Tellme Networks
 | |
| Company type | subsidiaryofMicrosoft |
|---|---|
| Industry | Telecommunication |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Headquarters | Mountain View, California |
Key people | Mike McCue,Chief executive |
| Products | Telephone services and applications |
Number of employees | 360 (2008)[1] |
Tellme Networks, Inc.was an American company founded in 1999 byMike McCueand Angus Davis,[2]which specialized in telephone-based applications. Its headquarters were inMountain View, California.
Tellme Networks was acquired byMicrosofton March 14, 2007, for approximately $800 million; the deal closed in late April 2007.[3]In 2006, Tellme's phone network processed more than 2 billion unique calls.[4]
Tellme established an information number which provided time-of-day announcements, weather forecasts, brief news and sports summaries, business searches, stock market quotations, driving directions, and similar amenities. Operating by voice prompts andspeech-recognitionsoftware, it was set up in 2000 as aloss-leaderservice to demonstrate the Tellme functionality to U.S. consumers. The voice of the Tellme service isDarby Bailey.[5]
In early 2012, Microsoft divested itself of Tellme Networks'interactive voice response(IVR) service and the majority of its employees to24/7 Inc.[6]The service was moved to a non-toll-free number.
History
[edit]In April 1999, the Tellme founding team, consisting ofMike McCue,Angus Davis, Rod Brathwaite, Jim Fanning, Kyle Sims, Brad Porter, Michael Plitkins, Hadi Partovi,John Giannandrea,Andrew Volkmann, Anthony Accardi, Patrick McCormick, Danny Howard, Vicki Penrose, andEmil Michaelassembled inMountain View, California.
In 2000, Tellme announced a service that delivered content totelephones—a concept calledvoice portals.Early competitors included TelSurf Networks, BeVocal, Hey Anita, andQuack.Quack was founded in 1999 and acquired in September 2000 byAmerica Onlinefor its competing service, AOLbyPhone. At least ten additional competitors appeared in 2000 in various attempts to mimic the funding success of Tellme.[7]
Tellme was also featured in the 2001documentaryWild at Start.[8]and was referenced in a 2000Malcolm Gladwellarticle inThe New Yorkerabout recruiting.[9]
In 2008 the company debuted a feature especially forChristmas Eve;callers can hear recorded messages fromSanta Claus.If called on Christmas Eve, Santa will say what state he is traveling over, and exactly what he is doing. In 2009 they added a service that allows you to receive messages from Santa a week early which explain what he is doing to prepare for Christmas.
At the onset of service, as a way to gain more users, they offered a free long-distance call feature called Phone Booth. Callers would call Tellme and were given 2 free minutes of long-distance call time to their desired phone number. That service was later stopped while other services persisted.
Services
[edit]Voice portal customers build Internet-powered, voice-enabled applications on the Tellme Network using Tellme Studio. Tellme Studio is a web-basedVoiceXMLdevelopment tool. The Tellme platform is based onopen standardslikeVoiceXML,CCXML,andVoIP. The Tellme Voice Portal which includesdirectory assistanceused to be accessed by calling (800) 555-TELL (8355).[10]When Microsoft sold Tellme to 24/7 Inc in 2012, the number changed to the non-toll-free (408) 752-8052, rebranded as The Information Line.[11]In September 2019, the service was revamped and rebranded again as Voice Info, with once again a toll-free number (866) 895-3124,[12]however this number was deactivated in July 2020.[13]The old MicrosoftBing 4111-800-CALL-411 number can now be used to access Voice Info by pressing 9 when connected.AT&T Wirelesscustomers can access Voice Info directly by dialing *8 (formerly #121).[14]
Customers
[edit]Some of the services running on Tellme's network include directory assistance (4-1-1) forAT&TandVerizon(landline), AT&T's Voice Info (*8), customer service forMerrill Lynch,E*TRADEFinancial,American Airlines,ande-commerceservices forFandango.[15]
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^Liedtke, Michael (March 1, 2008)."Tellme's Tale As Microsoft Subsidiary".Associated Press via Wired News.Retrieved2008-03-01.
- ^"Tellme's Naughty Schoolboy",Business Week,March 13, 2006, archived fromthe originalon March 14, 2006.
- ^"Microsoft Purchase of Tellme Adds Voice To Web Initiative",The Wall Street Journal,March 15, 2007,retrieved2009-06-01
- ^"Tellme and Cingular Plan Broader Directory Service",The New York Times,October 9, 2006.
- ^Weingerten, Gene."Directory Persistence helps find Darby".Star-News.
- ^"Microsoft offloads some speech-focused assets, employees to 24/7",ZD net,February 7, 2012, archived fromthe original(World Wide Weblog)on February 9, 2012.
- ^"As Silicon Valley Reboots, the Geeks Take Charge",The New York Times,October 26, 2003.
- ^"Dept. of" Oops "– After four years, heeere's" Wild at Start, "a documentary celebrating visionary new-economy entrepreneurs!",Salon,July 25, 2001.
- ^Gladwell, Malcolm(May 29, 2000),"The New-Boy Network",The New Yorker,archived fromthe originalon July 28, 2012.
- ^"800-555-TELL (" Tell Me ") - How does it make money?".2 January 2003.
- ^"800-555-TELL (" Tell Me ") - How does it make money?".2 January 2003.
- ^"[email protected] | a similar service to tell me is now available".
- ^"What Happened to the Voice Info Service That Replaced Tell Me?".
- ^"#121 Voice Info".21 July 2020.
- ^Press Release,Tellme, August 21, 2006.
