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eComm 2009: Ditech Networks announces toktok voice-enabled web apps service
Ditech Networks announced it is rolling out toktok, a voice-enabled service to connect people with popular web apps through a single word spoken during a phone call. The announcement is the latest in a slew rolling out of eComm this week, proving that the event is living up to being the thought-leadership heir to the original (circa 1997-2008) VON franchise.
The toktok service is being designed to easily integrate web apps, social networks, and Gmail contacts and calendar so people can schedule appointments, create new tasks, and bring others in on a conference, all in mid-conversation. To activate, the magic word during the phone call is "toktok."
Needless to say, the hottest area for toktok is on cell phones, but any sort of hands-free multi-tasking situation should be equally applicable, so don't rule out landline and/or VoIP usage (Hmm, combine this with Skype's SILK and...).
Ditech is also including a Facebook 'Voice Poke' app to show which members of a person's online social network are on the phone and allow "whisper" messages to be sent directly into phone calls. Future iterations of the app could include the ability to delivery messages in celebrity voices, short music or movie clips, and more.
The toktok app is an example of Ditech's mStage media platform introduced at Mobile World Congress earlier this month. Access to toktok will be based on an open API, so third-party developers can create mash-ups to their heart's content.
For more:
- DiTech Networks release.
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Comments
Posted by richard sprague | March 4, 2009 - 7:08pm
wasn't there a company -- the name escapes me now (maybe something like Angelfire or something) -- that was ultimately sold to Orange UK. They did many of the same services.
Pretty cool idea, wonder why it never caught on.
Posted by mike lambert | March 4, 2009 - 11:33pm
Richard,
The service was Wildfire. There were several usability and pricing challenges for the service. The technology at the time required you to re create contacts and calendar rather than pulling from your existing toolset via an Open API that we are using. On the pricing side we've modified the technology in such way that we can deliver always-on capability at a substantially lower price point to the consumer. The dramatic reduction in cellphone charges have helped this quite a bit as well.
Posted by Anonymous | March 9, 2009 - 10:12pm
So how does Ditech make money off this? By selling mStage to telecom providers? What kind of potential market do you see?
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