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July 4, 2008

There is a new product out that enables mobile workers to wirelessly dictate, document and share time-sensitive information from any phone via email.

Brian McAuley, who co-founded Nextel and John Pescatore, who held various senior-level positions at the same company are now offering their new SkyMail service, through Pacific DataVision Inc. (PDV)

It was announced earlier this week that the Locator for SkyMail service was selected as a runner-up in the 2008 Navteq Global LBS Challenge.

In its most basic format, SkyMail is a voice-to-e-mail tool that allows users to dictate, document and share information. Sprint Nextel offers a walkie-talkie version that it calls NextMail, and Nextel de Mexico offers a version called Push-to-Mail.

PDV is in talks with other wireless carriers as well, and it has reseller agreements with Motorola and Nokia for push-to-talk (PTT) over cellular.

Enterprises can quickly realize how much time they can save when employees use the new service, according to Pescatore. SkyMail service is priced per unit.

With Locator for SkyMail, enterprises can set it up so they see a map of where someone is making a call. For example, if a waste truck driver tries to pick up someone’s trash at a certain time and the dumpster is blocked by a car, the driver can tell dispatch about the situation and the company has a record that the driver was there at a given time.

This isn’t the first business McAuley and Pescatore have been involved in since Nextel. McAuley was president and CEO of NeoWorld Communications, which was sold to Nextel five years ago.

He was also executive vice president of operations at Expanets, a voice and data communications solutions and services company.

The SkyMail solution marks the first real enhancement to PTT since it was first deployed many years ago, according to McAuley. PDV has found that the best way to sell the service is to show customers how it works and the ROI, as opposed to advertising.

Similar to the early days of Nextel’s PTT, the idea is to make the service so sticky that people wonder how they lived without it.

PDV is ecpected to receive $157,500 in cash and various user licenses in conjunction with the Navteq contest award. The contest is to end July 31.

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    This article was featured on Business 5.0.

Source: Pacific DataVision Inc.