By Joe Dolittle
Ever wanted to get to your email from your phone? Personally, we're always trying to get away from the excess of email we always get, but if you've got to be connected at all times, you might want to try a product from Adomo, Inc. These folks market a line of speech enabled server appliances that provide hands-free access to Microsoft Exchange from a plain ol' telephone handset. The AdomoMCS product provides speech access to corporate email and calendars while driving, walking, indoors or outdoors, at home or overseas. Yes, Virginia, there is such a thing as being TOO connected!
Users access AdomoMCS by calling into the system and saying their name and passcode. Once inside their email, you can direct the AdomoMCS to go to the inbox and begin reading emails saying simple commands such as, "check messages." The system begins by reading the senders name and subject line. Saying "read body" will direct the system to open emails and read the text of the email back to you. To navigate through the inbox users say "next" or "previous" to find urgent emails quickly. You can also sort emails by sender or date, making, it easier to find urgent or specific emails. If you want to reply to an email, say "reply" and the system will record the message in a sound file and send it to the recipient as an attachment.
You can also create new emails by saying "compose message" and following the prompts. AdomoMCS will ask you who to send the message to and allow you to choose names from your Global Address Book and Personal Contacts. It then records your voice in a sound file and sends the email to the recipients.
In addition to email functionality, AdomoMCS provides access to the Outlook calendar. You can say "check calendar" and the system will read back any appointments on the calendar for that day. You can also navigate through the calendar by saying the date or logical commands such as "tomorrow," "next Friday," or "yesterday." In addition, you can schedule new appointments and invite attendees. Invited attendees will receive a meeting request and the event will be scheduled on the your calendar.
Unless you've got REALLY deep pockets (and a dangerously over-the-top love of email), you're probably going to need your organization to buy AdomoMCS for the company. The product (which includes a nifty piece of hardware) costs $15,000, which is a bit more expensive than that sexy new copy of Neverwinter Nights you've been eyeing down at the video store.
You can find this outspoken product at http://www.adomo.com.
Joe Dolittle is a Customer Service Supervisor for ZATZ Publishing.
