ATLANTA-BellSouth Mobility Inc. announced it will offer General Magic Inc.’s Portico voice recognition-based virtual personal assistant to its customers through a four-month limited deployment, beginning in the Atlanta market.
The Atlanta deployment essentially is a market trial, during which BellSouth will evaluate the service and determine future implementation plans. BellSouth said it will retain exclusive rights to the Portico service for one year in all its markets.
BellSouth will charge $30 a month for unlimited use.
The Portico service was launched last year through a nationwide network of value-added resellers. The agreement marks both the first wireless carrier to offer the service as well as the first paid trial by a carrier, a significant step for General Magic, according to the company.
“We expect that strategic relationships with partners will enable us to generate significant revenues in the second half of 1999,” said Steve Markman, president and chief executive officer of General Magic. “Our BellSouth announcement is a key step in meeting that objective.”
He said to expect similar deals in the future.
The agreement follows a deal with Wireless Knowledge L.L.C. to voice enable Wireless Knowledge’s Revolve service, targeted to Microsoft Exchange-based corporate networks.
General Magic revealed its first-quarter financial results last week as well. The company reported a net loss of $13.7 million, or 41 cents per share, compared with $15.1 million, or 51 cents per share, reported last year. Revenues were $155,000, compared with $126,000 for the last first quarter.
Portico is a service bureau which allows users to manage their incoming calls and personal information based on speed-based interaction with the system. Incoming calls to any of the user’s numbers are answered by the virtual assistant, which then will find the user and either connect the call or take a message.
From a phone, Portico users can check their home, mobile and office voice messages, have e-mail and faxes read to them and gain voice access to their contact list and calendar. Additionally, users may use voice dialing to place outgoing calls.
