Wireless Internet & Mobile Business

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1 Introduction to the Internet, World Wide Web and Wireless Communications Objectives • To examine the growth of m-business and the wireless Internet. • To review the evolution of the Internet, e-business and e-commerce and mobile communications. • To explore the opportunities and challenges in mobile business. • To examine current and future applications of the wireless Internet. • To present a tour of the book. From the most ancient subject we shall produce the newest science. Ebbinghaus, Hermann 50 percent of all Internet access will be wireless by 2003.1 Bill Gates By 2010, the only big company will be an e-company.2 John Chambers, CEO Cisco Systems

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Outline 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7

Introduction History of the Internet History of the World Wide Web Internet and World Wide Web Development Overview of m-Business and the Wireless Internet Tour of the Book Internet and World Wide Web Resources

Summary • Terminology • Self-Review Exercises • Answers to Self-Review Exercises • Exercises • Works Cited

1.1 Introduction Welcome to the world of mobile business and the wireless Internet! M-business, or mobile business, allows individuals and organizations to connect to the Internet at any time from almost any place via wireless devices. The most popular wireless devices today include cell phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), pagers and laptops. This text introduces wireless technology, its applications and the challenges and opportunities its widespread adoption brings. The first part of Wireless Internet and Mobile Business How to Program discusses the applications of wireless technologies and how they enhance business and personal communications through business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-employee (B2E) applications, location-based services, global capabilities and one-to-one marketing opportunities. The second part of the book presents how to program wireless applications using Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)/ Wireless Markup Language (WML), WMLScript, Java, i-mode, BREW (Binary Run-Time Environment for Wireless), Bluetooth, Microsoft .NET, Web Clipping and more. The text is enhanced with walkthroughs of serverside programming, including Sun’s Java and Microsoft Active Server Pages (ASP). An introduction to Java programming is included in the appendices, as well as an overview of career opportunities in the high-tech industry. m-Fact 1.1 According to a recent study by the Yankee Group, the number of people using the wireless Web will increase to over 40 million by 2002 and over 200 million by 2005.3

1.1

We have worked hard to include the latest and most important developments in wireless Internet and mobile business. We have conducted extensive research to ensure accurate and timely information. We reference scores of newspapers, journals and trade publications (Fig 1.1). We have extensively searched the Web visiting hundreds of Web sites for product and service descriptions. In many cases we include Web links to dem-

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onstrations and product walkthroughs. We also include extensive World Wide Web resources in each of the chapters. Resources

3G Generation

Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act

Asia Wireless News

Barrons

Boston Business Journal

Broadband Wireless Business

Business 2.0

Business Week

CIT Publications

Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace (Basic Books, 1999)

Communication News

Communication News

Communications International

Communications Update

Computer Shopper

ComputerWorld

Creating Stores on the Web

Customers.com (Random House, 1998)

Cyber Rules: Strategies for Excelling At EBusiness (Random House, 1999)

e-Business Advisor

eWeek

Field Force Automation

Financial Times

Forbes

Fortune Tech Guide

GSM World Focus

Information Week

Inside

Intelligent Enterprise

Interactive Week

InternetWeek

Legal Backgrounder

Mass High Tech

mBusiness

Mobile Computing and Communications

MSDN Magazine

Near Magazine

Newsweek

Net Commerce Magazine

Network Magazine

Network World

Network World Fusion

Palm OS Programming Bible

PC Magazine

Pocket PC Magazine

Red Herring

Revolution

Technology Review

The Boston

The Boston Globe

The Denver Post

The Financial Times

The Industry Standard

The New York Times

The Record

The Wall Street Journal

Time

U.S. News and World Report

USA Today

ViaSatellite

Webtechniques

Wireless

Wireless Design & Development

Wireless Developer Network

Fig. 1.1

Works cited.

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Resources

Wireless Integration

Wireless Review

Wireless Week Fig. 1.1

Works cited.

Perhaps most important, the book presents hundreds of working computer programs and shows the outputs produced when those programs are run on wireless devices. We present all programming concepts in the context of complete working programs. We call this the live-code™ approach. These examples are available from three locations—they are in this book, on the CD-ROM inside the back cover of this book and they can be downloaded from our Web site www.deitel.com. The Wireless Internet & Mobile Business Cyber Classroom offers an interactive, multimedia tutorial of wireless programming. Available in both CD-ROM and Webbased formats, the Cyber Classroom offers students additional hands-on experience and study aids, including answers to questions, small programs and full projects. If you purchased our boxed product The Complete Wireless Internet & Mobile Business Programming Training Course, you already have the Cyber Classroom. If not, you can order the Cyber Classroom directly from our publisher, Prentice Hall, by calling 1-800-811-0912 and asking for ISBN# 0-13-030897-8. Wireless technologies are constantly changing and evolving. Each day new developments enhance the amount and type of information that can be distributed to wireless devices. In this chapter, we begin by examining the history of the Internet and the World Wide Web. We explore how business and personal communications are enhanced with wireless technology. We address the challenges facing a universal adoption of wireless technology, including communications standards and costs, and review how these issues are being addressed worldwide. m-Fact 1.2 Fixed Wireless could be used by as much as 15 percent of 46.7 million broadband households in North America by 2005.4

1.2

1.2 History of the Internet In the late 1960s, one of the authors (HMD) was a graduate student at MIT. His research at MIT’s Project Mac (now the Laboratory for Computer Science—the home of the World Wide Web Consortium) was funded by ARPA—the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Department of Defense. ARPA sponsored a conference at which several dozen ARPA-funded graduate students were brought together at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to meet and share ideas. During this conference, ARPA rolled out the blueprints for networking the main computer systems of approximately a dozen ARPAfunded universities and research institutions. They were to be connected with communications lines operating at a then-stunning 56KB (1K=1024 bits per second; a bit is a single piece of data—either a zero or a one), at a time when most people (of the few who could be) were connecting over telephone lines to computers at a rate of 110 bits per second. HMD vividly recalls the excitement at that conference. Researchers at Harvard talked about © Copyright 1992–2002 by Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 6/25/01

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communicating with the Univac 1108 supercomputer across the country at the University of Utah to handle calculations related to their computer graphics research. Many other intriguing possibilities were raised. Academic research was about to take a giant leap forward. Shortly after this conference, ARPA proceeded to implement what quickly became called the ARPAnet, the grandparent of today’s Internet. Things worked out differently than originally planned. Although the ARPAnet did enable researchers to share each others’ computers, its chief benefit proved to be the capability of quick and easy communication via what came to be known as electronic mail (email). This is true even today on the Internet, with e-mail facilitating communication among hundreds of millions of people worldwide. One of ARPA’s primary goals for the network was to allow multiple users to send and receive information at the same time over the same communications paths (such as phone lines). The network operated with a technique called packet switching in which digital data was sent in small packages called packets. The packets contained data, address information, error-control information and sequencing information. The address information was used to route the packets of data to their destinations, and the sequencing information was used to help reassemble the packets (which—because of complex routing mechanisms—could actually arrive out of order) into their original order for presentation to the recipient. This packet-switching technique greatly reduced transmission costs from those of dedicated communications lines. The network was designed to operate without centralized control. This meant that if a portion of the network should fail, the remaining working portions would still be able to route packets from senders to receivers over alternate paths. The protocols for communicating over the ARPAnet became known as TCP—the Transmission Control Protocol. TCP ensured that messages were properly routed from sender to receiver and that those messages arrived intact. In parallel with the early evolution of the Internet, organizations worldwide were implementing their own networks for both intra-organization (i.e., within the organization) and inter-organization (i.e., between organizations) communication. A huge variety of networking hardware and software appeared. One challenge was to get these to communicate. ARPA accomplished this with the development of IP—the Internetworking Protocol truly creating a “network of networks,” the current architecture of the Internet. The combined set of protocols is now commonly called TCP/IP. Initially, use of the Internet was limited to universities and research institutions; then the military adopted the technology. Eventually, the government decided to allow access to the Internet for commercial purposes. Initially there was resentment among the research and military communities—it was felt that response times would become poor as “the Net” became saturated with so many users. In fact, the opposite has occurred. Businesses rapidly realized that by making effective use of the Internet they could tune their operations and offer new and better services to their clients. Businesses started spending vast amounts of money to develop and enhance their Internet presence. This generated fierce competition among the communications carriers and hardware and software suppliers to meet the increased infrastructure demand. The result is that bandwidth (i.e., the information carrying capacity of communications lines) on the Internet has increased tremendously and hardware costs have plummeted. It is widely believed that the Internet has played a significant role in the economic prosperity © Copyright 1992–2002 by Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 6/25/01

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that the United States and many other industrialized nations have enjoyed over the last decade and are likely to continue enjoying for many years.

1.3 History of the World Wide Web The World Wide Web allows computer users to locate and view multimedia-based documents (i.e., documents with text, graphics, animations, audios and/or videos) on almost any subject. Even though the Internet was developed more than three decades ago, the introduction of the World Wide Web was a relatively recent event. In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee of CERN (the European Laboratory for Particle Physics) developed the World Wide Web and several communication protocols that enable the backbone of the World Wide Web. The Internet and the World Wide Web will surely be listed among the most important and profound creations of humankind. In the past, most computer applications ran on standalone computers, i.e., computers that were not connected to one another. Today’s applications can be written to communicate among the world’s hundreds of millions of computers. The Internet and the World Wide Web mix computing and communications technologies. They make our work easier. They make information instantly and conveniently accessible worldwide. They make worldwide exposure possible for individuals and small businesses. They are changing the way we do business and conduct our personal lives.

1.4 Internet and World Wide Web Development Computer use is increasing in almost every field of endeavor. In an era of steadily rising costs, computing costs have decreased dramatically because of the rapid developments in both hardware and software technology. Computers that filled large rooms and cost millions of dollars just two decades ago can now be inscribed on the surfaces of silicon chips smaller than a fingernail, costing perhaps a few dollars each. Ironically, silicon is one of the most abundant materials on earth—it is an ingredient in common sand. Silicon-chip technology has made computing so economical that hundreds of millions of general-purpose computers are in use worldwide, helping people in business, industry, government and in their personal lives. That number could easily double in a few years. Advances in hardware and software have led to the literal explosion of the Internet and World Wide Web. Propelling the wave of innovation is the increasing demand for new and improved technology. People want to transmit pictures and they want those pictures to be in color. They want to transmit voices, sounds and audio clips. They want to transmit fullmotion color video. At some point, they will insist on three-dimensional, moving-image transmission. Our current flat, two-dimensional televisions will eventually be replaced with three-dimensional versions that turn our living rooms into “theaters-in-the-round” or sports stadiums. Using 3D technologies, business colleagues half a world apart will be able to conduct meetings as if they were sitting around one conference table. Consumers who want to buy products from electronic storefronts will be able to see 3D images of these products beforehand. The possibilities are intriguing and the Internet is sure to play a key role in making many of these possibilities become reality. There have been predictions that the Internet will eventually replace the telephone system. Why stop there? It could also replace radio and television as we know them today. It is not hard to imagine the Internet and the World Wide Web replacing newspapers with © Copyright 1992–2002 by Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 6/25/01

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completely electronic news media. Many newspapers and magazines already offer Webbased versions, some fee based and some free. Use of e-books, electronic texts that are encryption-protected by the publisher, is on the rise and could well supplant the paper book. With a chemistry e-book, students could watch animations of chemical reactions; a history e-book could be updated continuously to include current events. Increasing bandwidth makes it possible to stream good quality audio and video over the Web. Companies and even individuals already run their own Web-based radio and television stations. Just a few decades ago, there were only a few television stations. In a few more years, we will have access to thousands—even hundreds of thousands—of stations broadcasting over the Web worldwide. This textbook you are reading may someday appear in a museum alongside radios, TVs and newspapers in an “early media of ancient civilization” exhibit.

