|
Product
Proposal
The following sections explore the
various opportunities offered by this patented
product. A set of questions are also answered
in each section.
Product:
PDI™ (PhoneDirect Immediate™)
Summary:
A wire-line, “smart” telephone with embedded
multimedia Yellow Pages, which becomes a person’s
electronic anchor in a home and office for
exploding communications and Internet based services.
In 2004, the USA Yellow Pages generated over $14
Billion in advertising revenue
1 and Directory
Assistance (i.e. 411) generated nearly $4 Billion
2.
Related Documents:
US Patent
5,484,586
http://www.ceberg.com/patents/pdi
What is the
market niche of this product?
The proposal’s business area is PCCI™ - the Personal
Consumer Communications Industry.
Communities have undergone major changes whenever
new and more capable communications technologies
have been placed in the hands of people.
The proposed product PDI™ merges the desktop PC with
the most popular and ubiquitous communications
device – the telephone. A "killer application" is embedded in
PDI™, i.e. multimedia Yellow Pages.
What is
the problem / challenge being addressed?
PDI™ provides integrated framework solutions to two
fundamental missing links in today’s PCCI™: easily
locating timely goods and services in various
communities; and using a PCCI™
device that is always-on and available, simple to use, simple to maintain and
safe from today’s
rampant malware.
What are
some of the current approaches to this problem?
Today the primary computer based PCCI™ devices are
PCs dominated by Microsoft operating systems (OSes),
with Apple and Linux PCs bringing up a distant rear.
Microsoft PCs are plagued by malware,
which exploit the complexity and continuing
vulnerabilities in Microsoft OSes. Furthermore,
Microsoft OSes simply do too much for the average
consumer, i.e. more than is needed in PCCI
3.
Another growing computer based PCCI™ device is the
Web-enabled cell phone. These phones are limited to
short-burst use, because of their ergonomics. Their
screens are too small and their keyboards are slow
and clumsy because of their small size and
awkwardness to use. Furthermore, embedded multimedia
Yellow Pages are currently not offered in cell
phones.
Why is this problem worth solving or worth solving
better?
People are always looking for simpler and more
reliable ways to communicate with each other.
Today’s PCs are plagued by malware, which has lead
to an explosion of identity theft and fraud. This in
turn has put off almost half of the online community
from doing any confidential transactions on the
Internet. PDI™ will have a secure OS from the
get-go. Furthermore, it resolves two fundamental
missing links in today’s personal communications.
·
- PhoneDirect™ - Embedded Multimedia
Yellow Pages:
This software service provides
local, dynamic electronic Yellow Pages that are
embedded directly into a wire-line phone. A
patent has been granted for this service, which
is at the heart of PCCI™. The directory is the
network;
- PhoneDirect Immediate (PDI™):
A PCCI™
electronic device (i.e. hardware and software) that
meets the primary need of its target market:
always-on, simple
and reliable connection to the Internet and simple
and reliable communication, including multimedia
electronic Yellow Pages (PhoneDirect™), email, web
browsing and instant messaging – The personal
communicator.
How will
this product be better than previous approaches?
PDI™ is a
patented product. Let us first consider
the killer app of multimedia Yellow Pages. Today’s
provisioning of the Yellow Pages (YP) is primarily
by print, with a growing online web site market.
The primary problems with print media are the
following:
· The directories are outdated even before they come
off the printing press.
- Large printing infrastructure and distribution
costs.
- Inflexibility, i.e. cannot tailor it for personal
use based on either needs, or shopping seasons and
holidays.
- Limited market area coverage because of physical
directory size limitations, i.e. usually limited to
cover a single county area.
- The print YP in a home, or business is
rarely found in the room when a person needs
the Yellow Pages, and all too often it is
from a year or two ago.
- Recycling of old directories is difficult for end
users and county authorities.
The problems with the online web Yellow Pages (YP)
include the following:
· User needs to be connected to the Internet to use
the directories.
- Current online directories have limited audience
for multimedia advertising because of end-user
bandwidth requirements.
- No personalization currently available for users.
- Internet connected PCs in a home are rarely found in a room
when a person needs the Yellow Pages.
·Furthermore, in both of the print and the web site
solutions, the features are monolithic, i.e. other
PCCI services such as email; voice telephony,
calendaring, etc. are not available. PDI is one stop
shopping for all personal communications, including
email, web browsing, telephony, the Yellow Pages,
Instant Messaging, Chat, etc.
What is the goal of
this product?
The primary goal is to offer an always-on, simple, secure and
more reliable electronic counter-top device to
communicate with others, in voice and digital online
media.
Other goals include the opportunity to:
- Expand the product's brand and expertise in connecting
people instantly with information that they want and
need.
- Expand the company's market by partnering with highly
experienced companies in local markets – for
example, the local telephone operating companies.
- Place a company controlled communications device on every
counter-top, which can be used to launch new
services in PCCI™.
What are
the defining features and benefits of this product?
To embed the Yellow Pages into a phone, a new type
of phone is needed, i.e. one in which a "lite" PC
has been integrated into the phone - screen, keyboard, disk drive,
modem, processor, etc. Standard computer interfaces
will also be available to connect PC peripherals
such as off-the-shelf PC LCD screens, keyboards,
printers, etc. The projected retail cost of this
phone will initially be less than $200 (and
decreasing in cost every year).
