Citation
(2001), "Shout out", Work Study, Vol. 50 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/ws.2001.07950dab.008
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2001, MCB UP Limited
Shout out
Shout out
New technology developed in the UK by iVB Network Solutions, a division of InterVoice-Brite, claims to be able to end the digital divide. Omvia technology allows virtually anyone to start using the latest communications tools such as e-mail, text-messaging and Web shopping, whether or not they have a PC, or mobile phone, and regardless of whether they can type. The digital divide, the split between the technology "haves" and "have-nots", is causing increasing concern at both the government and business level. According to official government figures, 55 per cent of the UK population have never used the Internet, and 67 per cent of households do not have any sort of Internet access. Omvia opens up access. For example:
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people on business trips can pick up any type of message (e-mail, fax, voice-mail and SMS) from any phone and dictate e-mail replies;
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schoolchildren researching homework can receive information from Websites, at home, without a PC; and
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grandparents can receive e-mail from their grandchildren and reply simply by talking to their household telephone
According to iVB Network Solutions, Omvia has the potential to transform how the majority of the population communicates and shops, as well as making business communications radically simpler. It does this through two crucial breakthroughs. First, it links together any type of communication device, including standard telephones and TVs. Second, it makes it practical for anybody to send information from any device to any other - regardless of their familiarity with technology - by simply talking. Omvia is being marketed to telecommunications companies to incorporate into their networks, including the new third generation (3G) mobile networks. Omvia will make it possible for these companies, as well as a new generation of start-up enterprises, to offer a huge range of extra services. It is these services that offer telecommunications operators the chance to recoup some of the 22 billion pounds sterling spent on 3G licenses in the UK alone last year. See http://www.intervoice-brite.com