in the speech recognition software