UTAH TECH WATCH - - by David Politis - - 4/13-15/96 Edition

Quick, name the largest computer network in the country.

The answer, quite simply, is the telephone system.

Although most people don't think of the phone beside their bed or on their
desk as a computer, most of today's phones qualify as a simple computing
device.

Particularly when you consider such standard features in most telephones as
touch tone dialing, automatic re-dialing, memory, and call forwarding.

More importantly, each phone at some point is connected to at least one
major phone switch, which is in reality a computer, plain and simple.

And for that same reason, the copper wiring, fiber optic cabling or
satellite connections that permit your call to Austin, Texas are all part
of a huge computer network known as POTS, the Plain Old Telephone System.

Getting smarter

For all the technology built into the telecommunications system, however,
most of today's desktop phone sets are not really that smart. Nor are they
always easy to use.

Case in point, have you ever gone out of town on a business trip only to
return to find your voice mail box full? (A similar analogy is finding
your answering machine at home loaded with 12 messages after being gone
for the evening.)

Accessing each of those messages in order is one of the biggest pains of
the modern world.

Particularly if one or more calls were generated by a computer selling
system. (But that's a topic for another column.)

Easily retrieving messages from voice mail systems when you want, in the
order you want, and being able to archive, append or forward messages
simply would be heavenly in today's information-laden environment.

These features are just some of the benefits one can gain from CTI:
Computer Telephony Integration.

And one of the early leaders in CTI is a firm I met recently through my
work that's based right here in Utah.

CallWare Technologies

CallWare Technologies was formed in October 1994 when it was spun off from
International Voice Exchange.

At the time, six-year-old IVX was establishing voice messaging service
bureaus around the U.S. Interestingly, many of its shareholders and
interested parties kept telling IVX management that it should spin off its
CallWare software into a separate business.

Which they did. And from a standing-start less than two years ago, CallWare
has taken the CTI market by storm.

CallWare 5.1, the software product, integrates with more than 200 business
phone systems on the market and Novell's NetWare operating system.

When in use, CallWare allows business people to view incoming calls and
stored voice messages all from their desktop PC.

With a standard computer mouse, users can select from their computer screen
which messages to listen to, in what order, which to delete outright, and
which to store, append or forward.

According to Craig Hansen, CallWare chairman and CEO, most voice mail and
messaging systems are hardware-based at costs ranging from tens of
thousands of dollars to $100,000 and more.

Because CallWare's system is software based, its starting price is under
$3,000.

"Our technology has leapfrogged the telecommunications side of the
business," Hansen explained.

Although CallWare has not formally announced its sales figures, Hansen
admitted that sales for the Salt Lake City-based firm in 1995 were greater
than $10 million.

Part of CallWare's early success has come from its focus on training
computer resellers on the benefits of CTI.

According to Hansen, the firm currently has 18 CTI training centers in the
U.S., with an additional seven centers in other parts of the world. By the
end of the year, CallWare plans to have a total of 35 CTI training centers
worldwide.

"We want to be to the CTI industry what Novell is to the networking
industry and what Microsoft is to the PC Windows industry," Hansen said.

Given the crying need for better computer telephony integration, and its
early success, CallWare might just make it happen.

A marketing communications consultant that specializes in high-tech and
life sciences clients, David Politis welcomes column ideas at 801-569-2592
or via the Internet at dpolitis@altatech.com.
 
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