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General Magic
General Magic's vision is a world in which people on the move are never out of touch with the information they need to be successful.
To achieve that vision - and to make a difference in people's lives by enhancing the way they obtain information and communicate - General Magic is working to become the leader in providing innovative, cost-effective CITI (computer-Internet-telephony integration) solutions for the mobile user community.
General Magic is focused on delivering products and services that meet real customer needs. Market research, both from industry analysts as well as customers, helped shape the company's target markets. It plans to market its products and services to business people whose time and resources are limited, for whom communication is critical, and who spend a significant amount of time working away from the office. This mobile worker must maintain access to personal and business information, respond to customers and communicate with colleagues, family and friends at any time and from any location.
As society has become more mobile, numerous solutions have emerged to solve those communication and information problems.Advanced services, such as voicemail, call forwarding, and news headlines, are being offered by paging and cellular companies, as well as by regional Bell operating companies (RBOCS), long distance carriers, and a variety of different vendors. Add to that the explosive growth of the Internet, online networks and corporate intranets in recent years. These networks now host services such as email, database searching, conferencing, electronic commerce, games, software libraries and electronic newspapers and magazines. The number of communications solutions and the amount and diversity of information have become almost overwhelming.
With these communication and information solutions come a new set of related problems.Instead of becoming simpler, people's lives seem to be growing more complicated. Significant amounts of time and effort are now required of those who depend on these devices, networks and services.There are more passwords and procedures to memorize, and more compatibility issues to confront. According to a recent survey, the average business worker manages 178 messages and documents per day including 61 phone calls/messages (wireline and cellular), 20 voice mails, 24 emails, 9 pages and 16 faxes. It seems that stress levels increase in direct proportion to the number of unread emails or unanswered voice mails people have.
This problem is particularly acute for mobile workers. Today's mobile professional may have a cellular phone, pager, computer, fax machine, multiple electronic mailboxes on the Internet and a voice mail service. Whether on the road or at the office, success for mobile workers depends in large part on their ability to quickly and easily access, sort through and respond to the messages delivered via each communication device, and to obtain the information from each of the networks and services to which they are connected. All this to stay ahead; yet so many people still feel they are behind.
General Magic addresses these problems with two distinct businesses that focus on providing cost-effective and innovative solutions to their specific markets.
Serengeti: Serengeti is the code name for General Magic's forthcoming communications and information service. Integrating both voice and data, Serengeti will act as a virtual assistant for people on the move, keeping them in touch with the people and information important to them.
Handheld Mobile Communications Solutions: General Magic's Handheld Mobile Communications Solutions are designed to meet the data-access and communications needs of mobile workers in specific vertical markets.
General Magic is developing Serengeti, a powerful, Internet-based application that will allow people to easily communicate with others and to obtain and act on important information. As an Internet application, Serengeti will allow users to access their important information using standard web browsers. General Magic is also developing a highly evolved voice user interface (VUI) to allow users to access their information using natural language. This means users will have continuity in accessing their important information whether through data or telephone devices.
Serengeti will act as a virtual assistant with intelligence, which will notify users of key messages and information, help them act on that information, or - based on user-defined rules and filters - automatically act on that information for them. Through the service, mobile workers will be able to access and organize their important information and they will be able to take action on that information whether they are in the office or on the road.
General Magic has nearly seven years of development and market experience in making communications easier and more productive for mobile business workers. This effort has become the core of our development of Serengeti.
Features of Serengeti will include:
- natural language voice user interface, using everyday English
- one access point to all network information and communications activities
- notification and delivery of important messages and data
- ability to act on those messages and data
- access through standard communicating devices - no need to buy another device
- built on Internet, computing and telecommunications standards