1.5 Overview of m-Business and the Wireless Internet Wireless technology has developed into one of today’s hottest topics, bringing the power of communication and the Internet and World Wide Web into the hands of users around the world. The race to create and implement new wireless technologies has become a global affair. The wireless medium affects all areas of society from how businesses run and how employees work, to consumer purchases, advertising opportunities and personal communication. Every day technological advancements provide new hardware, software and communications protocols. Personal digital assistants now operate as cell phones, and vice versa. m-Fact 1.3 According to the Wireless Review, in one month alone in the year 2000, over 15 billion wireless text messages were sent and 200 billion total wireless text messages are projected to be sent by the end of 2001.5 1.3

Eventually, consumers and businesses will be able to conduct all information transactions from mobile devices. Some of the technologies available already allow some of these activities to take place over a wireless medium. In the future, we might be able view a 3D image of a person while we are speaking through mobile devices. Presently, communicating from remote areas via wireless devices offers many advantages. Businesses can send and receive critical information and employees can access contact information, inventory and other files. The cost of rewiring old buildings and laying fiber-optic cable to transmit wired communications can be significant. Many schools and offices lacking adequate connectivity will be able to enhance their electronic communications through wireless technology. Individuals can purchase a variety of retail products while away from their homes and offices via wireless devices. Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, Buy.com and many other Web sites offer wireless purchasing capabilities. Other applications include checking airline schedules and gate assignments, reading the news, buying and selling stocks, receiving local traffic reports and searching the yellow pages. Museum visitors can use wireless PDAs to learn more about each exhibit they visit. The E911 Act, passed into law in 1999, mandates that location-identification capabilities be built into all cell phones by October 2001. Location-identification technologies, such as Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA), Angle of Arrival (AOA) and Global Posi© Copyright 1992–2002 by Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 6/25/01

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tioning System (GPS) enable emergency rescuers to locate accident victims. The lives of people with disabilities can also be enhanced by location-identification technologies. Coupled with medical monitoring capabilities, products such as Applied Digital Solution’s Digital Angel, allow people with disabilities to move about with greater independence. The product uses a wristwatch to monitor a person’s body temperature and heart rate, alerting family members and emergency personal when emergency care is needed. Digital Angel is discussed in greater detail in Chapter 3, Location-Identification Technologies and Location-Based Services. m-Fact 1.4 According to the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA), approximately 118,000 emergency calls are made from cell phones every day.6 1.4

Knowing the location of the user can also enhance business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-employee (B2E) applications. Businesses can target their marketing strategies to the right consumers with promotions and advertisements just as the consumers pass particular stores. A user could download information about the nearest Thai restaurant, review the menu and make a reservation while waiting for a taxi—which would know exactly where to go to pick up the passenger. Police can locate stolen vehicles. Navigation systems guide travelers to their destinations. Consumers can make electronic payments using their wireless devices. M-wallets allow billing information to be stored on secure servers to be used in purchases made via wireless devices. This simplifies the purchasing process, as consumers do not have to enter their purchasing information via a cell-phone keypad or through the tedious writing mechanisms employed by most PDAs for every individual purchase. Also, using Bluetooth and infared technologies, consumers may soon be able to walk into stores to complete transactions without waiting in line or interacting with sales personnel. Instead, the transactions will be occur via wireless devices. Salespeople and service personnel can use wireless devices to check credit reports and bill peoples’ credit cards during point-of-sale transactions. Some users may appreciate the delivery of timely, relevant information. Other users fear the potential of continuous marketing. Accumulated personal information—including individuals’ names and locations—raises privacy and safety concerns. Transmitting confidential information, such as credit-card numbers and proprietary corporate communications, raises security concerns. Protocols, such as Wireless Transport Layer Security (WTLS), are currently employed to protect information as it travels wirelessly. However, these protocols do not afford complete security. For example, WTLS protects wireless information. When the information reaches its destination it is unencrypted for a brief period of time. Several other concerns prevent universal adoption of wireless Internet. The small, textbased interfaces and slow download speeds of wireless devices frustrate users. Eventually, technological development and increased bandwidth will reduce or eliminate these concerns. The analog cell phone is an example of first-generation wireless technology. Secondgeneration technologies (2G) include digital transmissions such as Personal Communication System (PCS), Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) and Orthogonal Fre© Copyright 1992–2002 by Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 6/25/01

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quency Division Multiplexing (OFDM). Second-generation technologies, which are circuit-switched networks, offer transmission speeds of up to 9.6 Kbps. Presently, service providers are developing the next generation—third generation (3G)—of transmission technologies that promise transmission speeds far faster than today’s standard dial-up connections. 2.5 generation technologies represent an intermediate step between second generation (2G) technologies and third-generation technologies. In this stage, networks begin using packet-switching technologies. Many countries, with the exception of Japan and certain European countries, do not have the spectrum available to support 3G technologies and even in these areas, 3G technologies are not expected to be widely available until 2002 or 2003. In the United States, these services are not expected to be released until as late as 2006. 3G allows for increased data speeds and larger network capacity. It can support the transmission of multiple data types like streaming audio, video, multimedia, voice, data and others. Japan’s NTT DoCoMo leads the world in the development of third-generation technologies with the anticipated release of Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA)—a method of delivering information over wireless networks at speeds up to 2 Mbps. NTT is also the developer of i-mode, the most popular wireless Internet service in the world with over 23 million subscribers. i-mode offers users voice services combined with text messaging, animated graphics and Web browsing using a compact version of HTML, called cHTML. Other third-generation technologies on the horizon include High Speed Circuit Switch Data (HSCSD), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution (EDGE) and CDMA2000. m-Fact 1.5 Analysts anticipate 600 million third-generation wireless subscribers by the year 2010.7

1.5

Standardization affects the universal adoption of wireless communications. Transmission technologies used in the United States are different from region to region—making seamless connectivity difficult. Interoperability is much higher in Japan and parts of Europe where antiquated and inadequate phone systems have encouraged the development of wireless communications. As a result, developing wireless communications protocols, hardware and software has become costly and risky. Many companies are waiting until a single standard emerges to implement wireless communications. Those that move ahead must understand the selection of a standard protocol—particularly one that does not support their chosen standard—could lead to costly upgrades. In addition to the variety of transmission protocols, there are many different platforms and programming languages involved with the development of wireless communications. The Handheld Device Markup Language (HDML) was the initial wireless markup language. HDML was implemented in millions of devices when it was first introduced but has since been supplanted by WAP/WML. The Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) enables different kinds of wireless devices to communicate and access the Internet using the Wireless Markup Language (WML). WML tags are used to “mark up” a Web page to specify how that page should be formatted on a wireless device. For the most part, WAP/WML is viewed as a temporary solution for wireless communication. Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME), a platform designed for wireless devices, uses the strengths of Java (e.g. portability and © Copyright 1992–2002 by Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 6/25/01

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security) to support mobile applications. We provide working code examples of these technologies throughout the text. On the client side, solutions such as Qualcomm’s Binary Run-Time for Wireless (BREW) enable software developers to create applications accessible through a variety of wireless devices. BREW enables developers to write applications for devices on disparate platforms. Applications include navigation assistance, instant messaging, e-mail, e-wallets, games, Internet radio, music players, music videos and personal information management.8 A discussion of BREW, and several BREW programming examples are provided in Chapter 31, Binary Run-Time Environment for Wireless (BREW). Bluetooth is a communications technology that allows a personal area network to recognize and communicate wirelessly with devices within 10 meters. For example, a Bluetooth-enabled device might alert users of sales at nearby stores, or Bluetooth can be used to switch users’ phones between vibrate and silent mode as they enter theaters and restaurants as a courtesy to other patrons.

1.6 Tour of the Book In this section, we take a tour of the material you will study in Wireless Internet and Mobile Business How To Program. Every chapter ends with an Internet and World Wide Web Resources section that provides a listing of Web sites you should visit to enhance your knowledge of various wireless Internet and m-business technologies. You may also want to visit www.deitel.com and www.prenhall.com/deitel to stay informed of the latest information, book errata and additional teaching and learning resources. Chapter 1—Introduction and Tour of the Book In this chapter, we introduced the wireless Internet and m-business and the profound implications they are having on the business world and our personal lives. We introduced many of the technologies, protocols and programming languages discussed in the text. Brief introductions to the Internet and the World Wide Web, e-business and e-commerce were included. Chapter 2—m-Business In this chapter, we begin exploring the emerging world of the wireless Internet and m-business. We discuss how business-to-employee (B2E) applications increase productivity and reduce errors. For example, the use of wireless devices to transmit prescriptions from a patient’s bedside to the pharmacy could reduce errors due to illegible handwriting. We also explore how individuals can access the Internet through wireless devices to check stocks, send e-mail, make retail purchases, monitor airline schedules and conduct many other daily transactions. We examine how m-business differs from e-business and how to accommodate these differences when building a Web site targeting a mobile audience. Chapter 3—Location-Based Services and Location-Identification Technologies Chapter 3 examines location-based services and location-identification technologies, such as Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA), Global Positioning System (GPS) and Enhanced Observed Time Difference (E-OTD), which determine the user’s location within just a few meters. The ability to determine a user’s position enables advertisers to send a coffee con© Copyright 1992–2002 by Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 6/25/01

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noisseur a promotion for the flavor of the day as the consumer passes a coffee shop, or it can help individuals find their way to the nearest police station, gas station or hospital. The E911 Act, the government mandate that requires all cell phones to host location-identification technologies, is also discussed. Chapter 4—e-Marketing and m-Marketing Competition is intense in the e-business, e-commerce and m-business/m-commerce (electronic business transactions conducted via wireless devices) worlds, and having solid emarketing and m-marketing strategies can give a company an advantage. Wireless devices, the Internet and the World Wide Web provide marketers with new tools marketing campaigns. In this chapter, we discuss the importance of tailoring a marketing strategy to include the online and wireless channels. We explore how the Internet and wireless devices can be included in the various components of a marketing campaign, including branding, marketing research, advertising, promotions, public relations and customer service. The development of the wireless Internet has greatly enhanced the ability of organizations to target consumers and deliver timely, relevant content. In this chapter, we also examine how location-based and wireless technologies can deliver promotions, coupons, advertisements and customer service more effectively. The challenges of electronic and wireless marketing are also addressed. These include the lack of wireless marketing standards, consumer and carrier acceptance and personalization versus privacy issues. The benefits of online and wireless marketing campaigns are also discussed. Although wireless marketing is still in its infancy, its presence and acceptance will increase as standards and technologies develop. Chapter 5—Wireless Payment Options The ability to complete monetary transactions securely using wireless devices is crucial to the future of m-commerce. In this chapter, we review the technologies used to conduct electronic payments and discuss the future of monetary transactions via wireless devices. We learn about interoperability problems because of the variety of devices that can conduct wireless payments. Financial institutions and wireless companies have formed organizations devoted to producing transaction models to solve the issues of cross-device interoperability. This chapter explores these m-payment models. Challenges facing the acceptance of wireless payment options, such as security, are also discussed. We discuss the companies that are developing wireless payment technologies, and describe the products, software and services that these companies produce. Payments vehicles highlighted in this chapter include m-wallets, wireless micropayments, electronic bill presentment and payment and digital cash. We also review the technologies enabling m-payments such as Bluetooth wireless technology, point-of-sale, bar coding and others. Chapter 6—Security To have a successful online or mobile business, it is essential to protect consumer information and ensure secure transactions. This requires authentication of the parties involved, verification of the information’s integrity, privacy of the information and proof that the information was sent and properly received. This chapter examines security systems and technologies used to meet these requirements, including cryptography, digital signatures, steganography and the cutting-edge technology of biometrics. This chapter also analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of today's security standards, such as the Wireless Transport Layer Security (WTLS) protocol, smart cards and Virtual Private Networks. Viruses and © Copyright 1992–2002 by Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 6/25/01

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denial-of-service attacks are discussed along with current solutions and prevention techniques. Security breaches and network attacks cause immense damage, loss of productivity and loss of credibility to the affected individuals or organizations, making it essential for ebusinesses and m-businesses to protect their customers and for customers to protect their own interests. Chapter 7—Legal and Social Issues; Web Accessibility Communication via wireless devices enables people to conduct business, maintain personal relationships and to travel efficiently and safely. In this chapter, we explore the effects this has on us as individuals and as a society. We explore peer-to-peer communication enhanced by the ability to locate people geographically. Services such as America Online’s AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) are reviewed. We examine safety issues and review health concerns associated with wireless communication, including a discussion of driving while using a mobile device and radiation emissions. We explore how wireless communication and location-identification technologies can enhance the lives of people with disabilities. We include a discussion of the various laws and mandates that require e-businesses and Website owners to meet the needs of these individuals. We investigate privacy issues and the ways in which constant availability will affect our daily activities. Defamation, copyright infringement, sexually explicit speech and cybercrime, issues that affect both wireline and wireless communications, are also discussed. Chapter 8—International Wireless Communications The wireless Internet and mobile communications are exploding worldwide. This chapter examines the cultural and technological reasons why numerous countries lead the United States in wireless communications. International regulation and licensing of wireless communications are examined and how these effect the development of global m-business. We review a variety of wireless applications, including wireless Internet access, wireless Internet content portals, Short Messaging Service (SMS), stock trading and grocery ordering. This chapter examines the cell-phone markets in regions including Asia, Europe, North and South America and Africa. We also explore how to create a global m-business by using an e-business framework. We examine globalization issues, such as the different cultural perspectives on location tracking, personalization and privacy. Chapter 9—Wireless Communications Technologies (Part I) Although in its early stages, wireless communication is developing rapidly. New products and protocols are being created, while new challenges continue to surface. In this chapter, we examine the hardware, including PDAs, cell phones and hybrid devices used to conduct wireless transactions. Wireless Access Service Providers, such as Verizon, Nextel, AT&T and Sprint are also discussed. We consider the short-messaging service (SMS), one of the most popular wireless applications. SMS applications, as well as a variety of other services, including voice capabilities, e-mail and wireless Internet access are also explored. Wireless networks, such as Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), Wireless Wide Area Networks (WWANs) and Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPANs) are addressed in this chapter. Standards for wireless communication networks including speeds, structure and data support, such as 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11e, 802.11g and HiperLAN/2 and other developments in wireless networks, are discussed in detail. Finally, wireless communication © Copyright 1992–2002 by Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 6/25/01

