1.2 Software Applications

A broad range of software applications benefit from the integration of voice and data on a single call. The following descriptions of possible examples illustrate potential applications.

• File transfer during a voice telephone call
• A personal computer user simply drags and drops a file icon onto a file transfer application or its icon. VoiceView puts the callers on hold, transfers the file, and then returns the callers to normal conversation. Using this feature, business associates who are discussing a document — such as a business sales forecast, a financial plan, or a marketing proposal — easily exchange and modify that document or other data during a voice phone call.
• Multimedia phone call
• During a conversation, one party displays graphical information on the other party's screen instead of just describing the information over the phone. For instance, a broker displays a graph of portfolio growth, a real-estate agent displays a picture of a house, or a customer representative displays the status of an order.
• Remote presentation
• A personal computer user with presentation software such as Microsoft PowerPoint sends a presentation slide by slide to another user, regardless of location.
• Instant visual confirmation
• Business transactions conducted by phone occur in a single call, rather than requiring a number of different phone calls and faxes. The transaction involves the immediate display, modification, and approval of a payment receipt, purchase order, or deposit form. A transmitted digital signature instantly confirms the transaction.
• Remote hardware and software support
• A support technician accesses system configuration and diagnostic information during a support call. The technician also transfers required driver software, switches to remote control software, fixes the user's problem, and returns to voice mode to discuss the results with the user.
• Visual voice-response application
• Airlines, banks, insurance companies, catalog companies, and other service providers heavily use voice-response technology. In a current, typical case, a customer calls a bank for account information and receives only a spoken account balance at the conclusion of a long, frustrating interaction with computerized voice commands. Instead, a customer using a VoiceView-aware application uses a graphical user interface to retrieve a complete statement of account.
• Graphical interface to voice mail
• A remote caller sees a list of voice-mail messages with the names of senders and then selects any desired message to play. Recipients no longer need to play through the first 14 messages to hear the 15th one, if that one is most important. Callers also leave a file or a fax during a voice message.
• Business card exchange during a phone call
• A business person provides pertinent information to another during a phone call. Instead of verbally conveying the information — a time-consuming, error-prone process — a click of the mouse instantly sends a business card and automatically inserts it into a remote address book.
• Multiplayer games
• Two people play a game over the telephone network while continuing to talk to each other.

Some of these examples involve adding voice-awareness to an existing application. Other examples involve a completely new software application.