eMessage.com
by
Ronald G. Wolak
wolakron@scis.nova.edu
A paper submitted in fulfillment of the requirements
for DISS 790 -
Assignment Six
School of Computer and Information Sciences
Nova Southeastern
University
July 1999
An Abstract of a Paper Submitted to Nova Southeastern University
in Fulfillment of the Requirements for DISS 790 - Assignment Six
eMessage.com
by
Ronald G. Wolak
July 1999
The flow of information that arrives daily from telephone
calls, faxes, voice-mail, and e‑mail messages is at times overwhelming.
Unified messaging services address this problem by routing a variety of message
types into a "unified" box that a user is able to conveniently access
and manage. In the following pages, this paper presented the business plan of a
fictitious Internet-based unified messaging portal. The company, eMessage.com,
is a new electronic business that provides electronic messaging services over
the Internet. The company's business model is a combination of services offered
by portals like Yahoo and Excite, and communications sites such as Hotmail and
eFax. Included in the business plan were six major sections: business
description, services, marketplace, marketing planning, management and
organization, and financial plan.
eMessage.com
One of the challenges of living in the Digital Era is
managing all the information. During a normal day, a person receives dozens of
telephone calls, faxes, voice-mail messages, and e-mail messages. The challenge
of managing this steady and sometimes overwhelming flow of information is
taxing to even the most patient technophile. Information in different forms
arrives in different mailboxes at different locations. Recipients must gather
this incoming information, review and filter it, and then respond in the
correct format in a timely manner. When traveling or working away from the
office, these challenges are even greater.
According to Mary Ann O'Loughlin (Pitt, 1998), Ovum
principal consultant, "Dealing with messages is becoming more and more
time consuming and is complicated by the fact that each type of message gets
delivered to different locations: voice messages to the answering machine or
voice-mail system, fax messages to the fax machine, and e-mails to the e-mail
server. The growth of the Internet, more than any other factor, has fueled this
message chaos."
Unified messaging services address this problem by routing
the different message types into a "unified" box that a user can
access and manage from any place and at any time. The idea of having a single
electronic message center has been around for a few years now, and the major
equipment suppliers have developed a variety of unified messaging products.
Companies competing to providing unified messaging services include Sprint, MCI
WorldCom, and recent upstart General Magic of Sunnyvale (Healy, 1999). Analysts
estimate that by 2002 direct revenue from unified messaging services will reach
$2.2 billion (Pitt, 1998). This will increase to between $12 and $18 billion
worldwide (generated by 170 million mailboxes) by the end of 2006.
In the following pages, this paper presents the business
plan of a fictitious Internet-based unified messaging portal called
eMessage.com. The purpose of the plan is to serve as part of a broader
prospectus that will be used to sell stock in the company. The business plan is
divided into six major sections: business description, services, marketplace,
marketing planning, management and organization, and financial plan.
Business Description
eMessage.com is a new electronic business that provides
electronic messaging services over the Internet. The company's business model
is a combination of services offered by portals like Yahoo and Excite, and
communications sites such as Hotmail and eFax. The company's mission is to be
the world's best Internet-based unified messaging and workgroup collaboration
portal. The privately held company was founded in June 1999 by Internet
entrepreneurs Ronald and Chaelynne Wolak of Shelby Township, Michigan.
The eMessage.com Web site generates revenues with
advertising and electronic commerce links in addition to user paid premium
services. The main strength of the company is its use of the Internet to
deliver messages of all types to both consumers and businesses. Voice-mail,
e-mail, and fax messages are transformed into computer files that can be read
or heard at no cost. Messages displayed on the Internet site can also be heard
using the site's telephone-based services. This flexibility allows the system
to adapt to both types of messaging system users (PC-centric and
phone-centric).
Services
eMessage.com is a network service that provides subscribers
with free access to their private and shared information from any Internet
enabled device (personal computer, personal digital assistant, or kiosk) or
telephone. Accessible information includes e‑mail, voice-mail, and fax
messages along with calendars, address books, documents, and pictures.
Subscribers to the eMessage.com service are provided with a
free private telephone number along with their own Internet e-mail address. The
telephone number is used by friends, business associates, and family members to
leave voice-mail messages and to send faxes. Subscribers also use this number
and the eMessage.com Web site to retrieve their messages.
eMessage.com services are organized into three categories.
These categories are:
Managing incoming and outgoing
messages (e-mail, voice-mail, and faxes)
Accessing a calendar, address book,
and files
Sharing information with family,
friends, and associates
Managing Messages
E-mail messages are sent and received from any Internet
browser. Subscribers are also able to have their e-mail read to them over the
telephone. They may also send e-mail and forward messages to anyone from any
telephone.