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technologies, such as infrared and laser communication, and satellite transmission are also introduced. Chapter 10—Wireless Communications Technologies (Part II) In this chapter, we discuss the various wireless communications standards currently employed in the U.S. and around the world, including 2.5G and third generation (3G) technologies. We introduce technologies such as Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS), Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Wireless Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) and CDMA2000. This chapter also discusses programming languages associated with wireless communications such as Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME), condensed Hypertext Markup Language (cHTML), Extensible Markup Language (XML) and Extensible Hypertext Markup Language (XHTML). Proprietary platforms, such as Qualcomm’s Binary Run-Time for Wireless (BREW) are also discussed. BREW is covered in more detail in Chapter 29, BREW. Chapter 11—Palm™ and Palm OS In this chapter, we focus on the Palm handheld and other devices running the Palm operating system. We introduce various devices, their capabilities and their features. We explore wireless Internet access, how to choose a wireless Internet access service and how to enable your wireless PDA. Chapter 11 also provides in-depth explorations of wireless Palm applications, such as databases, travel reservations, games, business resources and many others. We examine Palm’s operating system and how it controls PDAs. We mention memory storage, processors, security issues and data input sources. We explain how the system runs applications, and we list tools and resources available to developers for creating applications for the Palm OS. We present a long list of wireless application resources. Chapter 12—Windows CE, Pocket PC and Stinger In this chapter, we focus on Pocket PC devices. This includes those manufactured by Compaq, Casio and Hewlett-Packard. We discuss the history and development of Microsoft's mobile operating systems, including Stinger—Microsoft’s scaled-down version of Windows CE built for smart phones. Pocket PC devices run on the Windows CE operating system. We provide the reader with a detailed look at its capabilities and feature functions. We explore wireless Internet access, how to choose a wireless Internet access program and how to set up your wireless devices. We examine the operating system components of Windows CE, including memory, embedded systems, processors, security and running applications. We discuss specific applications and software types as well as development tools available to enhance Pocket PC capabilities. We also compare Pocket PCs and Windows CE to PalmOS based devices and desktop computers. We conclude with a brief examination of the future of the Pocket PC within the mobile devices market. Chapter 13—Introduction to Wireless Markup Language (WML): Part I In this chapter, we begin to explore WML—the Wireless Markup Language. WML is a markup language for describing the elements of a WAP application, so a wireless browser, such as Openwave’s Mobile Browser, can render (i.e., display) that page. We introduce the basics of creating WAP applications in WML using our live-code™ approach. Every concept is presented in the context of a complete, working WML document followed by the © Copyright 1992–2002 by Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 6/25/01

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screen output produced when the WML document containing the program is rendered by a wireless browser. We write several WAP applications. The next chapter introduces more sophisticated WML techniques, such as tables, which are useful for presenting and manipulating information from databases. We introduce basic WML tags and attributes. As the book proceeds, you will be able to create increasingly appealing and powerful WAP applications. Some key topics covered in this chapter include: incorporating text and images in a WML document, linking to other WML documents, incorporating special characters (such ampersands) into WML documents and separating parts of WML documents with horizontal lines (called horizontal rules). Chapter 14—Introduction to Wireless Markup Language (WML): Part II In this chapter, we discuss more advanced WML elements and features, and we demonstrate how to present information in tables. We discuss how to collect information from people browsing a site. We explain how to use internal linking to make WAP applications easier to navigate. By the end of this chapter, we will have covered the most commonly used WML tags and features that enable users to create more complex and visually appealing WAP applications. Chapter 15—WMLScript: Introduction to Scripting Chapter 15 presents our first WMLScript programs (called scripts). Scripting helps WAP applications “come alive” by manipulating elements dynamically as the client browses that page. Chapters 15 through 20 present the features of the WMLScript scripting language. WMLScript enables us to present many fundamental computer-science concepts to the same extent as other programming languages (such as C, C++ and Java) but in the context of the wireless Internet. Using our live-code™ approach, every concept is presented in the context of a complete working WMLScript program that is immediately followed by the screen output. The chapter introduces nonprogrammers to basic programming concepts and constructs. The scripts in this chapter illustrate how to write (output) text to a WAP application for display and how to obtain (input) data from the user. Chapter 15 also provides detailed treatments of decision making and arithmetic operations. After studying this chapter, the student will understand how to write simple, but complete, WMLScript programs. Chapter 16—WMLScript: Functions Chapter 16 takes a look inside WMLScript's executable units called functions. We discuss predefined WMLScript functions and programmer-defined functions. The techniques presented in Chapter 16 are essential to the production of properly structured programs. Unlike HTML and JavaScript, where the JavaScript is part of the HTML document, WMLScript is contained in its own document and is referenced by the WML. Unlike HTML and JavaScript WMLScript cannot be embedded in WML deck. WMLScript is contained in its own document consisting of one or more functions. WMLScript functions are executed as a result of a function call in the WML deck). In this chapter, we also introduce events and event-handling elements required for programming graphical user interfaces (GUIs) in WML forms. Events are notifications of state changes such as button clicks. WMLScript allows programmers to respond to various events by coding functions called event handlers. This begins our discussions of event-driven programming—the user drives the program by interacting with GUI components and the scripts respond to the events by © Copyright 1992–2002 by Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 6/25/01

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performing appropriate tasks (event handling). The event-driven programming techniques introduced here are used in scripts throughout the book. Chapter 17—WMLScript: Control Structures I Chapter 17 focuses on the program-development process. The chapter discusses how to take a problem statement (i.e., a requirements document) and develop a working WMLScript program, including performing intermediate steps in a program development tool called pseudocode. The chapter introduces some simple control structures used for decision making (if and if/else) and repetition (while). We examine counter-controlled repetition and sentinel-controlled repetition, and we introduce WMLScript's increment, decrement and assignment operators. The chapter uses simple flowcharts to illustrate the flow of control through each type of control structure. This chapter helps the student develop good programming habits in preparation for dealing with the more substantial wireless programming tasks in the remainder of the text. Chapter 18—WMLScript: Control Structures II Chapter 18 discusses much of the material WMLScript has in common with the C programming language, especially the sequence, selection and repetition control structures. Here we introduce an additional control structure for repetition (for). This chapter also introduces several operators that allow programmers to define complex conditions in their decision-making and repetition structures. The chapter uses flowcharts to show the flow of control through each of the control structures and concludes with a summary that enumerates each of the control structures. The techniques discussed in Chapters 17 and 18 constitute a large part of what traditionally has been taught in universities under the topic of structured programming. Chapter 19—WMLScript: Objects This chapter begins our discussion of object-based programming with WMLScript's builtin objects. The chapter discusses terminology and overviews the WMLScript Float object's methods, as well as provides several examples of WMLScript's string-processing capabilities with the String object. The chapter also discusses WMLScript's Language, URL and WMLBrowser objects. Chapter 20—WMLScript: Strings and Characters Chapter 20 deals with the processing of words, sentences, characters and groups of characters. The key difference between WMLScript and C here is that WMLScript strings are objects, thus making string manipulation more convenient than in C. More important, string manipulation is safer than in C, where string manipulation, like array manipulation, is based on dangerous pointers. Chapter 21—Web Clipping Chapter 21 introduces Web-clipping technology for the Palm VIIx handheld, a device that offers wireless Internet access. The chapter focuses on designing Web-clipping applications. It contains directions for downloading the Palm OS emulator and the Web Clipping Application Builder, which are software packages needed to test and run Web-clipping applications. This chapter explores the main goal of Web-clipping application design—overcoming the handheld's slow transfer time by storing files in Web-clipping applications. The © Copyright 1992–2002 by Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 6/25/01

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chapter also discusses how to store and access files within Web-clipping applications for faster transfer speeds as well as using hyperlinks, graphics, tables and colors. Chapter 22—i-mode i-mode has taken Japan by storm and is leading the way to 3G technology for wireless devices. This chapter discusses the history of Japan’s telecommunications system and how the market for i-mode developed. We explore i-mode technology and the devices with which it is used. The standards behind i-mode such as CDMA, PCP-D and W-CDMA are introduced. We also include a programming introduction to compact HyperText Markup Language (cHTML). We examine the potential for i-mode and NTT DoCoMo in Japanese and international markets. We discuss the future of i-mode technology, 3G technology, and what impact 3G will have on the global wireless communications market. Chapter 23—Bluetooth Applications Programming This chapter explores Bluetooth wireless technology. Originally conceived by Ericsson in 1994, Bluetooth provides short-range, low-power communications between devices with embedded Bluetooth modules. It is one of the most promising technologies in the world, with more than 2000 companies joining the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) since 1998. We chronicle the history of Bluetooth wireless technology and the growth of the SIG. Ideally, the technology will encourage cross-platform capabilities and include not only cell phones, PDAs and laptop computers, but also cars, locks and even refrigerators. We explore how Bluetooth wireless technology can be used to link numerous devices, and the benefits of interoperability among these devices. We also examine the profiles that guide Bluetooth application development and security issues. Bluetooth programming is introduced via a chat application. As of this writing, Bluetooth technology is early in its development cycle. It is best developed in the “lower layers” of its protocols. It is not well developed at what is often call the “application layer”—essential where most Deitel livecode™ examples are written. So for this first edition of Wireless Internet and Mobile Business How to Program we have included a brief introduction to Bluetooth programming featuring code snippets rather than our traditional complete working live-code™ examples. We expect to include live-code™ examples in the second edition of this book and in an upcoming Bluetooth Wireless Technology How to Program book. Chapter 24 and 25—XHTML Basic I & II XHTML (Extensible HyperText Markup Language) Basic meets all the requirements of a well-formed XHTML document, but is scaled down for Web clients like mobile phones, PDAs, and pagers. The chapters discuss common XHTML Basic elements, headers, linking to other Web sites, using images, special characters, unordered and ordered lists, simple and complex forms, basic tables and tags. Chapter 26—Active Server Pages (ASP) and VBScript In this chapter we discuss Microsoft’s Active Server Pages (ASP), the first of the two key server-side technologies the book presents. Active Server Pages can be programmed in a variety of scripting languages—the most popular of these is Microsoft’s VBScript. We discuss VBScript, its use and its syntax. The case study in this chapter is an e-Learning program that addresses the needs of a programmer who develops for several different clients, both wireline and wireless. The case study teaches a user what each Deitel tip icon illus© Copyright 1992–2002 by Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 6/25/01

