While these services offer limited reply and mail send features, it is a
great service for one-way mailing lists and lists that have mostly news
and announcements.
from the New York Times


Phone Access Adds a New Twist to Free E-Mail Services

      By PETER WAYNER

     Web sites offering free e-mail accounts have become commonplace --
     and are especially popular with those who want to download their
     e-mail from anywhere they can access the Web. A few services aim to
     add even more portability to the free e-mail concept, allowing
     users to retrieve their messages from anywhere they can pick up a
     phone.

     These advertiser-supported services allow people who are away from
     their computers or do not have ready access to the Internet to
     hear, and even respond to, e-mail messages by phone. The e-mail is
     read in a robotic voice by speech-synthesis software, and users can
     dictate a response.

     Two services that offer this feature are Planetary Motion's
     CoolMail and a Web site aimed at students called CollegeClub. While
     they are not the first to offer free Web-based e-mail accounts, or
     the e-mail by phone option, they have added a new twist to Internet
     communications by combining the two concepts.

     "CoolMail is intended for the person on the go who wants to deal
     with messaging without dealing with lugging around a computer,"
     said Robert Newman, chairman and chief technical officer of
     Planetary Motion. "So, in investigating the best way to give these
     people access, we found that nothing was more ubiquitous or as
     simple to use as the telephone."

     The universal reach of the phone network is what interested
     CollegeClub in providing e-mail access by phone. The site hopes to
     attract college students by offering a mixture of campus-oriented
     content and communications services. The company's research showed
     that while college students were the most wired demographic group
     in the country, only 60 percent had Web access in their dorm rooms.
     Of course, almost all of them had a phone.

     CollegeClub lets its members listen to their e-mail via a toll-free
     call sponsored by MCI, one of its corporate partners. Before
     reading the messages, the system plays short advertisements.

     Michael Pousti, chief executive officer of CollegeClub, said that
     the telephone ads get more responses than the standard banner ads
     on the site's pages. "We're getting six times the 'click-through'
     rate on the phone versus on the computer," he said.

     The short ads ask users to push a button for more information,
     which takes them to a longer advertisement. If they are still
     interested, Pousti said, they are connected to the advertiser's
     phone order center, "an existing e-commerce infrastructure." Pousti
     explained that such centers are usually more advanced and easier to
     use than commerce-oriented sites on the Web, and they often
     generate better sales results.

     CoolMail is also using ads to support some of its communications
     services. Its lowest level of membership, called "CoolMail bronze,"
     lets users check their e-mail by telephone with a free local call
     to access numbers in 14 cities. Replying to messages, however,
     costs money. You can respond with a voice-mail message which is
     sent as a digitized file (this service is free if you're replying
     to another CoolMail member), or ask the CoolMail voice recognition
     software to turn your speech into text. The service relies on human
     intervention to edit files that the software has transcribed.

     More advanced levels of membership are available for fees ranging
     from $2.95 to $10.95 a month. The highest level, "CoolMail Gold,"
     offers features like voice identification, address book services
     and some e-mail filtering.

     Several companies have integrated similar services into more
     conventional subscription-based e-mail packages. Wynd
     Communications Corp., a small California company, is adding another
     twist. It offers a wireless e-mail package called WyndMail that
     lets the traveler on the road send a message to a phone number by
     addressing the e-mail to an address like "[log in to unmask]" The
     central WyndMail server dials the number and reads the message to
     the recipient.

     Wynd has integrated the same technology into a small, two-way pager
     product aimed at the deaf. Messages typed into the device are
     transmitted to a computer that calls the recipients. Joe Karp, the
     company's marketing manager, said that the service makes a big
     difference for deaf people who can't use traditional pay phones or
     cellular service. "It's like suddenly having a cellular phone," he
     said. "Their eyes light up."

     At least one company is being a bit cautious about rushing into the
     message-reading robot business. Wildfire Communications, which
     offers a sophisticated voice-mail system aimed at executives, is
     working to add an option to listen to e-mail messages. However, a
     Wildfire spokesman said the company is waiting until it gets the
     details right before releasing this feature as part of its product.

     "Most of the text-to-speech engines available today give you the
     'drunken Swede' effect," said Gary Roshak, a vice president at the
     company. "I get a lot of lengthy e-mails, and I don't want a robot
     to read an eight-page e-mail to me. How about adding some
     intelligence to help me prioritize who I want to talk with and who
     I want to hear from? That's really what we've been focusing on."

   Copyright 1998 The New York Times Company