Fax messages are received as viewable files attached to
e-mail messages received in a subscriber's mailbox. Subscribers send faxes
directly from their eMessage.com account using a standard Web browser. Using
the telephone, subscribers may forward their fax messages to any fax machine
and respond to their faxes over the telephone.
Voice-mail messages are received as audio files attached to
e-mail messages received in a subscriber's mailbox. Subscribers are then able
to listen to these messages from any personal computer. Over the telephone,
subscribers are also able to listen to, respond to, and forward their
voice-mail messages.
Accessing Information
eMesssage.com also provides subscribers with a personal
address book that is accessible from any Internet-enabled PC. If a personal
computer is not convenient, eMessage.com's text-to-speech function allows subscribers
to have address book entries read to them over the telephone. eMessage.com's
voice recognition capability also allows subscribers to send e-mail from any
telephone.
Similar to the personal address book functionality,
subscribers are able to manage their calendars from any personal computer and
to hear their appointments over the telephone. eMessage.com's address book and
calendar functions also allow subscribers to import and export to and from
popular Palm Pilot and Outlook organizers.
eMessage.com service also provides an Internet-based filing
cabinet that allows subscribers to store and retrieve files from any Internet
enabled personal computer. This virtual hard disk provides subscribers with up
20 megabytes of free online storage. Additional storage space is available for
a premium.
Sharing Information
eMessage.com allows subscribers to easily create a shared
room for family, friends, and associates. Once created, all applications
assigned to the room (e.g. calendars, address books, filing cabinets, and
bookmarks) may be accessed by other authorized subscribers.
Premium Services
In addition to the
free eMessage.com service just described, subscribers are also encouraged to
take advantage of select premium services. These services include:
Toll-free telephone numbers ($2.95 per month)
Unlimited file storage to extend the 20 megabytes that is provided free
($2.95 per month)
Call rollover service that routes incoming phone calls first to
the subscriber's home, office, and cell phone before rolling over to their
eMessage.com box ($2.95 per month)
Optical character recognition service
that converts faxes into text documents ($2.95 per month)
Premium Plus (an "all the
above" option for $9.95 per month)
Limitations
The use of voice recognition technology to dictate e-mail
messages is not practical at this time. When the technology is able to deliver
reliable translation service, eMessage.com will add it to the company's
services.
The Marketplace
Defining the Market
The unified messaging industry is currently in the process
of defining itself (Clark, 1999). The basic definition of unified messaging is
still evolving. Today's definition is a platform that allows customers to
receive all of their messages (i.e. e-mail, voice-mail, fax, and pager) from a
single source. This source might be a telephone, wireless handset, or a
personal computer.
The Unified Messaging Consortium (UMC) recently completed a
market study that found that, on average, 30 percent of individuals belonging
to mid- and large-size companies had an immediate need for unified messaging
(Clark, 1999). Of that percentage, the greatest demand was from
telephone-centric and fax-centric users that also needed real-time access to
e-mail. Also, recent trials by GTE, using PulsePoint's unified messaging
software, found the platform appealed to 62 percent of small office and home
office (SOHO) users and 29 percent of home-only users.
The market for unified messaging is poised for growth.
According to Frost and Sullivan (Riggs & Thyfault, 1999), sales of unified
messaging software, hardware, and services were $329 million last year. The
research firm predicts sales will grow to more than $1 billion in 2000 and
nearly $5 billion by 2005. Dataquest also reported that the number of installed
unified messaging systems in the United States is on the rise: 9,000 units in
1997, 15,000 units in 1998, and a projected 77,000 units in 2001.
Cost Considerations
Market research data shows that unified-message service
costs ranging from five to fifteen dollars per month were acceptable to users
(Clark, 1999). Users are becoming tired of handing business cards with a
half-dozen numbers on them. Internet-based unified messaging services are
particularly appropriate for users in home and small offices that are unable to
afford PBX-based services.
In addition to the convenience of having only one number,
unified messaging presents substantial cost savings (Monaghan & Kessler,
1997). For example, faxing over the Internet is 40 percent less expensive than
traditional means. IDC estimates that the global fax transmission market is $38
billion per year.
Customer
Considerations
eMessage.com's subscriber base is composed of home, home
office, small business, and large business users. Consequently, eMessage.com provides
high levels of both online and toll free customer support. The company Web site
provides detailed instructions on the use of each of the company's messaging
services. A frequently asked questions (FAQ) section along with e-mail,
fax-mail, and voice-mail samples give both new and prospective subscribers a
thorough understanding of eMessage.com's timesaving features.
