ADSI on the rise

Like other service providers, BellSouth had seen more than 20 new network services introduced in the national marketplace during the last decade. Some services-such as caller ID-were very well received. Others were not so successful.

The reason? A Bellcore study sums it up: A survey of more than 1000 custom local area signaling service subscribers who had canceled at least one service said they did so because services were too difficult to use. Services were becoming more sophisticated and potentially useful, but subscribers were saying "no" to hard-to-remember star codes and frustrating voice-prompt menus.

Other research points to a potential answer. A 1994 Bellcore study revealed that only 40% of users who tried to use three-way calling on a non-display based telephone could do it successfully the first time, while 90% of those who used it on a display-based telephone were successful. And a 1993 Yankee Group study showed that respondents preferred to use a display phone over an interactive television or personal computer for a variety of information and transaction services.

Convinced these studies were on the mark, BellSouth set out to achieve two objectives-to offer a display phone that allowed consumers to use advanced services easily and to create a portfolio of services that people genuinely wanted. The analog display services interface (ADSI) protocol, developed for easy use and flexibility, gave BellSouth the

platform it needed to meet these objectives.

Unique Capabilities ADSI provides long-awaited answers to two pressing needs: It makes advanced telephony services easier to use, and it unlocks a world of friendly interactive services for consumers. The result is added value for subscribers and new revenue opportunities for telephony and enhanced service providers.

With ADSI, providers can deliver services that users activate with a single touch of a key in response to a visual prompt. Star codes or voice-prompt menus become a thing of the past. And users won't forget to use a feature when it's needed most because ADSI phones remind them that a service is available.

For example, when a called number is busy, a visual prompt reminds the caller that automatic callback is available. Or, if a second call comes in when an ADSI phone user is engaged in a call, call waiting deluxe not only identifies the second caller but also displays up to six ways to handle the new call. With the touch of a key, the user has a number of options: • Conclude the first call and switch to the second. • Switch back and forth between the two calls. • Conference the new caller in. • Ask the new caller to wait. • Ask the new caller to call back. • Ask the new caller to leave a message (with optional voice mail).

In residential use, this capability can help parents get through when the kids are on the phone or alert a user to an important incoming call. It can also be critical in business applications, in which calls from two or more important clients often overlap.

ADSI phones feature softkeys, which work much like the keys on an automatic teller machine. Softkeys allow users to select different options or activate different features, depending on which menu is displayed on the screen.

Unlike voice-prompt menus, which can be time-consuming and require a lot of concentration, visual menu-based prompts and softkeys work together to enable users to view all possible choices at one glance and make selections at their own pace.

ADSI expands the usefulness of the dial pad. For example, subscribers can use the dial pad to create and edit their personal on-line calling directories. Subscribers are able to list more entries in their calling directories than they could with pre-ADSI display phones because names and phone numbers are stored on a central server for each subscriber rather than on the phone set. Using these large, customized directories, subscribers can enjoy far more powerful versions of speed dialing, distinctive ringing, selective call forwarding or call waiting, and other directory-based services.

With the ADSI platform, manufacturers can also create products that offer non-traditional phone capabilities, such as phone printer ports, which allow a caller to print directory lists and create hard-copy records of interactive transactions.

BellSouth offers the Northern Telecom PowerTouch 350, which features an eight-line by 20-character lighted display with six context-sensitive softkeys. An upgradeable module slides in and out of the base unit, offering an easy way to get new features as they become available without requiring the purchase of a completely new unit. Planned enhancements include modules with smart card readers and a mini-keyboard for entering more extensive responses to visual prompts.

The Rollout BellSouth and Nortel played key roles in the development and introduction of the ADSI protocol. Working closely with Bellcore, they developed the protocol, took it through extensive testing and trials, and introduced it to BellSouth subscribers early in 1995.

The development of ADSI-based services is a response to the need for a common delivery platform, says Jim Skinner, product manager in consumer marketing at BellSouth in Atlanta.

In 1994 BellSouth and Nortel conducted a six-month joint trial of ADSI services and a prototype ADSI-based phone. Two hundred BellSouth customers-60% residential users and 40% business users-tested a set of services that researchers determined were in most demand, including caller ID, call waiting with ID and visual voice mail. The phones featured context-sensitive softkeys that allowed customers to activate or use a service with a single keystroke after a visual prompt.

Survey responses and focus groups were enthusiastic. Customers expressed strong interest in call waiting with ID and visual voice mail but were most excited about visual service prompting, a service that prompts customers to use a service at appropriate times and thus get maximum benefit from the service. Seventy-five of the 200 customers added one or more features after the trial, confirming the assumption that people would use advanced services more if they were easy to use. And 45 of the 200 customers would not return the phones, even though they were given incentives to do so.

BellSouth turned up limited quantities of ADSI services in Atlanta in December 1994. Its offering, dubbed Visual Director, included caller ID deluxe, call waiting deluxe and voice mail, and the offering was marketed to customers using the basic version of any of those three services. Again, response was positive. Consumers began buying the new phones, and BellSouth sold 5000 through October 1995-without advertising and with only 10 central offices providing ADSI services in Atlanta at that time.

The full-scale rollout of services occurred in October 1995. BellSouth brought ADSI on-line in its remaining switches in Atlanta, Nashville and Jackson, Miss., and mounted an aggressive television, print and direct-mail campaign. Skinner says the company exceeded expectations by selling almost 50,000 phones in about eight weeks.

The Payoff BellSouth's original assumption in adopting and marketing ADSI was that both the phone and the offered services had to be easy to use. Results of the initial offerings confirmed this view.

In BellSouth's diverse population centers, all segments of the residential market have bought phones and services. To ensure that services were non-threatening, the company rolled them out gradually, says Skinner, letting users get familiar with the service and the phone, then offering additional services at a later date. BellSouth is currently working with four banks in its region to offer home banking services. The continued success of ADSI services will rely on a wide variety of market strategies (see sidebar).

Because of ADSI's flexibility, future service offerings are limitless. One planned offering is an ADSI phone set with a smart card reader. Widely used in Europe and now being introduced in the U.S., smart cards allow a card holder to, among other things, download funds from a bank account to a microchip in the card. The card can then be used like cash. Several major southeastern banks promoted smart card technology in Atlanta during the '96 Olympic Games, where visitors from Europe were plentiful.

Another application being evaluated for ADSI compatibility is voice-activated dialing, which enables a caller to reach a number by speaking a name into the phone. Imagine picking up the phone at home after a hard day at work-your four-year old waiting for dinner-and uttering two magic words: "Pizza Express!" It could also be a life saver for those with disabilities that can make dialing difficult.

Terry Yarbrough is Director of Value-Added Services-Consumer Marketing at BellSouth, Atlanta. Lois Andreasen is Assistant Vice President of North American Marketing at Northern Telecom, Research Triangle Park, N.C.