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trates as seen throughout the programming chapters in the book. We use a Microsoft Access database to store each tip’s information and use ASP to program the business logic—the so-called “middle tier.” The ASP on the server is programmed to “pipe out” content to one of three different clients—XHTML for a Web browser, WML and WMLScript for a WAP device and cHTML for an i-mode device. This is done by marking up the tip information using XML. This XML is then transformed to client-specific markup using XSL transformations. Chapter 27—Server-Side Java Programming and Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME), MIDP and midLETs This chapter introduces Java-wireless technologies by providing a Java implementation of the ASP case study that we presented in the last chapter. We begin our discussion by introducing Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME), a platform designed to run on mobile devices. We explain both the Connected Limited Device Configuration (CLDC) and the Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP), that collectively provide an API allowing programmers to design J2ME software. We focus exclusively on MIDP devices—such as cell phones—that run off the MIDP. To show how a J2ME client—called a MIDlet—operates with a server, we re-implement the ASP case study of the last chapter. This case study uses Java servlets—applications that extends server functionality—instead of ASP pages. The servlets use JDBC—an Application Programming Interface (API) that provides for database information extraction. The servlets store this information as an XML document, apply an XSLT to the document, then send the resulting content to multiple clients. These clients include Windows Internet Explorer (XHTML), i-mode devices (cHTML), WAP devices (WML) and J2ME clients (MIDlets). Chapter 28—Microsoft .NET Mobile Framework The Microsoft .NET Mobile Framework is one of the newest technologies in the wireless world. Readers having a base knowledge of C++ and ASP .NET can use this chapter to create Web Forms, which can be automatically converted to WML and WAP. The student will also learn about Web Controls, or objects that can be added to a Web page. We discuss how to use this new technology to create wireless Web content, and how to make the information render differently depending on the device accessing the page. Chapter 29—BREW (Binary Run-Time Environment for Wireless) Because of the lack of standardization in cell-phone hardware, developing an application for all cell phones on the market is a daunting task. BREW (Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless) is a technology developed by Qualcomm to overcome this obstacle. If an application is developed for BREW, it will work on any BREW-enabled cell phone. The chapter outlines the features of BREW, gives an overview of the SDK and its environment and introduces how to program BREW applications. The BREW applications are written in the C++ programming language. [This chapter assumes a basic knowledge of C++.] Chapter 30—Multimedia: Audio, Video and Speech Recognition A decade ago the typical desktop computer’s power, although considered substantial at the time, made was inadequate for integrating high-quality audio and video into applications. Today’s machines offer stunning multimedia capabilities via CD-ROMs and streaming audio and video over the Web. Even PDAs, Pocket PCs and cell phones have multimedia ca© Copyright 1992–2002 by Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 6/25/01

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pabilities. Most wireless devices have audio and some even have video. Wireless multimedia is not without limitations. Wireless device performance and Internet bandwidths, lag significantly behind those of desktop computers. However, an interesting rule of thumb in the computing industry is to plan for the impossible because the impossible has repeatedly become reality. This chapter discusses wireless multimedia technologies. Chapter 31—Chapter 34- Macromedia® Flash™ Macromedia Flash is a cutting-edge multimedia application used to create interactive content for wireless devices and the World Wide Web. This chapter teaches how to use Flash to create applications for use on wireless devices that support the Flash 4 Player. Creating Flash content for wireless devices presents several challenges, even to the seasoned Flash developer. Traditionally Flash has been used to add interactivity, sound, animation and video to Web sites. Wireless devices however, cannot support the same level of interactivity. This chapter teaches the fundamentals of Macromedia Flash while focusing on the portability, file size and usability issues specific to wireless development. Appendix A—Introduction to JAVA Programming This chapter provides an introduction to Java programming to support the Java code used in Chapter 27. Key topics covered include data types, control structures, keywords, multithreading, database access using Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) and servlets. Appendix B—Career Opportunities The Internet presents valuable resources and services for job seekers and employers. Automatic search features allow employees and employers to scan the Web for open positions and job candidates meeting specific requirements. This greatly reduces the amount of time spent preparing and reviewing resumes, as well as travel expenses for distance recruiting and interviewing. In this chapter, we explore career services on the Web from both the job seeker’s and the employer’s perspectives. We introduce comprehensive job sites, industryspecific sites and contracting opportunities, as well as additional resources and career services designed to meet the needs of a variety of individuals. Appendix C—Unicode® Global software developers faced two serious problems when designing products for international release: the overloading of font mechanisms to the same set of bytes and the use of inconsistent character codes. These two problems resulted in the production and delayed distribution of software that was non-localized, or each country operates on its own encoding system. In response to this situation, the Unicode Consortium designed the Unicode Standard, a universal character scheme that encodes the majority of the world’s languages. The Unicode Standard outlines a specification for the consistent encoding of multilingual test and consequently allows for the uniform production and distribution of non-localized software. In this appendix, we discuss in detail the mission of the Unicode Consortium as well as the advantages (and disadvantages) of the Unicode Standard. In addition, we provide an example in which we use the Unicode encoding to design an XML document that prints a simple statement in ten different scripts.

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Appendix D—HTML Special Characters A tables shows many commonly used HTML characters, called the character entity references by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Appendix E—ASCII Character Set This appendix contains a table of the 128 alphanumeric symbols and their ASCII numbers. Appendix F—Number Systems This appendix explains the binary, octal, decimal and hexadecimal number systems. It shows how to convert numbers between bases and perform mathematical operations in each base. Readers of this book will be particularly interested in the hexadecimal number systems. Appendix G—HTML Colors An explanation of how to create colors using either color names or hexadecimal RGB value is provided, along with the table that matches colors to values. Wireless Internet & Mobile Business How to Program presents a challenging and interesting learning experience. Over the last few years the world of information technology was revolutionized by the Internet and the World Wide Web. We expect wireless Internet applications to explode on the market in a similar, if not more exceptional, manner. This book is designed to help the reader gain a better understanding of wireless applications and wireless programming to meet these challenges.

1.7 Internet and World Wide Web Resources www.deitel.com Check this site for daily updates, corrections and additional resources for all Deitel & Associates, Inc. publications. www.learnthenet.com/english/index.html Learn the Net is a Web site containing a complete overview of the Internet, the World Wide Web and the underlying technologies. The site contains information that can help Internet and Web novices get started. www.w3.org The W3C site is a comprehensive description of the Web and where it is headed. The World Wide Web Consortium is an international joint effort with the goal of overseeing the development of the World Wide Web. The goals of the W3C are divided into categories: User Interface Domain, Technology and Society Domain, Architecture Domain and Web Accessibility Initiatives. For each Internet technology with which the W3C is involved, the site provides a description of the technology and its benefits to Web designers, the history of the technology and the future goals of the W3C in developing the technology. Topics discussed on the site include Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), Document Object Model (DOM), multimedia, graphics, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Extensible Markup Language (XML) and Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL). This site is of great benefit for understanding the standards of the World Wide Web. www.gccgroup.com/internet/facts1.htm This site provides an overview of the Internet.

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SUMMARY • The Internet and electronic mail (e-mail) allow for economical, instant worldwide communication. • Early networks operated using packet switching in which digital data was sent in small packages called packets. The packets contained data, address information, error-control information and sequencing information. The address information was used to route the packets of data to their destinations, and the sequencing information was used to help reassemble the packets (which, because of complex routing mechanisms could actually arrive out of order) into their original order for presentation to the recipient. • The Internet operates without centralized control. This means that if a portion of the Internet should fail, the remaining working portions are still be able to route packets from senders to receivers over alternate paths. • The protocols for communicating over the ARPAnet became known as TCP—the Transmission Control Protocol. TCP ensures that messages are properly routed from sender to receiver and that those messages arrives intact. The Internetworking Protocol (IP) creates a “network of networks.” The combined set of protocols for the Internet is now commonly called TCP/IP. • Initially, use of the Internet was limited to universities and research institutions; then the military became a big user. Eventually, the United States government decided to allow access to the Internet for commercial purposes. • When the Internet was made available to commercial interests, businesses quickly realized that they needed faster more reliable connections to operate effectively. As a result of intense competition to meet the needs of commercial users, bandwidth (i.e., the information carrying capacity of communications lines) on the Internet increased tremendously and costs plummeted. • In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee of CERN (the European Laboratory for Particle Physics) developed the World Wide Web and several communication protocols that form the backbone of the Web. • The World Wide Web allows computer users to locate and view multimedia-based documents (i.e., documents with text, graphics, animations, audios and/or videos) on almost any subject. • In the past, most computer applications ran on standalone computers, i.e., computers that are not connected to one another. • In an era of steadily rising costs, computing costs have decreased dramatically because of the rapid developments in both hardware and software technology. Computers that might have filled large rooms and cost millions of dollars just two decades ago can now be inscribed on the surfaces of silicon chips smaller than a fingernail, costing perhaps a few dollars each. • The most popular wireless devices today include cell phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), pagers and laptop computers. • The wireless medium affects how businesses run and how employees work, consumer purchases, advertising opportunities and personal communication. • In the future, we might be able to view a 3D image of a person while we are speaking through a mobile device. • The ability to communicate from remote areas via wireless devices offer many advantages. Businesses can send and receive critical information and employees can access contact information, inventory and other files. • The cost of rewiring old buildings and laying fiber-optic cable to transmit wired communications can be significant. Many schools and offices lacking adequate connectivity will be able to enhance their electronic communications through wireless technology. • Wireless applications include checking airline schedules and gate assignments, reading the news, buying and selling stocks, receiving local traffic reports and searching the yellow pages. © Copyright 1992–2002 by Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 6/25/01

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• The E911 Act, passed into law in 1999, mandates that location-identification capabilities be built into all cell phones by October 2001. • Location-identification technologies, such as Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA), Angle of Arrival (AOA) and Global Positioning System (GPS) enable emergency rescuers to locate accident victims. • The lives of people with disabilities are being enhanced by location-identification technologies. Coupled with medical monitoring capabilities these products allow people with disabilities move about with greater independence. • The E911 Act fostered growth in commercial location-based activity. Business-to-employee (B2E) and business-to-consumer (B2C) applications can be enhanced by knowing users’ locations. • Consumers can make electronic payments using their wireless devices. M-wallets allow billing information to be stored on a secure server to be used in purchases made via wireless devices. • Using Bluetooth and infared technologies, consumers may soon be able to walk into a store to complete a transaction without waiting in line or interacting with sales personnel—instead, the transaction is managed via the wireless device. • Accumulated personal information—including the individuals’ names and locations—presents serious privacy and safety concerns. • Transmitting confidential information such as credit-card numbers and corporate communications raises security concerns. • Most wireless devices still have small, text-based interfaces and slow download speeds that frustrate users. • Second-generation technologies offer transmission speeds of up to 9.6 Kbps. • Japan’s NTT DoCoMo leads the world in the development of third-generation technologies with its anticipated release of Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA). • i-mode offers users voice services combined with text-messaging, animated graphics and Web browsing using a compact version of HTML, called cHTML. • Transmission technologies used in the United States are different from region to region—making seamless connectivity difficult. • Interoperability is much higher in Japan and parts of Europe where antiquated and inadequate phone systems have expedited the growth of wireless communications. • Many organizations are waiting to implement wireless communications until a single standard emerges. Those that move ahead must understand that the selection of a standard protocol—particularly one that does not support their chosen standard—could lead to costly upgrades. • In addition to the variety of transmission protocols, there are many different platforms and programming languages involved with the development of wireless communications and networks. • The Handheld Device Markup Language (HDML) was the initial wireless markup language. • The Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is designed to enable different kinds of wireless devices to communicate and to access the Internet and the Web using the Wireless Markup Language (WML). • Solutions such as Extensible HyperText Markup Language (XHTML), moving toward Extensible Markup Language (XML) permit document authors to create their own markup for virtually any type of information, increasing the ability to share applications among devices. • Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME), a platform designed for wireless devices, uses the strengths of Java (e.g. portability and security) to produce mobile applications. © Copyright 1992–2002 by Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 6/25/01

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• Qualcomm’s Binary Run-Time Environment for Wireless (BREW) enables developers to write applications for disparate platforms.

TERMINOLOGY Active Server Pages (ASP) Apache ARPA bandwidth biometrics Bluetooth business-to-business (B2B) business-to-consumer (B2C) cryptanalytic attack digital cash digital certificate digital signature DOS attack Dynamic HTML electronic mail (e-mail) Float object Global Positioning System (GPS) graphical user interface (GUI) Internet Internet Information Server (IIS) Internetworking Protocol (IP) Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) JavaScript Language object location-based services m-business m-wallet micropayment mobile business mobile bill payment packet packet switching Palm OS public key cryptography Secure Electronic Transactions (SET) Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) standalone computer target audience third-generation technology Tim Berners-Lee time difference of arrival (TDOA) Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) Trojan Horse URL object VBScript © Copyright 1992–2002 by Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 6/25/01

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virus Web Clipping Windows CE Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) Wireless Markup Language (WML) Wireless Transport Security Layer (WTSL) WMLBrowser object WMLScript World Wide Web worm XML XSLT

SELF-REVIEW EXERCISES 1.1

State whether each of the following is true or false; if false, explain why. a) Initially, the use of the Internet was limited to the military. b) Second-generation technologies offer transmission speeds of up to 2 Mbps. c) Interoperability is much higher in Japan and parts of Europe where antiquated and inadequate phone systems have encouraged the growth of wireless communications. d) The Wireless Markup Language (WML) was the initial wireless markup language. e) Portability and security are two of Java’s key strengths.

1.2

Fill in the blanks in each of the following statements. is also known as the grandparent of today’s Internet. a) The computers, i.e. computers that b) In the past, most computer applications ran on were not connected to one another. c) _______ allow billing information to be stored on a secure server to be used in purchases made via wireless devices. d) The _______, passed into law in 1999, mandates that location-identification capabilities be built into all cell phones by October 2001. e) NTT DoCoMo’s _______ offers users voice services combined with text-messaging, animated graphics and Web browsing using a compact version of HTML, called cHTML.

