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COLLEGE OF BUSINESS
ADMINISTRATION
ATLANTA
BUSINESS
CHRONICLE
GRAND WINtJER.
PREMIERE TECHNOLOGIES- ORCHESTRATE
By Sandy John
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
In the old days, a business person on the
had to find a pay phone to call the office
and receive messages. Then came the pager, and finally the
cell phone, allowing business people to be reached by phone
anyplace, anytime.
Today, more and more business messages aren't coming
over the telephone; they come via e-rnail. So traveling busi-
ness people still must find phone jacks for their laptop com-
puters before they can check their messages.
Would those people's lives be less hectic and more produc-
tive if their computers could talk to their cell phones? That's
the premise behind Orchestrate E-mail by Phone, launched
in 1999 by Premiere Technologies Inc. of Atlanta.
Orchestrate E-mail by Phone is an entry in the new brand
telecommunications category known as "unified messaging,II
or UM. It's an Internet-based messaging and communications
service that enables users to consolidate and access e-mail, fax
and voice mail messages via one chosen vehicle - the tele-
phone in the case of Orchestrate E-mail. Orchestrate users
can hear e-rnail over the phone, thanks to advanced text-to-
speech technology, and send voice replies that can be heard
through the recipient's computer speakers.
''The biggest challenge of the launch was presenting a
sophisticated and complicated system to an audience that
had never heard of UM before," said Grant Meldrum, direc-
tor of brand marketing for Premiere Technologies. "We had
to explain what it was in a simple way and show why it could
help them be more productive."
To introduce consumers to the concept and create a desire
for UM, a multipronged marketing approach was used,
employing everything from a booth at a tradeshow to bill-
boards to getting disc jockeys to demonstrate the service on
the air with e-rnail from listeners.
The company also gave away 30-day trial subscriptions to
Orchestrate E-mail by Phone.
"Once people start using it, they wouldn't give it up. They
are very loyal users now," Meldrum said.
Supplement to Atlanta Business Chronicle