The advantages to embedding the Yellow Page (YP)
listings electronically and directly into a phone
are as follows:
- Timely updating of listings (add, delete, modify,
suspend), e.g. monthly, weekly, Holidays, etc. =
increased revenues.
- Expansion of offerings' timeliness based on
current events, e.g. Super Bowl pizza delivery ad's,
etc.
- Expansion of YP advertising media types, e.g.
including video (TV ad's), audio (radio ad's), text
and pictures (paper YP) = increased revenues.
- Easy language translation of YP keywords, e.g. for
use in hotels and immigrant communities.
- Dynamic listing prioritization based on
fees, e.g. "Z'" could easily come before "AA".
- Targeted pop-up ad's, in addition to YP
listings that assist the user to make a decision
- similar in concept to ad's stuck onto the
front of a number of published YP books, but
more targeted.
- Integrated, timely, directory merchant
listing coupons.
- Easy aggregation of listings into
categories, e.g. creating categories such as
"Moving House", "Children's Entertainment",
“Buying a PC”, “Family Christmas/Hanukah/Kwanza
shopping”, etc.
- Updates via the Internet, i.e. minimal
distribution costs = reduced costs.
- YP users (consumers + businesses) need an
ISP - opportunity for selling Internet Services.
- Embedded multi-media YP is independent of ISP
connection speed, i.e. is as responsive for a
narrowband connection as it is equally for broadband
ISP connection.
- Instant YP availability, i.e. always-on, and use is independent of
the phone-line and ISP connection, i.e. no connection is
needed to look up info, even info that has video
ads. Because PDI is always on, the YP is always
available.
- Small footprint for the user - one stop shopping,
i.e. the YP is always co-located with a phone and
the Internet.
- Brand recognition in connecting
people with information that they want and need
- instantaneously.
Other integrated features of PDI™ will include,
straight out of the box:
- A personal address book
- Email software
- Calendar software
- Task list software
- Web browser
- Instant messaging
- Fax capabilities
- Voicemail integration, e.g. multiple, individual
voicemail boxes for a family
- Call management
- VoIP easily integrated at any stage
- Integrated Internet Search capabilities
- PC and cell phone network connectivity /
synchronization
- Secure computer-based operating system to reduce
malware
- A controlled platform for new offerings
- Word processing, spreadsheet and
presentation software
- Phone call doodling games
What are the
revenue opportunities for this product?
The revenue opportunities for embedding the Yellow
Pages (YP) directly into a phone are considerable.
In 2004, the USA Yellow Pages generated over $14
Billion in advertising revenue
1 and
more than $26 Billion in the 27 leading global
markets
1
(3.5% growth over 2003). Directory
Assistance (i.e. 411) generated nearly $4 Billion
2.
Consider today's YP print listing rates. The
monthly rates that one, multi-state local phone company charges
its Yellow Pages' customers are as follows:
|
Monthly Cost |
YP Listing
Space |
| $ 16.00 |
Regular listing |
| $ 10.50 |
Extra line |
| $ 35.00 |
One line listing in
bold |
| $ 110.00 |
One inch space |
| $1,346.00 |
Half page |
| $2,473.00 |
Full page |
The Yellow Pages are primarily sold to small and
medium business enterprises (SME).
In the USA there
are over 10 million SMEs and over 1.5 million large
businesses.
So, if each business in the USA simply has a regular
listing in the Yellow Pages today, that generates
about $2.2 Billion in revenue per annum. If only 50%
of businesses have an additional line in their
Yellow Pages listing, this would generate an
additional $724 Million in revenues.
If only 10% of US businesses have a full page
listing in the Yellow Pages, then this would
generate revenue of over $3.4 Billion per annum. If
a further 10% of US businesses have a half-page
listing in the YP, then this would increase revenue
by more than $1.8 Billion per annum. The price for
multimedia listings would be commensurately more
than today's print Yellow Page listing prices.
In 2004, SBC Communications earned $2.1 Billion in
operating income on revenues of $3.8 Billion.
BellSouth Corp. earned $954 million on $2 Billion in
revenues
4.
It is no wonder that over the past five years, the
Yellow Pages have been a favorite target for Private
Equity companies to snap up all over the world.
What are the main
business risks of this product?
· Failure to form a partnership with existing Yellow
Pages companies, resulting in a loss of experienced
and knowledgeable local sales forces.
- Inability to ignite consumer and business interest
in the product.
- Competition from Microsoft, as well as phone
handset vendors.
- Patent infringement and resulting litigation
costs.
- Product failure will result in loss of start up
costs, which are projected to be about $20 Million.
What are the main
rewards of this product?
The market opportunity of PDI™ is immense. In the
USA there are:
All of these various market segments use the
telephone as the primary means of communicating in
PCCI.
PDI™ thus is addressing a large and growing
addressable market, with the PDI™ device providing
an opportunity for broad and deep penetration of
that market.
ceBerg’s
patented wire-line phone Embedded Yellow Pages
(PhoneDirect™) opens new opportunities for directory
services. This software service enables always-on
and available, dynamic,
timely, multimedia information for the Yellow Pages
that does not depend on broadband Internet
connectivity.
This service is also easily adapted to provide
electronic multimedia catalogs and other information
sharing services, to businesses and the public.
|
|