Competition
Companies competing with eMessage.com to provide unified
messaging services are divided into two major groups. The first includes
Sprint, MCI WorldCom, and recent upstart General Magic of Sunnyvale (Healy,
1999). These traditional telecommunication-based messaging services compete
indirectly with eMessage.com. However, the fees for such services are greater
due to the cost of hosting messaging services.
Direct competition is provided by other Internet-based
nontraditional messaging companies. The four major competitors in this market
(all less than two years old) are Onebox, RocketTalk, uReach, and Telebot.
Competitors offering only one type of service include a whole host of free
e-mail and e-fax services such as Hotmail, eFax, and Premiere Technologies.
Onebox.
Onebox.com is an Internet-based consumer communications
company that offers voicemail, fax, e-mail, and paging services (Onebox, 1999).
The company was founded in May 1998 and is based in San Mateo, California.
Onebox is launching its service in three U.S. market areas: New York, Silicon
Valley, and Austin, Texas.
RocketTalk.
RocketTalk.com is an Internet-based messaging company.
Founded in 1998, RocketTalk specializes in voice messaging and is the developer
of the first free voice messaging system (RocketTalk, 1999). Like eMessage.com
the service is supported by small advertisements and co-branding located in various
areas of the RocketTalk user interface.
uReach.
uReach.com is an Internet-base unified messaging company
with the mission to provide a comprehensive set of network based desktop
solutions for consumers and small businesses (uReach, 1999). The company is a
privately held and was founded in August, 1998. Currently, uReach.com is in
beta test and not fully functional.
TeleBot.
TeleBot.com is a free consumer messaging service founded in
1998 and located in San Francisco, California (TeleBot, 1999). The company
offers a complete suite of Internet-based messaging services.
Hotmail.
Hotmail.com is the world's largest provider of free
Web-based e-mail (Hotmail, 1999).
Prior to Microsoft's purchase of the e-mail provider, the
company increased subscribers from zero to ten million in only 15 months.
eFax.
eFax.com specializes in Internet-based fax services and is
currently the leading brand of Internet fax (eFax, 1999). The free service has
over 550,000 subscribers with more than 100,000 fax pages received per day.
Premiere Technologies.
Premiere Technologies is a voice messaging company that
recently stepped up its unified messaging efforts with an agreement with Sun
Microsystems to purchase hardware, software, and services from Sun (Gomolski, 1999).
In return, Sun will market Premiere's Orchestrate.com unified messaging system.
Premiere's strategy is to offer unified messaging as a hosted service (i.e.
upgrade) to the 800,000 voice-mail customers it currently has.
Marketing Planning
Thus far, virtually all the unified messaging products have
been aimed at traveling professionals (Healy, 1999). eMessage.com's marketing
plan targets both the professional and the average consumer. User groups
include home, home office, small business, and large business. eMessage.com's
marketing vision is to merge the traditional fax, e-mail, voice-mail, and
portal markets. The fax and e-mail markets alone are made up of more than 700
million users (eFax, 1999).
eMessage.com's strategy to merge these markets is based upon
the distribution of its services direct to the end-user. Users benefit directly
from services that include:
Accessing information from any
Internet enabled PC (e.g. from home, office, or a hotel)
Accessing information from a standard
telephone or a cellular phone
Receiving all messages (i.e. e-mail,
voice-mail, and faxes) in one location that is accessible from anywhere
Sharing information with family,
friends, and associates in a secure environment
Pricing
Technology has reduced the cost per customer for unified
messaging services from $35 to $9 (Krause, 1999). In this lower cost range,
eMessage.com is able to profitably provide free messaging services to its
subscribers. Like Hotmail, the successful Web-based e-mail service,
eMessage.com is able to more than offset this lower cost per customer with
advertising revenues.
The eMessage.com suite of messaging services was designed
from the top down. The high-end services were designed first. Basic (i.e. free)
service was then developed by removing selected features. Features available in
the basic service were designed to be relatively unattractive to the high
willingness-to-pay user but still attractive to the basic user. This is a
common and quite effective marketing technique (Shapiro & Varian, 1999).
Utilizing another common marketing technique, eMessage.com
uses its low-end services to advertise its high-end premium services. In
addition, eMessage.com periodically offers promotional pricing to attract existing
low-end subscribers to the company's premium services. These offers typically
last 30 days and allow subscribers to use selected premium services at a
substantially reduced rate.
Consumer lock-in to specific technologies and brands is an
ever-present feature of the information economy (Shapiro & Varian, 1999).
eMessage.com leverages this factor throughout its service designs, pricing structures, and promotional
programs.
Sales Plan
eMessage.com's five-year sales projections estimate an
overall increase from $10 million in gross sales in 1999 to $500 million per
year in 2004. A detail of these projections is outside the scope of this
business plan and is included in the company's stock prospectus.
