ViaFone (www.viafone.com), the leading mobile commerce ASP (application service provider), unveiled the company at the prestigious PC Forum 2000 conference held here today. Founded in September 1999 by veterans of NetObjects (Nasdaq: NETO) and Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM), ViaFone allows online merchants to seamlessly `mobilize' their existing e-commerce infrastructure and enable consumers to purchase anything via the Internet anytime, anywhere from any wireless device, including traditional voice cellular telephones, "smart" digital phones and connected PDAs. Pilot programs are now underway with leading merchants, including CDNOW and HiFi.com.
In a related announcement also made today, the company has secured first round of venture financing of more than $10.7 million from Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Partech International and several prominent angel and other investors.
According to Gartner Group, 40% of all e-commerce will be conducted wirelessly in four years. By 2003, more than 79.4 million browser-enabled mobile phones, more than 12 million Internet-enabled hand-held computers, as well as the ubiquitous standard fixed and wireless voice-only telephones, will be used to conduct mobile commerce.
"In order to reach this customer, retailers must `mobilize' their on-line presence to communicate with the multitude of wireless platforms, technologies and standards which are only just now being developed and deployed," said Bernard Desarnauts, founder and acting CEO of ViaFone. "This process is not only very complex but also time-and resource-intensive, and can defocus a merchant from his or her core business."
To solve this problem, ViaFone offers a turnkey, customizable Application Service Provider (ASP) solution, called the ViaFone Mobile Commerce Server, which gives online merchants a compelling presence across all leading wireless devices. ViaFone powers the retailer's mobile commerce presence behind the scenes, tightly integrating it with the merchants' existing e-commerce infrastructure, all for a predictable monthly fee. Additionally, because ViaFone's offering is delivered as a private-labeled solution, online merchants retain full control over their branding, user interface and consumer shopping experience.
"CDNOW has always used cutting-edge technologies to deliver a superior music experience," said Jason Olim, President and CEO of CDNOW. "We chose to work with ViaFone because ViaFone has the expertise, the right technological approach and a unique understanding of our mobile strategy, which reinforces CDNOW's ongoing commitment to redefining and leading music distribution through new channels."
More than simply extending the reach of their existing e-commerce Web site to the mobile consumer, online merchants and retailers employing ViaFone's mobile commerce ASP solution will be able to:
- Allow a consumer to get an Internet price quote for a product found on the shelf of a brick-and-mortar retailer;
- Enable a consumer on the run to purchase a book or a CD from his favorite online source with one click convenience;
- Target consumers with time-sensitive and personalized product offers on their cellular telephone as they drive near a local retailer.
The ViaFone Mobile Commerce Server is an outsourced service platform that eliminates the need for online merchants to invest in emerging wireless technologies as well as complex and costly infrastructure. The platform uses a combination of robust, best-of-breed network, hardware and software technologies to enable the reliable and scalable delivery of e-commerce content and transactions via the primary mobile devices in use today:
- Standard fixed and wireless telephones using interactive voice recognition over any telephony network and wireless technology (CDMA, GSM and iDEN);
- Internet-enabled `smart' telephones using WAP over any wireless carrier network;
- Wireless personal digital assistants (PDAs), such as the Palm VII and Handspring Visor using Web Clipping; and
- Interactive pagers, such as Research in Motion's BlackBerry and American Mobile's eLink services equipped with a WAP browser.
To ensure ease of maintenance and scalability, the core components of the ViaFone Mobile Commerce Server are based on open standards and XML-based connectivity layers. This open standards approach also allows ViaFone's solution to be easily expanded to provide support for future generations of mobile devices and technologies. Integration with the existing e-commerce infrastructure of an online retailer is achieved through a Java- and XML-based middleware server that allows for the rapid deployment of customized implementations.
Additionally, to guarantee reliability and up-time of the service, the ViaFone solution relies on a high-availability, secure and redundant network and telephony infrastructure, enabling merchants to handle peak volumes without incurring additional costs.
The voice interaction feature of the ViaFone solution, accessible from any fixed or wireless phone, is powered by the latest advancements in automatic speech recognition and text-to-speech technologies, and is based on flexible, open standards to easily provide a tailored solution for each merchant.
Currently in beta, with several pilot projects underway with leading merchants, the ViaFone Mobile Commerce Server is expected to become generally available in early summer 2000. Online merchants that wish to begin implementing mobile commerce solutions today are invited to apply to join the ViaFone's Charter Customer Program today. Please contact ViaFone at 650-413-5550 or visit www.viafone.com/partner for more information.
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