Create a new market for new technology, launch company and its first product into both consumer and business markets.
Drove messaging sessions and branding, planned and executed extensive national launch plan, locally promoted beta testing with MTV's "Choose or Lose," created new market and branded name for technology: telemail.
Secured analyst and media interviews and 24 press hits nationwide in broadcast outlets as well as consumer, technology and business publications: Boston Globe, DM News, Good Housekeeping, Mobile Computing, New York Times, PC World, Revolution, Teen, U.S. News & World Report. Helped drive usage to over 1 million SoundBites in one month.
"Need to cancel your cookout? Change the time of that dinner with six of your girlfriends? Don't waste an evening trying to get in touch. Instead, dial
800-SOUNDBITE and record a message up to 2 minutes long ("Dinner's at seven, not eight"), then punch in the numbers of everyone you need to notify. The service will simultaneously dial all the numbers and play your recorded message for them. The recipients can opt to replay, save, respond to, or forward the message at no cost to them. If no one answers, SoundBite will leave a message on the answering machine or redial later. It's quick, too: When we tried it, our message zipped out in a matter of minutes. SoundBite
stores your numbers in a personal address book for next time; and best of all, it's free for the first month-after that, basic service costs $7.95 a month."
Redbook, June 2001
"Now you can send spoken messages like E-mails. By dialing (800) 768-6324, you'll reach a new service called SoundBite, where you can record a message up to a minute long. Then say a name or dial a number to whiz it to a recipient's phone or answering machine. He or she can reply in kind or forward your note to others. Like E-mail, SoundBite lets you set up distribution lists: A coach might corral players' phone numbers in a list, then say "team" to send a group message. The service is free but includes a 10-second ad-say from a local pizzeria."
U.S. News & World Report, December 18, 2000
"A start-up company here called SoundBite Communications Inc. is wagering that there are millions of Americans just like you who would love to be able to make guaranteed one-way phone calls. This week, SoundBite is launching a free service-the only price is having to listen to a 10-second ad-you can use to record a message up to 2 minutes long you can have delivered to one, a few, or dozens of people. Beyond sociable misanthropes, executives with SoundBite, who built Internet search service DirectHit and sold it to Ask Jeeves for $500 million earlier this year, think there could be some huge markets for what they dub ''telemail.''
Boston Globe, December 4, 2000