Advertising Plan
Companies that advertise on the eMessage.com Internet site
often describe it as being "sticky" (a term meaning people will come
back to the same site over and over, and stay for a while when using it).
eMessage.com takes advantage of this trait by discretely advertising its basic
and premium features throughout the site. Also, like other Internet sites
having this quality, eMessage.com is able to charge other companies a premium
for advertising on eMessage.com services (Zaret, 1999).
Like other free messaging providers, eMessage.com includes
its name and Internet address on every e-mail and fax sent through the service
(Zaret, 1999). Voice-mail recordings also include references to the company
name and its services.
Management and Organization
eMessage.com's management philosophy is based on
responsibility and mutual respect. People who work at eMessage.com want to work
there because the company has an environment that encourages creativity and
achievement. eMessage.com has recruited a world-class team of engineers,
executives, and advisors.
Management Team
Ronald Wolak, President, and Chief Executive Officer,
co-founded eMessage.com in June 1999 to fulfill his vision of providing free
unified messaging over the Internet. Before creating eMessage.com, he held the
position of Information Systems Manager at American Axle and Manufacturing in
Detroit, Michigan.
Chaelynne Wolak, Vice President of Business Development,
co-founded eMessage.com with her husband. She brings with her from
DaimlerChrysler many years of experience in the area of business development.
Staffing
In addition to its executive management team, eMessage.com
has 27 employees. There are five key management positions and four supervisors.
Fourteen positions are divided among the unified technology design, Web-site
development, customer relations, and marketing departments. There are also four
support staff associates. Each employee has a minimum of three years experience
in his or her field.
Organizational Structure
Unlike traditional hierarchical structures, eMessage.com
operates with cell groups. These singularly focused cells overlap in those
instances where sharing data and technology will benefit the company. Cell
group leaders act as coaches and continually collaborate with one another on
the company intranet. This allows information to quickly reach all levels of
the organization.
Strategic Alliances
eMessage.com is currently in the process of finalizing two
strategic alliances. One is with an established Internet portal company, and
the other is with a large long distance voice and data carrier. If these talks
are successful, all three companies will benefit by leveraging the
complementary products and services offered by the others.
Financial Plan
Risk Evaluation
There is significant risk to the investor since technology
as well as technology delivery systems change rapidly. The Internet industry as
a marketing medium is unproven and government regulations could impact the
industry. Worldwide competition will continue to increase, and existing
Internet portals may choose to duplicate many of eMessage.com's ideas once they
are proven successful. Any of these or other unknown events may prevent the
company from realizing its sales projections.
Term of the Company.
The company is perpetual. However, eMessage.com may choose
to merge with a carefully selected publicly traded entity, a privately held
company, or to offer an initial public offering (IPO).
Liability and
Indemnity of Principals.
Neither the principals nor any of their affiliates will be
liable to eMessage.com or to any of the shareholders for damages attributable
to their acts or omissions, except that the principals may be liable for gross
negligence or willful misconduct arising out of or relating to the affairs of
the company.
Transferability of
Interests.
An equity investment in the form of privately held stock
certificates in eMessage.com may not be sold, transferred, or assigned without
the prior written consent of the majority stock holders.
Revenue Sources
The following are eMessage.com's existing and planned
revenue sources during 1999 and 2000:
Fee-based eMessage.com premium
services
Advertising
Telecom and Portal alliances
Specialized desktop scanning and
organizing software
Partnerships and Licenses
Investment Activities
The following are eMessage.com's major investment activities
planned during 1999 and 2000:
Increase analyst coverage - focus on
credible Wall Street Internet analysts
Evaluate alliances and acquisitions
to strengthen technology and expand Internet distribution
Evaluate additional financing
opportunities
Raise eMessage.com's profile with
institutional investors
Financial Projections
The following
financial statements are outside the scope of this business plan and may be
found in the company's broader stock prospectus:
Five-year profit & loss projections (annual)
Five-year cash flow projections (annual)
Five-year balance sheet projections (annual)
12-month profit & loss (month-to-month)
12-month cash flow (month-to-month)
Historical Financials
eMessage.com began conducting business in June 1999 and has
no historical financial data available.
Conclusion
In previous pages, this paper presented the business plan of
eMessage.com, a fictitious Internet-based unified messaging portal. The
company's business model was a combination of services offered by portals like
Yahoo and Excite, and communications sites such as Hotmail and eFax. Included
in the business plan were six major sections: business description, services,
marketplace, marketing planning, management and organization, and financial
plan. Detailed financial statistics were outside the scope of the paper.
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