visitalk.com™ to Turn Old Technology on Its Head So Users Can Call One Another via Computer

By Rebecca Blumenstein

09/23/1999
The Wall Street Journal
(Copyright © 1999, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

One of the biggest factors holding back the routing of phone calls over the Internet is surprisingly basic -- how to assign a recognizable "phone number" to each computer so that a user at one machine can easily call someone using another machine...

... Officials at closely held visitalk.com think they have a solution - a permanent Personal Communications Number that will become part of a global directory for anyone who requests it. visitalk.com officials are betting that their directory will become the equivalent of the White Pages for the Internet...

"Our directory captures your current IP address, and it updates the directory," says Michael O'Donnell, the company's president. The directory basically functions as a virtual switchboard that can route free voice calls and video over the Internet...

... visitalk.com also intends to function as a portal, a communications hub where users can interact in real-time voice and video, multipoint conferencing and voice mail. Next week the company plans to introduce instant voice messaging, a technology complete with "buddy lists" that company officials say could rival online instant text messaging...

"I've been very impressed by what they have done," says Greg Naderi, an analyst with Frost & Sullivan, a consulting firm based in Mountain View, Calif. "It brings together a lot of resources and is more than just a directory service."

... visitalk.com's chief executive officer, Peter Thimmesch, says most of the company's services will be given away free to users. The company will count on advertising revenue for profit, although it will charge a fee for premium services, such as space for 30 voice-mail messages...

Mr. Thimmesch formed visitalk.com in partnership with Mr. O'Donnell, who was then working in communications, sales and marketing for Federal Communications Group, a telecommunications firm based in Tempe, Arizona. The two first met on a video conference call ...

"We think that what people are doing on the Internet now is not chatting. It's typing," says Mr. Thimmesch. "We hope to change that."

Click here for a printer-friendly version of this item