ANSWERS TO SELF-REVIEW EXERCISES 1.1 a) False. Initially the Internet was used by academics and researchers. b) False. Second-generation technologies offer transmission speeds of up to 9.6 Kbps. c) True. d) False. The Handheld Device Markup Language (HDML) was the initial wireless markup language. e) True. 1.2

a) ARPAnet. b) standalone. c) M-wallets. d) E911 Act. e) i-mode.

EXERCISES 1.3

State whether each of the following is true or false; if false, explain why. a) The Internet is designed to operate with centralized control. b) Transmission technologies used in the United States are different from region to region— making seamless connectivity difficult. c) In the future, we might be able to view a 3D image of a person while speaking through a mobile device through fourth-generation technologies. d) In an era of steadily rising costs, computing costs have likewise increased dramatically. © Copyright 1992–2002 by Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 6/25/01

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e) Wireless devices have small, text-based interfaces and slow download speeds that frustrate users. 1.4

Fill in the blanks in each of the following statements. a) The Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is designed to enable different kinds of wireless devices to communicate and to access the Internet using the markup language called _______. b) Early networks operated using _______ technology in which digital data was sent in small packages called packets. c) The ________ allows Internet users to locate and view multimedia-based documents (i.e., documents with text, graphics, animations, audios and/or videos) on almost any subject. d) Computers that might have filled large rooms and cost millions of dollars just two decades ago can now be inscribed on the surfaces of _______ chips smaller than a fingernail, costing perhaps a few dollars each. e) Qualcomm’s ________ enables developers to write applications for disparate platforms.

1.5

Define the following. a) Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). b) Tim Berners-Lee. c) E911 Act. d) ARPAnet e) Third-generation technology

1.6 Wireless Internet and mobile business is growing at a rapid pace. New business models, marketing tactics and technologies are introduced daily. Many of the resources listed in Figure 1.1 have online editions. Use a search engine (e.g., www.altavista.com, www.google.com, www.yahoo.com) to find these editions. Once at these sites, prepare a list of recently introduced products, services and technologies. Search the archives to find the answers to the following questions: a) Did you find it difficult to generate this list? b) Which items were most interesting to you? c) What capabilities do these items offer? d) Do you think they will be successful? Why or why not? e) Suggest your own additional items. 1.7 In this chapter, we present various online services that offer wireless applications. For example, amazon.com and barnesamdnoble.com allow individuals to make purchases via their wireless devices. Surf the Web and find three Web sites that have expanded to offer wireless services and answer the following questions: a) Did you find it difficult to find Web sites offering wireless services? b) What was the service offered (e.g., shopping, personal communication, financial management, etc.)? c) In your opinion, was this a well-founded and practical application? d) How different is the wireless application from the services offered by the wired Web site? 1.8 In this chapter, we introduce location-identification technologies and discuss how these technologies can be used to enhance the lives of people with disabilities. Using a search engine, (e.g., www.altavista.com, www.google.com, www.yahoo.com) explore the Web and find news articles and/or corporate Web sites demonstrating the success of these technologies.

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WORKS CITED The notation indicates that the citation is for information found at that Web site. 1. “First to Wireless Report,” Windwire, Inc. 27 December 2000. 2.

“Businesses Need to Speed If They Want to Succeed,” USA Today 26 October 2000: 6B.

3.

M. Cleary, “Content Sites Vie for Wireless,” Interactive Week 31 July 2000: 42.

4. C. Mason, “Nokia’s Leppa Sees Technology Choices in Broadband Wireless,” Broadband Wireless Business March 2001: 16. 5.

S. Marwaha, “Will Success Spoil SMS?,” Wireless Review 15 March 2001: 107.

6.

“Recently Pinpointed: Industry News from Around the Globe,” Near (Volume 1 Issue 2): 49.

7.

S. Labaton, “A Turf Fight for the Airwaves,” The New York Times 28 March 2001: C1.]

8.



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Exercise Solutions

SELF-REVIEW EXERCISES 1.1 State whether each of the following is true or false; if false, explain why. a) Initially, the use of the Internet was limited to the military. ANS: False. Initially the Internet was used by academics and researchers. b) Second-generation technologies offer transmission speeds of up to 2 Mbps. ANS: False. Second-generation technologies offer transmission speeds of up to 9.6 Kbps. c) Interoperability is much higher in Japan and parts of Europe where antiquated and inadequate phone systems have encouraged the growth of wireless communications. ANS: True. d) The Wireless Markup Language (WML) was the initial wireless markup language. ANS: False. The Handheld Device Markup Language (HDML) was the initial wireless markup language. e) Portability and security are two of Java’s key strengths. ANS: True. 1.2

Fill in the blanks in each of the following statements. is also known as the grandparent of today’s Internet. a) The ANS: ARPAnet. computers, i.e. computers that b) In the past, most computer applications ran on were not connected to one another. ANS: standalone. c) _______ allow billing information to be stored on a secure server to be used in purchases made via wireless devices. ANS: M-wallets. d) The _______, passed into law in 1999, mandates that location-identification capabilities be built into all cell phones by October 2001. ANS: E911 Act. e) NTT DoCoMo’s _______ service offers users voice services combined with text-messaging, animated graphics and Web browsing using a compact version of HTML, called cHTML. ANS: i-mode.

ANSWERS TO SELF-REVIEW EXERCISES EXERCISES 1.3

State whether each of the following is true or false; if false, explain why. a) The Internet is designed to operate with centralized control. ANS: False. The Internet is designed to operate without centralized control. This means that if a portion of the Internet should fail, the remaining working portions are still be able to route packets from senders to receivers over alternate paths. b) Transmission technologies used in the United States are different from region to region— making seamless connectivity difficult. ANS: True. c) In the future, we might be able to view a 3D image of a person while speaking through a mobile device through fourth-generation technologies. ANS: True. © Copyright 1992–2002 by Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 6/25/01

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d) In an era of steadily rising costs, computing costs have likewise increased dramatically. ANS: False. In an era of steadily rising costs, computing costs have decreased dramatically because of the rapid developments in both hardware and software technology. e) Wireless devices have small, text-based interfaces and slow download speeds that frustrate users. ANS: True. 1.4

Fill in the blanks in each of the following statements. a) The Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is designed to enable different kinds of wireless devices to communicate and to access the Internet using the markup language called _______. ANS: Wireless Markup Language (WML) b) Early networks operated using _______ technology in which digital data was sent in small packages called packets. ANS: packet switching c) The ________ allows Internet users to locate and view multimedia-based documents (i.e., documents with text, graphics, animations, audios and/or videos) on almost any subject. ANS: World Wide Web d) Computers that might have filled large rooms and cost millions of dollars just two decades ago can now be inscribed on the surfaces of _______ chips smaller than a fingernail, costing perhaps a few dollars each. ANS: silicon e) Qualcomm’s ________ enables developers to write applications for disparate platforms. ANS: Binary Run-Time Environment for Wireless (BREW)

1.5

Define the following. a) Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) ANS: The protocols for communicating over the ARPAnet became known as TCP—the Transmission Control Protocol. TCP ensures that messages are properly routed from sender to receiver and that those messages arrives intact. b) Tim Berners-Lee. ANS: In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee of CERN (the European Laboratory for Particle Physics) developed the World Wide Web and several communication protocols that form the backbone of the Web. c) E911 Act. ANS: The E911 Act, passed into law in 1999, mandates that location-identification capabilities be built into all cell phones by October 2001. d) ARPAnet ANS: The grandfather of today’s Internet. One of ARPA’s primary goals for the network was to allow multiple users to send and receive information at the same time over the same communications paths (such as phone lines). The network operated with a technique called packet switching in which digital data was sent in small packages called packets. The packets contained data, address information, error-control information and sequencing information. The address information was used to route the packets of data to their destinations, and the sequencing information was used to help reassemble the packets (which—because of complex routing mechanisms—could actually arrive out of order) into their original order for presentation to the recipient. This packet-switching technique greatly reduced transmission costs from those of dedicated communications lines. e) Third-generation technology

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ANS: The next generation of wireless technology that promises transmission speeds far faster than today’s standard dial-up connections. 3G allows for increased data speeds and larger network capacity. It can support the transmission of multiple data types like streaming audio, video, multimedia, voice, data and others. 1.6 Wireless Internet and mobile business is growing at a rapid pace. New business models, marketing tactics and technologies are introduced daily. Many of the resources listed in Figure 1.1 have online editions. Use a search engine (e.g., www.altavista.com, www.google.com, www.yahoo.com) to find these editions. Once at these sites, prepare a list of recently introduced products, services and technologies. Search the archives to find the answers to the following questions: a) Did you find it difficult to generate this list? b) Which items were most interesting to you? c) What capabilities do these items offer? d) Do you think they will be successful? Why or why not? e) Suggest your own additional items. ANS: Answers will vary according to student and online publications visited. Students should thoroughly explore at least five online publications and discuss three new advancements in wireless service and technologies. 1.7 In this chapter, we present various online services that offer wireless applications. For example, amazon.com and barnesamdnoble.com allow individuals to make purchases via their wireless devices. Surf the Web and find three Web sites that have expanded to offer wireless services and answer the following questions: a) Did you find it difficult to find Web sites offering wireless services? b) What was the service offered (e.g., shopping, personal communication, financial management, etc.)? c) In your opinion, was this a well-founded and practical application? d) How different is the wireless application from the services offered by the wired Web site? ANS: Answers will vary according to student and Web sites visited. Students should thoroughly explore at least three applications and provide a well-reasoned argument regarding the benefits and/or lack thereof of the service. A good answer might also include concerns, such as security, that the wireless service presents. 1.8 In this chapter, we introduce location-identification technologies and discuss how these technologies can be used to enhance the lives of people with disabilities. Using a search engine, (e.g., www.altavista.com, www.google.com, www.yahoo.com) explore the Web and find news articles and/or corporate Web sites demonstrating the success of these technologies. ANS: In this chapter, we present Applied Digital Solution’s Digital Angel as an example of a wireless technology used to enhance the lives of people with disabilities. Students should search the Web for other products/services that offer similar capabilities.

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2 m-Business

Objectives • To understand the differences between e-business and m-business. • To discuss building wireless capabilities into a business. • To review the advantages and disadvantages of wireless Internet applications. • To explore business-to-employee and business-toconsumer wireless applications. • To examine effective wireless Web design and applicable business models. • To explore various wireless solutions.

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Outline 2.1 2.2 2.3

2.4 2.5 2.6

2.7

Introduction Integrating Wireless Technologies Creating m-Businesses 2.3.1 Generating Revenue 2.3.2 Wireless Web-Site Design and Content Creation 2.3.3 Business-to-Employee (B2E) communications Wireless Application Solution Providers Business-to-Employee (B2E) Applications Business-to-Consumer (B2C) Applications 2.6.1 Retail 2.6.2 Wireless News Services 2.6.3 Entertainment 2.6.4 Travel 2.6.5 Banking and Financial Services 2.6.6 Automobile Industry 2.6.7 Other Applications Internet and World Wide Web Resources

Summary • Terminology • Self-Review Exercises • Answers to Self-Review Exercises • Exercises • Works Cited

2.1 Introduction M-business, defined as e-business enabled by wireless communications, is the new frontier of electronic communications and business opportunity. While still in its initial stages, mbusiness promises rapid growth. This will be fueled by m-business’ ability to reach users effectively and allow them instant access to business-critical information and communications capabilities at any time from almost anywhere. Chapter 3, Location-Based Services, discusses the ability to track the location of the user using wireless devices. e-Marketing, which will capitalize on the capabilities of location-based services, is discussed in Chapter 4. Currently, m-business applications are significantly different from e-business applications. Wireless interfaces are able to display only condensed text and basic graphics. Wireline communications capitalize on full color, interactive, information-packed sites. Wireless transmissions are, for now, less secure than wireline transmissions. We investigate security issues in Chapter 6, Security. M-business has different capabilities than e-business, including highly targeted advertising. It is also important to anticipate the future of m-business, which will be greatly enhanced by the release of third generation (3G) technologies. Chapter 10, Wireless communications Technologies, examines third generation technologies in detail. In this chapter, we discuss the advantages of integrating wireless technology in business processes, how to build an m-business or make an e-business m-business-enabled © Copyright 2001. Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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through wireless communications. We also consider existing business-to-employee (B2E) and business-to-consumer (B2C) applications including retail, news delivery, banking and financial management and travel planning.

