Consumer Content - Bugging Out

BellSouth Appliance Extends E-mail to Non-PC Users

"The other devices being introduced are helpful because they expose people to this type of device. The hype of all the devices helps customers know about the category," says Julie Adolph, director of consumer innovation in BellSouth's consumer marketing group.

The MailBug is the first in a line of non-PC Internet appliances that BellSouth plans to offer later this year and into the years to come. Among the other devices are web terminals, television set-top boxes, web pads and wireless devices.

This is a non- traditional line for a telco, but one that others have tried in the past without a rousing success. SBC Commu-nications Inc. (www.sbc.com), for instance, introduced an e-mail device in August 1999 throughout the five-state territory served by South-western Bell (www.swbell.com). Customers who subscribed to the service still can use it, but the company is no longer marketing it. "We found that customers wanted a more web-functional device that had more capabilities," says Lisa Ward, an SBC spokeswoman.

SBC may have been a little ahead of the customer acceptance curve.

Acer Inc. (www.acer.com), a Taiwan-based OEM of IADs, says their sales of the devices during 2000 were a small percentage of what they expected, a sure sign that the Internet appliance market is slow getting off the ground, says Brian O'Rourke, a senior analyst in the multimedia group at Cahners In-Stat Group (www.instat.com).

"There is going to be a learning curve for consumers because they're used to the PC," says O'Rourke. "There might be hesitancy on the consumers' part to new technology."

However, O'Rourke expects that more and more Internet appliance offerings will pop up over time. "Service providers are facing a crunch as voice and data become more of a commodity. This is a way for them to increase exposure to customers," he adds.

BellSouth believes that there will be growing popularity of non-PC types of Internet devices, and that that bodes well for success of MailBug and the other products the telco plans to market.

"It's important to be in this space [because it provides] ways of allowing people to communicate with family and friends," says Adolph.

BellSouth is primarily going after customers who don't have personal computers and don't subscribe to Internet access services. "Our brand is strong with those older people, empty nesters and families with kids--those that might not have purchased PCs," says Adolph.

But Adolph anticipates that even customers with PCs might purchase MailBug to have a device through which to easily access e-mail only, or as a secondary product for other members of the family to use.

Adolph says that eventually the MailBug will be adapted for the Hispanic market so those customers will have additional, cost-effective ways to communicate with others outside of the United States

But the real differentiator for BellSouth is the ability of the MailBug to tie into traditional telephony services. For instance, the device can act as a caller ID box, as well as provide notification when the customer has messages in his or her BellSouth voice mailbox. While the MailBug is primarily for e-mail, users will be able to use the Caller ID entries to return calls by scrolling through the list of those who called. The box will also have a light that blinks when voice and e-mail messages arrive.

Unlike PCs, the MailBug doesn't tie up the phone line. Instead, it automatically dials out each hour when the customer is not using the phone and caches e-mail messages for viewing when the customer is ready.

MailBug is now available in Atlanta and Louisville, Ky. Later this year, Adolph says, the device will be available throughout the telco's serving area, eventually going nationwide.

MailBug is available as a service through BellSouth Internet Services, the telco's ISP group. And while the Internet services group only offers service within the BellSouth telco territory, Adolph says the company hopes MailBug will drive acceptance of BellSouth's brand in other U.S. markets. She says that they hope to market MailBug as a gift that BellSouth customers can buy for friends and family who may live in another telco's territory. That would then drive BellSouth's Internet services into additional markets.

MailBug is manufactured by Landel Telecom (www.landel.com) and has a standard-sized keyboard with screen that shows six lines of text. The device costs $99, with monthly service fees of $7.95. Users must subscribe and pay for voice mail and caller ID services separately if they want to use the box for those purposes.

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