AT&T VOICE MESSAGING - TEN YEARS AFTER AND GROWING STRONG.BASKING RIDGE, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 7, 1994--More than eight million people, in 40 thousand business locations worldwide, are helping AT&T commemorate a successful decade of providing voice messaging Using voice mail as an alternative to electronic mail, in which voice messages are intentionally recorded, not because the recipient was not available. systems to businesses. In November 1984, AT&T entered a fledgling voice messaging market by introducing its AUDIX AUDIX Audio Information Exchange voice messaging system for business. Since then, voice messaging has become an integral tool for communicating. It preserves the benefits of interactive communications, eliminating the time wasted trying to speak with others directly. Studies have shown that 80 percent of calls are not answered by the recipient and 55 percent of calls require only one-way communication. In 1993, the voice messaging market accounted for $1.8 billion in revenue and is estimated to grow to $4.4 billion by 1997. With 75 percent of Fortune 500 companies already using voice mail systems, AT&T attributes this continuing growth to increased usage by small businesses and international customers. Additionally, the advent of multimedia messaging -- integrating voice, fax, data and video messages on one system -- will stimulate future demand for messaging systems Software that provides an electronic mail delivery system. It is made up of the following functional components, which may be packaged together or independently. Mail User Agent . "The first decade's been exciting and rewarding for AT&T and our customers," said Karen Varnas, vice president-multimedia messaging and information processing information processing: see data processing. information processing Acquisition, recording, organization, retrieval, display, and dissemination of information. Today the term usually refers to computer-based operations. for AT&T Global Business Communications Systems In telecommunication, a communications system is a collection of individual communications networks, transmission systems, relay stations, tributary stations, and data terminal equipment (DTE) usually capable of interconnection and interoperation to form an integrated whole. . "Customers are using voice messaging solutions to keep their businesses open 24 hours-a-day or to communicate with employees at several locations by networking systems together. Today, it's more than just an answering machine." A recent Gallup poll Gallup Poll Noun a sampling of the views of a representative cross section of the population, usually used to forecast voting [after G H Gallup, statistician] Gallup poll n → reported that voice mail provided the greatest productivity gains of any business communications equipment, surpassing fax machines, e-mail, modems and PBXs. Through the years See also Through The Years (Gary Glitter song) or Through The Years (Tim Finn song). For the Jethro Tull album, see Through the Years (Jethro Tull). For the Artillery box set, see Through the Years (Artillery album). , AT&T has expanded the AUDIX system line and added several voice messaging systems to better serve the varying needs of businesses. AT&T's MERLIN Mail and PARTNER Mail systems provide basic voice messaging features for smaller businesses while its DEFINITY AUDIX and INTUITY multimedia messaging system, which includes INTUITY AUDIX voice mail, support the more sophisticated messaging needs of mid-sized and larger businesses. Fred Caron, president of Business Space Inc., a Chicago- based real estate consulting firm Noun 1. consulting firm - a firm of experts providing professional advice to an organization for a fee consulting company business firm, firm, house - the members of a business organization that owns or operates one or more establishments; "he worked for a , uses his AT&T voice messaging system to help businesses find office space anywhere in the world. Caron found communicating and negotiating with real estate owners in Europe and the Far East difficult because of time differences. "After installing the system, we immediately began receiving important messages that had been left at three or four o'clock Noun 1. four o'clock - any of several plants of the genus Mirabilis having flowers that open in late afternoon flower - a plant cultivated for its blooms or blossoms genus Mirabilis, Mirabilis - four o'clocks in the morning," said Caron. "The messages were detailed enough to keep us moving on projects without missing a beat and losing another business day. Not only are we very pleased, but we've received a number of compliments from clients and colleagues." AT&T continually enhances its systems to provide features and functions that customers want, such as multi- lingual lingual /lin·gual/ (ling´gwal) 1. pertaining to or near the tongue. 2. in dental anatomy, facing the tongue or oral cavity. lin·gual adj. 1. capabilities, digital networking and PC access and management of messages. And the capabilities are still expanding. The company's INTUITY multimedia messaging system will offer fax messaging in the first quarter of 1995 and expand over time to provide customers with a "unified" mailbox A simulated mailbox in the computer that holds e-mail messages. Mailboxes are stored on disk as a file of messages, a database of messages or as an individual file for each message. The standard mailboxes are usually In, Out, Trash and Junk (Spam). -- a single place to send and receive all types of messages -- in any form, using any device. The company said the explosion of multimedia solutions in the workplace will make "unified" messaging a more powerful business communications tool than voice messaging was in its first decade. "The convergence of communications and computer technologies will make the next decade of messaging even more exciting," said Varnas. "The ability to integrate several media into a single message will increase the flow of information between businesses and their customers, allowing them to be more productive." For more information and pricing on AT&T's messaging and voice/information processing products, customers can contact their AT&T account representative or call 1-800-325-7466. CONTACT: AT&T
Ritch Blasi 908-953-7514 (office) 908-469-6801 (home)
Jo Johnston 908-953-7525 (office) 908-638-4547 (home)
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