2.2 Integrating Wireless Technologies Wireless access benefits business, employers, employees and consumers. Wireless technology improves processes by embracing new technologies. For employers and employees, wireless access provides the ability to communicate, access corporate databases, manage administrative tasks and enhance customer relations. Wireless workers are able to answer e-mail, obtain critical information from company databases, schedule meetings or respond to customers from almost any location. The consumer is able to manage responsibilities and tasks during idle time—waiting for the bus or standing in line at the bank. Whether adding wireless capabilities to your Web site to reach consumers or building wireless access into your corporate intranet, there are many issues to consider. Answering the following questions will help determine whether or not a company can achieve a high return on investment (ROI). Return on investment measures the ratio of cost savings and increased revenue to money spent. An important step before building wireless capabilities into a business is deciding whether or not the business has a wireless audience that will use the company’s wireless capabilities. Is the company willing (and ready) to refine business protocols to maximize the benefits and produce a high return on investment? Has security been addressed? How will a business guarantee that customer’s information, and the organization’s information will be transmitted securely? These and many other industry- and company-specific questions need to be addressed before investing in wireless access. e-Fact 2.1 Wireless-enabled e-business is expected to claim approximately 16 percent of the wireless industry by the year 2005. [***G. Jones, “Wireless: What to Do?” The Industry Standard 20 November 2000.***]

2.1

Currently, a wireless device user will have a much different experience than users surfing the Web through wireline connections. Cell phone providers charge by the minute. This is not conducive to “surfing” the Internet via a wireless-enabled cell phone. Phone reception can be limited or unavailable, depending on the user’s location when the call is made. Also, the small, monochromatic cell phone screens typically have low resolution. Cell phone keypads make entering large amounts of information difficult. In attempt to address this, personal digital assistants (PDAs) use a stylus (a small pencil-like wand), a miniature keyboard and handwriting recognition technology, to simplify data entry. Users can be further accommodated by offering radio buttons, checkboxes or drop-down menus for entering information. [***J. Salzetti, “Define Business Requirements Up Front,” Information Week 18 September 2000: 108.***] In addition, many Web sites are not designed to communicate with a wireless device. To address this issue, many companies have developed new technologies. These technologies include Palm’s™ Web Clipping, WAP, WML, etc. We discuss these technologies and provide programming examples throughout the book. © Copyright 2001. Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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In the future, 3G technologies will help foster Web surfing via wireless devices. They will enable faster connection speeds and the ability to download streaming audio and video. Wireless multimedia is discussed in Chapter [***]. However, 3G technology is expensive and businesses are challenged to create a customer base to support the investment. e-Fact 2.2 According to the Gartner Group, approximately one-fourth of European companies are willing increase their expenses to accommodate third-generation data services. [***K. Delaney, “Market for Wireless Web,” The Wall Street Journal 27 February 2001: B13A.***]

2.2

2.3 Creating m-Businesses A business that creates m-business applications can benefit from the first-to-market advantage. As wireless Internet continues to grow in popularity, these companies will have already secured a customer base. To determine whether mobile applications are a profitable decision for a business, the business’ infrastructure and services must be considered. For example, a company may not want to provide a wireless service to office workers who never leave the building during the day, nor is wireless access necessary for customers who do not carry wireless devices. However, the cost of wireless access is expected to drop. Businesses may want to develop applications in anticipation of decreasing costs. One way to determine the value of a new application is to create a business plan. (Fig. 2.1). A business plan states objectives and long-term expectations, forcing a business to formulate goals prior to investing in a project. Sections

Need for Wireless communications

Primary Purpose

Define the purpose of including wireless Internet capabilities into your business. What services will you provide? Describe how your product or service fits into the market. How is it different from existing products or services and how will it be profitable? Provide evidence that supports your idea. How do you justify these as support? Have you conducted research? What is your market? Who are your customers? How will you generate revenue? What are your expenses? What business model will you implement? How will you conduct transactions? How will this enhance currently existing protocols? List the necessary steps to build wireless communications. Does more research need to be conducted before you can move forward?

Strategy

Support

Business Model Process

Fig. 2.1

Steps to determine the need for wireless access.

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Once the business plan is presented, prepare to convince others of its merit. Building wireless applications is potentially expensive and risky. Figure 2.2 lists venture capital firms that invest in wireless application developers. Venture Capitalists

Advanced Technology Ventures Com Ventures Spectrum Equity Highland Capital Partners Great Hill Partners

URL

www.atv-ventures.com www.comven.com www.spectrumequity.com www.hcp.com www.greathillpartners.com/ home.html

Fig. 2.2

Telecommunications venture capitalists.

2.3.1 Generating Revenue It is important to consider how a wireless product or service will generate revenue or increase productivity. Web sites intending to offer wireless services must be able to justify the cost of construction and implementation. Making corporate databases available to remote employees, tracking shipments and managing customer relationships are examples of how wireless applications can benefit businesses. Revenue is generated several different ways. Wireless access may increase consumer spending opportunities which will increase sales revenue—justifying the expense. Increased consumer activity via wireless devices might draw advertiser’s attention, bringing in additional advertising dollars. It is important to note the lessons of early e-commerce that demonstrate the difficulties of selling enough advertising to maintain the business. This is particularly important for businesses delivering free content over the Web. However, businesses must also consider wireless reliability. Broken connections and lost transactions will deter customers from returning. For businesses, the increased productivity is one way that wireless services can be justified. PDAs and cell phones are less expensive than computers.

2.3.2 Wireless Web-Site Design and Content Creation Businesses must decide how to deliver content. Transcoding, converting HTML content into WML content, is one communications method. However, translated content will not be readable to all devices. Customizing content, or writing code specifically for wireless access by a variety of devices and standards, enhances user experience, but the expenses are greater because of the additional programming. [***N. Evans, “CEOs Will Give IT Call for Wireless Plan,” Internet Week 4 December 2000: 23.***] In this section, we explore the application of wireless Internet access to a variety of business models. Similar to a traditional Web site, people will be visiting your site based on the content. For example, when desktop users visit E*Trade (www.etrade.com), the © Copyright 2001. Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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interface presents more options than what is presented on a wireless-enabled PDA. Fig. 2.3 demonstrates the E*Trade interface on the Palm VII.

Fig. 2.3

Wireless trading capabilities on the Palm VII. [***Permission requested. 01.29.01. E*Trade ***]

The E*Trade interface on the Palm handheld offers portfolio management capabilities. It offers a navigation bar at the bottom of the screen that allows the user to review market activity, read a licensing agreement or browse the help index. The E*Trade Web page

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(Fig. 2.4) offers the user extensive services beyond those demonstrated on the wireless page.

Fig. 2.4

E*Trade on Microsoft IE Browser. [***Permission requested from e*Trade 01.29.01.***]

Web sites accessible through a wireline Internet connection attract users by providing relevant content with flashy multimedia and interactive features. Some Web sites offer links to additional services, such as salary calculators and relevant articles. These are valueadded services. Wireless Web sites do not have the same capabilities. Secure services and sites that demonstrate high functionality and reliability will become the sites of choice. To promote wireless Internet access, the site needs to grow its service offerings to suit changing demands, advancing technologies and a variety of wireless devices.

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2.3.3 Business-to-Employee (B2E) communications Wireless Internet increases employee productivity and reduces business expenses. Supplying employees with the ability to send and receive information from remote locations, place orders, track deliveries and manage transportation and shipping enhances existing procedures. We discuss wireless business-to-employee (B2E) applications in detail in Section 2.5. There are other considerations before implementing B2E wireless communications. Businesses may have to change procedures and protocols. Sending information via a PDA might reduce the need for the number of information transactions. Security via wireless devices presents difficulties. For instance, wireless might be ideal for a researcher working “in the field” who may need to send research findings. However, if the information is proprietary, wireless communications may not be the best option. Information passed over a wireless network may be vulnerable for a brief period. It must be decrypted from wireless security protocols and re-encrypted for wireline security. In addition, device-specific and standard-specific protocols need to be implemented. We discuss wireless security in detail in Chapter 6, Security. Businesses must also choose which wireless device to support. The cost of each product (cell phones, PDAs, laptop computers, etc.), the cost of the service, the storage capabilities and the ability to integrate the device with existing systems must be considered. We discuss the various wireless devices in Chapter 10, Wireless Communications Technologies.

2.4 Wireless Application Solution Providers Implementing wireless capabilities can be beneficial to many businesses. However, as we discuss, designing wireless applications can be a costly and risky venture. Technologies can change, leaving businesses with applications that are not interoperable with the necessary devices, or proprietary information can be compromised. To accommodate businesses seeking a wireless solution that meets the demands of changing technologies, many organizations are establishing themselves as wireless solution providers (Fig. 2.6). e-Fact 2.3 The average cost to build a WAP wireless application is $30,000–$100,000. It takes an average of one to six months to complete. [***”The Internet Unplugged,” Fortune Tech Guide: 161.***]

2.3

Some wireless solution providers offer end-to-end services. This includes assessing the need for wireless access, building, implementing, hosting and maintaining the service. iConverse (www.iconverse.com) offers data and speech wireless solutions (Fig 2.5). These include a development platform that addresses almost every wireless device on the market. Wireless applications developed using the iConverse solution can be integrated

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with an organization’s existing infrastructure and hosted on iConverse servers. [******]

Fig. 2.5

iConverse is a wireless applications solution provider. [***Permission requested from iConverse 03.17.01***]

Infowave (www.infowave.com) allows remote employees to access e-mail accounts, the corporate intranet and contact lists. AlterEgo’s (www.alterego.com) Adaptive Performance Suite™ integrates with a corporation’s infrastructure. Vaultus™

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(www.vaultus.com) and iAnywhere (www.ianywhere.com) also offer wireless solutions. Solution Provider

URL

Services

Aether Systems

www.aethersystems.com

netWASP

www.netwasp.net

Synchrologic

www.synchrologic.com

2ROAM™

www.2roam.com

AvantGo™

www.avantgo.com

Emergin

www.emergin.com

Wysdom

www.wysdom.com

Offers the tools needed to build and deploy wireless solutions, end-to-end hosting, turnkey applications and consulting services. Offers wireless application strategies to organizations based on their business and technological needs. iMobile Suite offers infrastructure solutions for managing a variety of wireless devices. In the future, smartphones and Research in Motion (RIM) devices will also be included. Wireless solutions including a variety of value-added services including advertising and messaging services. Businesses have the option of hosting the application themselves or storing it on 2ROAM’s server. AvantGo 4.0 M-Business Server™ offers accessibility across a variety of mobile devices. A series of Mobile Engines mobilize sales force automation, Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Notes and the World Wide Web. WirelessOffice® is a software platform that enables businesses of all types to communicate from remote locations. Industries include medical, entertainment and enterprise. Wysdom’s Mobyle Application Platform enables businesses to mobilize communications. Solutions are available for the travel, media, carrier and financial industries.

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SignalSoft®

www.signalsoftcorp.com

724 Solutions

www.724solutions.com

Fig. 2.6

Offers wireless location services to businesses for tracking, billing and safety applications. Offers wireless solutions to the financial industry.

Wireless application solution providers. [***Permission requested 03.15.01 from “The Internet Unplugged,” Fortune Tech Guide: 162.***]

2.5 Business-to-Employee (B2E) Applications Wireless applications for sales and service professionals provide one of the largest opportunities for m-business. As discussed, supplying employees with wireless PDAs (instead of laptop computers) for on-the-road e-mail communications and file transfer can reduce costs. Portable keyboards facilitate data entry. Devices can be updated regularly by synchronizing information between the desktop and handheld when employees are at the work site. In this section, we explore how wireless communications can enhance order transactions, transportation and shipping, inventory tracking and corporate education. Wireless customer relationship management is discussed in Chapter 4, e-Marketing. The potential impact of the wireless Internet on the sales and service industry is enormous. Wireless information transfers to remote locations reduce the amount of time between order placement and order delivery. Using wireless applications, remote salespeople can access product databases and place orders. PocketCashier (www.pocketcashier.com) allows remote sales and service personnel to accept credit cards and certify checks using their PDAs (see PocketCashier feature). Service professionals can address customer needs immediately or an emergency medical technician can access a person’s record immediately.

PocketCashier: Service and Sales from Remote Locations

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PocketCashier’s MobileCashier service allows employees to conduct transactions from remote locations using their wireless-enabled phone, Palm or Handspring PDA (Fig. 2.7 and Fig. 2.8). This capability is relatively low cost and reduces the time needed to make a transaction. False credit-card numbers and bad checks can be recognized immediately, and equipment is multi-purpose. Many organizations already supply their employees with cell phones and PDAs. MobileCashier also enables in-house sales force management. Sales can be viewed as they are generated in the field.

