Money in the air: GOOItech untethers electronic commerce

As far as GOOItech is concerned, there's only one thing standing in the way of an entirely electronic, cashless marketplace: wires.

Despite the widespread use of credit cards, debit cards, automated teller machines, tele-banking and the growth of Internet commerce, most financial institutions and merchants still rely on traditional landline infrastructure to support electronic transactions. But GOOItech, a 3-year-old, family-owned operation based in Schaumburg, Ill., has developed a technology that could potentially pull the plug on electronic commerce.

The company's concept, which it calls Wireless Electronic Commerce (WEC), functions as a wireless TCP/IP network that uses existing cellular digital packet data (CDPD) networks as its transport medium. A wireless modem sends data via CDPD to GOOItech's WECserver, which processes and formats the transmission for use on the networks of financial institutions (see figure).

In theory, the technology removes the boundaries that limit electronic payment to wireline transmission.

"Wireless technology gives us the ability to deliver better data more efficiently," said Jim Solomon, CEO of GOOItech.

The first application GOOItech developed was for both fixed and portable automated teller machines, the latter of which-the WECexpress-the company introduced late last year.

GOOItech estimates that bank machine owners using wireless technology can cut their existing facilities costs by one-third, said Andrew Solomon, the son of Jim Solomon and executive vice president of GOOItech. One gating factor is connecting financial institutions' older networks to the CDPD systems that cellular carriers operate.

"The issue is how you make legacy systems interact with wireless devices," said Andrew Solomon.

GOOItech first found success in the wireless automated teller machine market by connecting riverboat casinos in Northwest Indiana, allowing gamblers to tap their bank accounts even when they are off-shore (Telephony, June 2, 1997, page 220). The company has since received contracts to supply its technology in several international markets.

But GOOItech also has designs on everything from wireless point-of-sale and location tracking to the transmission of electronic mug shots for law enforcement.

"Anything capable of running in a traditional landline environment is capable of running over this technology," said the senior Solomon. "What we're really working toward is offering this WEC infrastructure and the various tool sets that can be added to it for different applications."

For example, cab companies could install devices in their fleets to allow drivers to easily accept credit card payments, process users of prepaid corporate accounts and keep track of where their vehicles have traveled. The latter is of particular importance in areas such as Chicago, which recently mandated that cab companies serve in all regions of the city, Solomon said.

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