Precision Systems Inc.’s latest innovation is Atlas, a network-based personal telecommunications assistant that will wake you up in the morning, remind you to call your mother and if you desire, answer and store faxes in Japanese or a number of other languages.
Atlas is interactive and accessible through voice commands. A user speaks a personal identification number and from there can initiate a number of functions. Atlas’ capabilities include various voice mail and e-mail functions, sending and retrieving faxes, call re-routing, wake-up and reminder calls, call screening and conference calling.
Here is a glimpse of how Atlas works: After entering the PIN, a user might say, “schedule.” “Today?” responds Atlas. “Yes. Three o’clock p.m.” Atlas would continue by asking if the user wishes to record a reminder, and if so, review the message, then accept, continue or rerecord the message. In this scenario, Atlas would ring the user at 2: 45 p.m. to signal a reminder for a 3 p.m. phone call or appointment.
Atlas will be marketed to service providers. “Atlas is excellent for generating revenue through service subscription,” the company said. “Since Atlas makes the subscriber’s phone a more versatile tool, airtime usage increases.”
Russell Pillar, chief executive officer of St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Precision Systems, said Atlas is unique as a network-based solution that is scalable and can operate on any Unix-based platform. “Carriers want to be market driven,” he said. Precision can offer Atlas at a cost-effective entry point and meet service providers’ needs, Pillar added. Precision’s customers may order systems with as few as 48 ports and up to tens of thousands of ports, said Pillar. End users will access Atlas as an enhanced service.
Flexibility and convenience are end-user advantages of the network-based service. “The last thing people want is another device,” stated Pillar. Atlas serves as a management tool, explained Pillar, by allowing users one central repository for the various avenues of communications they use.
Atlas’ artificial intelligence makes it possible for users to build and customize options. Atlas can function in various languages. A user involved in business in Japan may have a fax number and voice mail box specifically for calls from Japan.
A new user sets up a personal vocabulary library with Atlas, based on voice recognition. Atlas also provides flexibility in commands. For instance, if a user stored the phone number 555-4444 as corresponding with the spoken words, “Sandy Miller” but in one instance tells Atlas to call “Sandy’s office,” Atlas will search its memory for a match. “Sandy Miller?” Atlas may query, asking the user to respond “yes” or “no.”
Currently Atlas, which is part of Precision’s UniPort enhanced services platform, is undergoing internal beta and user-friendly trials, said Pillar. Precision currently is in discussions, protected by non-disclosure agreements, with one major regional Bell operating company and one major long-distance carrier to deliver Atlas service, Pillar noted. The agreements are non-exclusive.
Although end-user cost will vary, Pillar expects as an enhanced service, Atlas will run about $10 per month.