Fig. 2.7

Wireless transaction verification using MobileCashier. [Courtesy of PocketWorks, Inc.]

Users must enter their username and PIN to submit a transaction request. Then the user must select the type of payment. These include, credit-card purchases, check clearance and recording cash sales. MobileCashier then prompts the user for the necessary information. For example, during a credit-card transaction the credit-card number, expiration date and the amount are entered. MobileCashier communicates with the cardholder’s institution (electronic credit-card transactions are discussed in Chapter 5, Wireless Payment Options) and verifies the transaction.

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Chapter 2

Verifying a credit-card transaction using MobileCashier. [Courtesy of PocketWorks, Inc.]

The $1.3 trillion transportation and shipping industry is also significantly enhanced by the implementation of wireless Internet access. [******] Major shipping vendors, including UPS (www.ups.com®), DHL (www.dhl.com™) and Federal Express (www.fedex.com®) have Web sites to enhance their services. Each of the sites allows customers to track shipments and process payments. The trucking industry uses the Web to keep trucks fully loaded and to ensure timely delivery. Web sites, such as CargoNet (www.cargonet.com) and CargoNow.com, match available truck capacity with the shipping needs of many companies that are willing to split the cost of shipment [***S. Lais, “Still A World Wide Web in Trucking Industry,” Computer World 3 April 2000: 36.***]This process, called load matching, reduces costs as trucks filled to capacity limit the number of trucks necessary for shipping. These capabilities can be further enhanced through the development of wireless Internet access. The use of location-based technologies enables businesses to keep track of their employees during working hours. For the shipping industry, this enables faster shipping times by guiding driver’s through unfamiliar areas where they might otherwise become lost (see Terion feature). However, this method of monitoring shipping also raises privacy issues. Privacy is discussed in Chapter 7, Legal, Ethical and Social Issues.

Terion: Wireless Applications for the Shipping Industry Terion (www.terion.com)is an end-to-end solution provider of two-way messaging designed to enhance the transportation industry. Dispatchers use Terion to identify drivers and track shipments. As a solution provider, Terion installs and maintains equipment, provides service, integrates its system with existing infrastructure and trains employees to use the system effectively. Wireless communications provide additional benefits. They increase safety levels, as trucks can be located easily in emergency situations. Terion Tfleet Software™, operating on Windows®, offers mapping and messaging capabilities. The messaging capabilities allow drivers to communicate with one another in a simple text format. Through mapping technology, dispatchers maintain the location and local time of all drivers. Dispatchers can also use established landmark references, including large cities, small cities and well-known locations to help provide directions. Many companies attribute significant losses to shrinkage—damaged, stolen or lost materials. If these items were marked individually with wireless transmission devices they could easily be located, saving the cost of lost sales. In the future, wireless chips will enable companies to track sales and inventory. This type of tracking can also inform manufacturers of low inventory at their customers’ sites. Advertisers will one day communicate promotions to shoppers as they browse stores or deliver consumer purchase information to the manufacturer via wireless device. [***C. Schmidt, “Beyond the Bar Code,” Technology Review March 2001: 82.***] © Copyright 2001. Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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Wireless technologies can also be built into machines, enabling factories to run without constant supervision. Production, temperature gauges, other instruments and computer systems can be monitored remotely using wireless devices. Fewer employees would be required to stay on site, reducing manufacturing expenses. Security is managed through user-specific passwords. [***R. Tieman, “WAP Phone Technology Will Aid Factory Animation,” Financial Times 6 December 2000: XX.***] Wireless Internet access can also be used to educate employees. Although wireless elearning is in its initial stage, it can offer significant advantages to organizations. Elearning—the use of the Internet and related technologies for the development, distribution and enhancement of learning resources—has enormous potential as a new educational medium. Undergraduates, graduate students, postgraduates, international students and professionals can obtain a degree in a variety of disciplines. E-learning provides students and professionals with career-advancing skills, enabling busy people to learn new technologies. Corporations are also implementing Web-based training to keep employees up-to-date on new products, services and protocols. Experts believe it to be the fastest growing education industry, expecting it to double in size from 2000 to 2002 [***B. Hall, “E-Learning,” Forbes 2 October 2000: 38.***] The advantages of instant communications and global accessibility over the Internet and the decreasing cost of hardware and communications has encouraged organizations to offer e-learning capabilities [***G.M. Farrell, Ed., The Development of Virtual Education: A Global Perspective (Vancouver: The Commonwealth of Learning, 1999) 4.***] E-learning reduces time and travel expenses and allows people to complete courses from their homes and offices. Businesses reduce training time and expenses. This reduces time to market, the speed at which a company begins to sell its products and services. In some cases, such as asynchronous learning (Web-based learning not conducted in real time, but rather at the user’s convenience), fewer classes need to be arranged as a larger number of employees can be accommodated at one time via e-learning. Further, the cost of updating information is reduced by using content-management tools. Businesses can implement changes to their materials in one central location, ensuring instructional consistency. e-Fact 2.4 In 2000, an estimated 5 million people were using wireless devices to gain access to corporate data. This number is expected to reach 206 million by 2005. [***B. Grimes, “Wireless E-Learning,” ***

2.4

Smartforce (www.smartforce.com), an e-learning company, suggests that employees take simple text-based tutorials and complete quizzes when away from the office. This can increase the amount of time the employee can spend completing the more graphical and complex courses in the office. As wireless bandwidths increase, eventually even multimedia-intensive e-learning will be made available through wireless devices.

2.6 Business-to-Consumer (B2C) Applications M-business can increase consumer convenience. Consumers already use mobile devices to access news, sports scores and e-mail. Some consumers use wireless devices to buy and sell stocks. Micropayments, or small transactions, can be wireless enabled (wireless payment © Copyright 2001. Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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options are discussed in Chapter 5, Wireless Payment Options). Accenture has released a wireless-enabled micropayment solution called Mobile Micropayments. This allows consumers to use their phones and PDAs to purchase a can of soda from a vending machine, as well as many other applications. (Fig. 2.9). [***”Andersen Consulting Announces Groundbreaking New Mobile Micropayment Solution,” www.accenture.com/ xd/xd.asp?it=enWeb&xd=Services/Technology/ tech_news_91200.xml ***] Virtually every industry has an interest in implementing wireless technology. In this section, we explore business-to-consumer (B2C) wireless applications.

Fig. 2.9

Accenture’s wireless micropayment demonstration. [***Permission requested. www.accenture.com 03.28.01.***]

e-Fact 2.5 By 2003, nearly 80 percent of current wireless Internet users expect wireless Internet to become a primary tool for completing daily information transactions (e-mail, retail shopping and receiving the news). [***”M-Commerce Users Feel Frustrated,” M-Commercetimes 16 November 2000.***] 2.5

2.6.1 Retail On the Web, consumers cannot handle the products they are viewing. However, if consumers know what they are looking for, the Web can still save time and money. Online retailers can communicate easily with suppliers, shipping companies and customers. Online monetary payment systems enable merchants to bill customers and accept payments. Web retailers use a variety of business models, including the shopping-cart model, the auction model or the price-comparison model. The shopping-cart model allows customers to accumulate items to purchase in a virtual shopping cart. Auction models offer online selling and bidding opportunities to consumers, and the price-comparison model allows consumers to poll a variety of merchants to find a desired product or service at the lowest price. Many online retailers rely on profits generated by advertising sales and partnering arrangements. They, however, have had limited success. Online retailers that fulfill orders in a timely manner while serving customers effectively can succeed on the Internet.

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e-Fact 2.6 By 2004, wireless purchases worldwide are expected to generate $200 billion in sales. [***D. Wilson, “Unleashing the Power of Wireless Marketing,” 8 November 2000.**]

2.6

Electronic retail services are evolving to include wireless access. Amazon.com, Buy.com and Barnes & Noble (www.bn.com) are among the great many merchants already offering online shopping capabilities. Sites such as Snaz.com, an online-shopping portal, allow consumers to shop wirelessly among merchants and complete the experience with one transaction. Wireless payment is discussed in Chapter 5, Wireless Payment Options. Wireless ticket purchases, in which tickets are stored digitally on a wireless device, are now available. Users can search for tickets via their Web-enabled device, check seating options and make purchases. Purchases are registered in server databases as well as the purchaser’s PDA. When the ticket holder arrives at the event, the ticket information can be exchanged via infared technology or Bluetooth. When the information on the user’s PDA matches what was stored in the server’s electronic database the transaction is verified. Bluetooth™, an open-standards technology that enables short-range wireless communications, is discussed in Chapter 21, Bluetooth. [***R. Poe, “Tickets to Go,” Business2.com 20 March 2001: 60.***] e-Fact 2.7 According to a report released by Forrester Research, the two most applicable wireless retail items are flowers and tickets. The two least applicable are clothing and groceries. [***L. Rogak, “Check This!” mCommercetimes 10 May 2000.***] 2.7

2.6.2 Wireless News Services Many of the leading online news services offer wireless access, although the presentation varies from wireline connections. Wireless news generally offers concise text-only versions of the full-length stories. Many services allow individuals to customize the type of news they would like to receive. ABCNEWS.com offers Palm-based wireless news services. Users can check the daily headlines, read domestic news reports and visit the travel, business, finance and living sections. When a section is chosen, users are presented with a list of headlines. When the user selects a headline, a brief synopsis of the story is presented, along with the option to download the full story. This option lists the file size, so users can monitor wireless access use and avoid large bills. Dotcom SCOOP (www.dotcomscoop.com) offers a free wireless newsgroup that presents the latest developments in the dot-com arena to its members. Over 600 North Americans exchange information on layoffs, bankruptcies and current industry trends. Any individual with an SMS/text-messaging enabled cell phone or wireless device can sign up for the newsgroup by visiting www.upoc.com. SMS/text-messaging services are discussed in Chapter 10, Wireless Communication Technologies.

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2.6.3 Entertainment Individuals can play games, check sports scores, browse the daily news and read a novel via their wireless devices. Soon, people will be able to watch their favorite films on their wireless devices. In this section, we explore various forms of entertainment available to wireless Internet users. Games are among the most popular wireless applications. There are several ways to generate revenue through wireless gaming. Individuals can be charged per game, or wireless gaming could be supported through advertising revenue. In some cases, wireless Web users will subscribe to a specific game, or game package, for a pre-determined amount of time. e-Fact 2.8 According to Datamonitor, games delivered via the wireless Internet are expected to grow into a $2.4 billion dollar industry by 2005. [***N. Gohring, “Wireless Gets Serious About Gaming.” Interactive Week 4 December 2000: 90.***]

2.8

Sports teams plan on expanding wireless services to their fans by providing sports scores and updates via wireless devices. In the future, fans at the stadium will see instant replays, team and player statistics and hear commentary on their wireless devices. AnyDevice.com translates Web content from NFL.com and delivers it to wireless devices. Other features, such as short message service (SMS) will also be available. [***S. Wilkenson, “NFL’s Wireless: A Big Score,” eWeek 4 December 2000: 76.***] ESPN offered wireless “Fantasy Games” to viewers during the NCAA Basketball tournament. Users could download the free application to their Palms and select the winning teams. The status of the tournament could be monitored via the Palm. At the close of the tournament, the user with the most correct guesses won a $10,000 prize. Those who enjoy reading can download e-books (electronic books) and read them using their handhelds (Fig. 2.10). Users can scroll through material, visit the table of con-

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tents, increase font size and bookmark pages. Users can purchase and download new ebooks while at the beach or riding a bus.

Fig. 2.10

Navigating through an e-book on the Palm. [***Permission requested 03.13.01 ***]

2.6.4 Travel There are many Web applications designed to enhance an individual’s travel experience. Using Web sites such as Expedia.com or Travelocity.com, travelers can find the lowest airfares, book hotel rooms and rent cars. Amtrak.com allows people to purchase train tickets online and Greyhound.com sells bus tickets online. People traveling by car or on foot can receive directions via their wireless devices, as well as receive lists of hotels, restaurants or points of interest. In this section, we explore how wireless devices are changing the travel industry. Every day, many planes take off with empty seats. Since the overhead expenses are spread over fewer people, ticket prices are higher. The Internet helps the commercial airline industry fill more seats and reduce costs. Some wireless-enabled sites, such as Travelocity, aggregate airline information (see Travelocity feature). Many airlines also host online ticket sales. American Airlines (www.aa.com), Delta and Continental Airlines are among those offering ticket sales through the Palm (Fig. 2.11). Electronic ticketing lowers overhead by reducing printing and lost-ticket processing costs. Air travel is a high-cost, lowmargin business, so these savings can have a profound effect on an airline’s profits. In the future, electronic air tickets may be distributed in the same way that event tickets are bought and held on the wireless device. See Section 2.6.1 for a more detailed description of this technology.

