Qwest Communications International has unveiled a couple of new services that are designed to benefit people on the go.
Everywhere Line for Business, a bundled service for small and home-based businesses, has One Number Service that allows the customer to use a single number for both its wireline and wireless phone. Voice Calling enables wireless phone users to use voice commands to make phone calls and access phone lists.
Jim Smith, executive vice president of Qwest's small business and consumer markets, expects the Everywhere Line for Business to be popular.
"Small and home-based businesses have told us they want new packages of voice, data, Internet and wireless services," Smith said. "Our top priority in 2001 is to meet the needs of this market with the most competitive combinations of value, innovation and service in the market."
The Everywhere Line and Voice Calling are both available anywhere Qwest provides wireless service in 12 states, including Utah.
The Everywhere Line costs $99.95 per month.
"Everywhere Line is a great service for contractors, painters, real estate agents, consultants — any business on-the-go," Smith said. "Calls to the office ring through on the wireless phone, or, when the phone is off, to a single voice mailbox. There's no complicated forwarding and no need to remember or share more than one number with customers or vendors."
Qwest small-business customer Doug Everitt, president and owner of Doug Everitt Consulting, said the One Number Service allows him to be the telephone "help desk" while working from his office and to remain available at the same number while at client offices.
"It allows me to be reached immediately and 'live' and has kept me from having to hire support staff," he said.
The Everywhere Line includes a business phone line with a choice from 24 features, a wireless plan, and the One Number Service. Customers wanting to have Internet access also can obtain Total Package for Business.
Voice Calling, launched Friday, lets customers store up to 500 names and up to five numbers per contact on their wireless phone. New subscribers can order it for $4.95 per month and will receive Voice Browsing — a service that lets wireless customers talk to the Web to hear the latest news, sports scores, weather, flight information and stock quotes — at no additional cost until June. Existing Voice Browsing customers will receive Voice Calling at no additional cost until June.
"Voice Calling adds value for our customers, saving them time by allowing them to use simple voice commands to make calls," said Peter Mannetti, president of Qwest's wireless operations.
To access Voice Calling, subscribers simply dial "*www" on their wireless handset to access phone numbers. It is designed to eliminate searching through address books, entering text using a keypad, or scrolling through an on-screen contact list.
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