Tello: Big Vision, Tough Infrastructure Barriers
Jeff Pulver -- a guy who really gets the convergence of VoIP, IM, presence, and ubiquitous mobility -- has pulled together three Musketeers to ride beside him on the path to a presence-enabled future:
[from Say Hello to Tello by Steve Rosenbush]
Now, Pulver wants to help revolutionize business communications. His latest venture, Tello, is set to launch on Jan. 23 with the support of three high-profile partners, including cell-phone pioneer Craig McCaw, former Apple (AAPL) CEO John Sculley, and veteran telecom banker Michael Price.
Like Vonage, the company uses the Internet as a platform for communications. But it goes way beyond voice. The idea is to help businesspeople get in touch instantaneously in groups of two or more, bridging a multitude of devices and communications platforms.
TAP THE ICON. How would it work? Let's say an investment banker in New York needs to get in touch with a colleague in Greenwich, Conn., an attorney at home in Stamford, Conn., and a client in Walnut Creek, Calif. The banker in New York would go to his address book and look up the contact file for the client, which would have a Tello toolbar with a series of icons representing various modes of communication -- from home and work phone, to cell phone, e-mail, and instant messaging.
If the client happened to be in a car, with access to his cell phone, e-mail box, and IM account, the banker could initiate communication by tapping one of the three highlighted icons. Once he had contact with the client, he could add the attorney, using the same method. All three could communicate at once, using any combination of voice, IM, or e-mail.
But getting in touch is just the beginning of what Pulver envisions. As their conversation progresses, the banker could pull up a spreadsheet on his PC. And he could click on a Tello icon that allows his business associates to view or edit the same document.
I love it. But this is one of those grand visions where -- even if you like the outcome -- its hard to imagine how a new start-up, even one with a bunch of well-heeled and well-known financiers and entrepreneurs on board, can in fact get all the moving pieces to work together, especially since those who are already well-entrenched in the various layers of today's communication stack are working hard to carve out their own piece of the pie:
- The IM players -- AOL, Yahoo, MSN, etc. -- have millions of users, and have no interest in letting them cross communicate with Tello. They would like to envision their presence and messaging plumbing as the critical factor in future presence-enabled communication schemes.
- The telephone companies are trying to counter the explosion of VoIP services with a variety of attacks, and the cell phone companies are likewise working to hold on to what they have. And both are experimenting with presence in their offerings.
- The VoIP startups, like Skype, Vonage, and so on, are growing fast, and not looking back, making partnerships or working with parent companies (Like eBay for Skype) to roll out comprehensive solutions in large established communities of use.
- The established web conferencing companies -- WebEx, Placeware -- understand that they are just one part of the instantaneous economy, and they they will have to play nice with the other players. That's why Microsoft bought Placeware, after all.
Anyway, I don't see it. Maybe they will demonstrate an architectural approach that shows where it all needs to go, but I don't see them having the leverage to do more than guide the way. This group is prescient enough to find the battlefield, but way too small to hold it.
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