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ViAir Launches First Wireless Email Solution With Integrated Voice Capability And Fax
Newest Version of Popular WirelessInbox Lets Users Compose and Respond
to Email Simply by Speaking
SEATTLE, Feb 18, 2003 - ViAir, the world's leading provider of carrier-grade wireless email solutions,
launched the next version of its popular WirelessInbox carrier product in conjunction with the 3GSM World Congress in Cannes this
week. ViAir is headquartered in Seattle, Washington and has regional headquarters outside of London.
The new version, WirelessInbox 4.1 includes the world's first voice and data integrated email capability for wireless carriers. This makes
possible interaction between wireless users and their corporate email and electronic address books to compose and respond to email,
with their voice, via their wireless device. It also includes a newly added fax feature that allows emails and attachments to be printed to
any fax machine directly from a wireless device. For carriers, WirelessInbox 4.1 includes an application interface (API) completely
integrated with a carrier's voice platform allowing for full voice control of the WirelessInbox product.
Currently, more than 300,000 wireless customers use the WirelessInbox application on their wireless phones and the new voice
response feature will be a simple tool to for users to apply. The new voice feature eliminates the need to carry multiple wireless devices by
turning every internet-enabled mobile phone into a user-friendly email communication tool and eliminates the need for a wireless device
with a keyboard or the requirement to "triple tap" a message on a standard phone interface.
Wireless users can utilize the voice reply feature to respond to an email message through their wireless phone or PDA by choosing the
"speak your reply" option from the email menu. The customer records a voice message that converts to an audio file that is automatically
attached to the original message and sent to the message recipient. The voice message appears as an email file attachment and is played by
the recipient simply by clicking on the attachment.
In addition to the convenience of the new voice reply and compose features, ViAir also announced the availability of a new print to fax
capability within WirelessInbox. This feature allows customers to send email and attachments from their wireless device to any fax
machine to print. This feature is ideal for professionals who are away from the office, yet need hard copies of critical business information
and communications. Fax machines are one of the most convenient and highly available printing methods available today.
"Without question, a top request we have received from wireless carriers is to integrate a feature allowing wireless customers to use
voice -- the medium that holds the highest degree of comfort for users -- to send and respond to email messages," said ViAir Chief
Executive Officer Bruce Chatterley. "This solution is extremely effective and makes it easy to get through a lot of email while away from
your desk and, we believe, will accelerate the adoption of wireless email as a whole."
In a related announcement, ViAir said today that SmarTone Mobile Communications Ltd, Asia's premier GSM service provider, has
launched commercial service of the new 4.1 version of WirelessInbox. Last year, SmarTone became the first wireless carrier in
Asia-Pacific to launch WirelessInbox and recently upgraded the product to include the new voice reply and compose and fax
enhancements.
"An integrated voice component could be another important element toward driving wireless email adoption much deeper into wireless
subscriber bases," said Gene Signorini, senior analyst wireless/mobile enterprise and commerce for the Yankee Group. "We have
maintained for some time that wireless email is the single most demanded wireless data service and properly integrating voice with
wireless email will only make the solution more valuable to end users and, consequently, to wireless carriers."
Wireless customers can expect to see integrated voice capabilities marketed by participating wireless carriers in the near future.
Currently, eleven wireless carriers in North America and Asia are marketing WirelessInbox, making it the most deployed wireless email
solution in the World. Many of these carriers are in the process of upgrading to the 4.1 version of WirelessInbox in the months ahead in
order to enable the feature for their customers.
About ViAir, Inc.
ViAir partners with wireless carriers to bring a desktop to every wireless device, making millions of people's lives more productive. The
company's proven wireless data solutions fully integrate with a wireless carrier's network to give subscribers simple and secure access to
their most critical information, using any Internet-enabled wireless device. ViAir's WirelessInbox, the market-leading wireless email
solution, is available through carriers worldwide, including AT&T Wireless, Bell Mobility, Nextel Communications, Inc., Rogers AT&T
Wireless, SmarTone, TELUS Mobility, SaskTel Mobility and Manitoba Telecom Services. ViAir is based in Seattle with European
headquarters outside of London. For more information, go to www.viair.com.
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