Be There! call center targets mobile businesspeople, PC users

Data Race has introduced the Be There! call center, a personal multiplex remote access software and hardware system that unifies phone, fax and Internet via analog or digital technology.

This should be of particular interest to mobile users as it can link them directly to their network by dialing the server portion of Be There!, bringing a plethora of disparate information sources and functions to their immediate disposal.

The personal multiplexer system has the ability to compress and multiplex fax, voice, and other data through a single phone line, so that the user can send or receive fax messages while engaged in a telephone conversation or surfing the net. This is a significant feature, and offers a taste of where such technology is going.

BeThere!, combined with the power of the laptop, brings a new, integrated range of power to those at home, in the field or alone on a mountaintop.

E-mail made simple, cheap

The predicted post-PC era is supposed to present consumers with small, very simple tools to take advantage of the Internet's formidable communication power.

Cidco�s MailStation strips down the e-mail operation to a slim keyboard and green screen with an internal modem. It's a plug-in terminal between your wall jack and the telephone.

One keystroke prompts this 2.2-pound unit to dial out to a local MailStation server and download e-mail text. The 6-inch-wide flip-up, monochromatic screen is icon-driven and intuitively designed.

Reading, forwarding, storing and printing e-mail is so easy that even the most paranoid technophobe in the family will find it impossible to gripe. The device also provides an electronic calendar, address book and spell-checking, and can be powered by AC or batteries.

This mini-computer won't display attachments or graphics. But the company is building a free Web-based message center for each customer where those items can be stored for later retrieval.

Priced below $100, MailStation can hold about 300 typical e-mails and can handle up to five user accounts.

Kinko�s  phone calls with a vision 

Videoconferencing is gradually entering the small business mainstream. Proponents say that telephone calls that also convey video images provide a money-saving alternative to business travel. And new desktop videoconferencing systems aim to popularize the technology

It's possible to experiment with videoconferencing without making a big investment. The copy-shop chain Kinko's Copy Centers, for example, rents videoconferencing facilities in more than 100 of its locations at prices that start at $150 an hour.

Calling the Internet 

The ultimate message and information center, the Philips IS-2630 screen phone lets you send and receive e-mail, browse the Web, and, of course, make phone calls. The phone displays basic Web pages on its color VGA touchscreen panel. Also included are calendar and address book programs, plus a wireless keyboard for typing messages.

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