Travelocity.com™: Making Travel Arrangements Wirelessly. [******] © Copyright 2001. Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Consumers are booking their travel itineraries online, often at lower prices than those available through travel agents. Travelocity.com is an online travel service that enables you to make all of your travel arrangements with a single visit to its Web site. You can book flights, rental cars, hotel rooms and vacation packages without a travel agent. Travelocity uses shopping-bot technology, which scans databases and Web sites to match consumer preferences. For example, a customer who wishes to fly from New York to Los Angeles enters a time frame for the trip and airport codes to receive travel information. The shopping bot scans airline rates and scheduling databases for matches. The site then displays the flights that meet the criteria the user has submitted. The consumer selects a flight and books an electronic ticket. Travelocity also offers wireless services on the Palm device. Users can check departure and arrival times, book flights and hotel rooms and even rent a car by using their registered username and password (which can be set up through Travelocity’s Web site). Similar to the Web site, Travelocity’s wireless service asks users for departure and destination cities, the times and dates of travel, the airline and other preferences. After the user has completed their selection, a list of possible flights is displayed on the wireless device and the option to purchase tickets is presented. Travelocity has formed strategic partnerships with airlines, hotels and rental car agencies. These partnerships give Travelocity access to flight information and pricing data in real time. Travelocity hopes to generate a profit by selling advertising and through cash flows generated on ticket brokering services. Cheaptickets.com and Trip.com are other Web sites offering online travel services.

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American Airlines wireless home page. [***Permission requested 03.08.01***]

Wireless applications can enhance travelers’ experiences and increase their safety. Using wireless-enabled devices, users can find restaurants, theaters, hospitals, police stations, etc. After users enter their starting location, many wireless applications provide directions. Location-based technology, such as global-positioning systems (GPS), will enable devices to identify the user’s starting locations. Location-based services are discussed in detail in Chapter 3, Location-Based Services. go2® is a location-based directory and information services provider. It is accessible to Internet and wireless device users. Distributed over the wireless offerings of AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, Cingular, OmniSky, Palm and Yada-Yada, go2 provides users with addresses, turn-by-turn directions, click-through calling options and promotions for over

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16 million businesses in the U.S. Visit www.go2online.com for a free account and online demo (Fig. 2.12).

Fig. 2.12

go2 offers an online tutorial for a variety of wireless products. [***Permission requested from go2 and Verizon 02.28.01.***]

The live demonstration walks the user through the kinds of real-world searches go2 performs. The closest businesses and services, such as restaurants, schools, churches, doctors, attorneys, movies, shopping and travel, are listed. For example, when a user searches for a nearby restaurant, go2 serves up pricing, reviews, cuisine and click-through calling for reservations. MapQuest’s (www.mapquest.com) wireless services are similar to those of its wireline site. Users are asked for a starting address and a destination point. From this information, MapQuest produces detailed directions, including mileage markers. Many cities also provide downloadable maps of their public transportation systems. Hotels are using wireless devices to enhance guests’ experiences. Bluetooth, discussed in detail in Chapter 21, enables guests to check in with a hotel-issued personal identification number (PIN). Once registration has been confirmed, guests are sent their room assignments and can access their rooms using their PDA instead of a key. Other services include PDA-controlled temperature, radios and lights. [***S. Khan, “Wireless Service Bypasses Hotel’s Front Desk,” USA Today 30 January 2001: B1.***]

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e-Fact 2.9 By 2003, nearly 90 percent of current wireless Internet users expect their personal digital assistants to become a necessary tool when traveling. [***”M-Commerce Users Feel Frustrated,” M-Commercetimes 16 November 2000.***] 2.9

Choice Hotels International (www.choicehotels.com), which includes hotel chains such as Quality Inn, Econo Lodge, etc., is enabling its hotels with wireless communications capabilities. For example, managers can use their PDAs to order extra supplies or to check reservations. Guests can also access the reservation services wirelessly. [***A. Dornan, “Hotel Chain Reserves Room on Space Network,” Network Magazine: 58.***]

2.6.5 Banking and Financial Services Investing is one of the most popular industries on the Internet. Many sites provide full-service and discount online-trading services. Full-service brokers, such as Merrill Lynch (www.merrilllynch.com) and Salomon Smith Barney (www.salomonsmithbarney.com), offer the speed and convenience of online trading with the advice of a broker. While there are fees for such services, online investors also receive the benefit of research and account management. The investor is responsible for making and executing investment decisions when using a discount-brokerage service, such as E*TRADE (www.etrade.com). Discount brokerage services require investors to manage their own accounts and conduct their own research. By taking on these responsibilities, investors can reduce commission costs. Wireless banking and trading are growing areas of electronic financial management. Many companies offer wireless trading capabilities (Fig. 2.13). Fidelity’s (www.fidelity.com) InstantBrokerSM allows members to monitor the market and their portfolios using a wireless-enabled phone, pager or PDA. Wireless capabilities include

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trading, real-time quotes, portfolio monitoring, receiving indices and several other features. [******] Company

URL

Services

TD Waterhouse

www.td.com/wireless

Ameritrade

www.ameritrade.com/ tell_me_more

E*TRADE

www.etrade.com

Fidelity

www.fidelity.com

National Discount Brokers

www.ndb.com

CSFBDirect

www.csfbdirect.com

Users can access TD Canada Trust and TD Waterhouse accounts using a wirelessenabled phone. Users can access Ameritrade accounts via Sprint PCS phones and Palm handhelds. Offers wireless portfolio management, research and buying and selling stocks via Palm, wireless phone and Research in Motion (RIM) devices. InstantBroker allows members to watch market activity and manage their portfolios via cell phone, pager and PDA. NDB Mobility allows users to check market activity on the Palm. Users can monitor market activity and manage portfolio on all Palm devices, RIM pagers, Web-enabled phones and Microsoft Windows CE products.

Fig. 2.13

Online brokers offering wireless access.

National Discount Brokers (www.ndb.com) offers several wireless services (Fig. 2.14). Registered users can receive stock alerts as prices fluctuate, monitor the market and buy and sell stocks. NDB’s MobilitySM operates on the Palm. Interested consumers can

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purchase a Palm device, a modem (if using the Palm V), OmniSky service, the Mobility manual and related Software in NDB’s Mobile Kits.

Fig. 2.14

Placing a stock order through NDB’s Mobility. [***Permission requested 03.15.01 from www.ndb.com.***]

Before trading online, there are many issues to consider. If you do not have a sufficient amount of time to devote to managing your investments or if you are not a sophisticated investor, then it may be wiser to use a full-service broker. If you are a knowledgeable investor, you may decide that you are capable of investing online. Factors to consider when choosing to invest online include the type of investments you wish to make (stocks, bonds, mutual funds, 401(k) plans, etc.), the quality of site navigation tools and customer service. Can you keep current on market activities at the site? You may want to compare the cost of transaction fees versus the number of trades you anticipate making per year. Online companies usually charge a fee for every securities trade. Some companies offer reduced fees to investors who make more trades. If you are a long-term investor (who typically trades infrequently), your fees may be higher. The Internet serves as a valuable learning tool for new and seasoned investors. Novices as well as seasoned investors can benefit from Web sites that aggregate financial information. Visit The Motley Fool® (www.fool.com) for a comprehensive financial information site that includes discussion boards, definitions of investment terms, Fool’s School (an educational section), a section dedicated to personal-finance decisions, market news and other information. MSN’s MoneyCentral (moneycentral.msn.com/home.asp) also provides financial information on taxes, loans, saving, spending, insurance and financing college. Money.com assists people with their financial strategies. This site offers live conference calls on earnings reports from various companies, chat sessions with professionals, view current market updates and stock charts and learn about investing and planning. Visit www.money.com/money/101/lessons/1/intro.html to take over 20 lessons on various subjects, including the basics of investing and banking, buying a home and con© Copyright 2001. Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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trolling debt. There are calculators and interactive features throughout the lessons. A glossary is provided and each lesson offers an interactive test with answers. Companies offering online services, such as Quick & Reilly (www.quickandreilly.com), SureTrade.com® and E*TRADE (www.etrade.com), have made investing in stocks and options accessible to a larger audience. (See the E*TRADE feature.) Online services also provide real-time market information.

Online Trading: E*TRADE [******] One of the leaders in online trading is E*TRADE. The company was founded in 1982 to offer online stock quotes to the nation’s major investment firms. With the advent of the Web, E*TRADE created a Web site (www.etrade.com) where individual investors could manage their own investments without the need for brokers. E*TRADE now offers investing and financial services with a community section in which users can chat with others and view Live Events over the Web. Investing can include buying or selling mutual funds, stocks, bonds and options. E*TRADE offers extended hours for trading (you can trade before and after the stock market has closed for the day) and a Knowledge Center that provides users with tools and information on the basics and strategies of investing. You can also sign up to receive news on investing by e-mail. E*TRADE’s financial services include banking, insurance, taxes, retirement and real estate (Fig. 2.15). E*TRADE BANK SM is FDIC insured and offers competitive rates, ATMs (use its ATM Locator to find one near you), checking, savings, money market accounts and bill-payment options. See www.etradebank.com/services/demo/vbm_demo1.cfm for an online demo of E*TRADE BANK.

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Fig. 2.15

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E*TRADE offers investing and financial services. (Re-request permission 03.08.01.)

If you have little knowledge about buying and selling stocks, E*TRADE offers two games in which you use “game money” to carry out stock and options trades. Each player is given $100,000 in virtual trading dollars to start. Game players have access to charts, graphs and recent news articles to help them choose their investments. There is no risk of losing real money, so the players can feel free to experiment with different trading strategies. Each trade takes approximately one minute to process. The goal of each game is, of course, to increase the value of your portfolio. The E*TRADE games are a friendly, no-risk way for beginners to experiment with online trading. Players compete for real cash prizes. The trading game lasts one month. An exercise involving the E*TRADE game can be found at the end of this chapter. © Copyright 2001. Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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E*TRADE’s wireless trading capabilities are accessible via cell phone, Palm and Research in Motion (RIM) devices. Registered users can receive quotes, monitor market activity and buy and sell stocks. Portfolios are stored electronically, allowing users to update and check their balance summary (Fig. 2.16). A demonstration of the wireless service can be found at www.etrade.com (follow the links to Mobile E*TRADE demonstration).

Fig. 2.16

Viewing your portfolio via Mobile E*TRADE.

2.6.6 Automobile Industry Today, automobiles offer many of the same comforts and communications technologies found in most homes and offices. The ability to be productive while traveling allows many people to spend more time away from the office. Built-in televisions allow parents to entertain their children. Mobile phones, fax machines and Internet access enable business people to communicate. Location-based services allow people to find directions, make reservations and monitor traffic and weather conditions. Drivers are a captive audience and a valuable market for advertisers. Using locationbased services, consumers can be alerted to upcoming restaurants, stores and attractions. Promotions can be distributed to encourage people to make stops. Wireless advertising is discussed in greater detail in Chapter 4, e-Marketing. © Copyright 2001. Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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Value-added services are becoming the competitive advantage in the automotive industry, and the carmakers are turning to wireless applications for such services. For instance, Toyota Motor Corporation announced in September 2000, that it was establishing the Toyota InfoTechnology Center Co., Ltd. Realizing the importance of wireless information and communications, Toyota formed the new company as a research and development center for mobile and Internet technologies. Toyota is already involved in automotive multimedia and e-commerce businesses. [***“Announcing the Toyota InfoTechnology Center,” 25 September 2000.***] Some automobiles in Japan are already built with wireless devices to send and receive e-mail from the dashboard. e-Fact 2.10 Collectively, Americans spend approximately 24 billion hours in their cars each year. [***D. Buss, “Connected Cars,” Revolution February 2001: 52.***]

2.10

2.6.7 Other Applications Insurance companies, real estate agents and many other groups are finding the wireless Web to be an effective and efficient means of communications. In this section, we explore additional wireless applications. Wireless insurance allows people to check quotes and contact their insurance agencies from remote locations. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company (www.progressive.com) offers wireless services, such as finding a local insurance agent or getting price quotes. The company plans to add capabilities for its customers to make payments, check account information and access automobile recall information. Real estate agents also offer services through wireless devices. Using cell phones or PDAs, agents are able to check additional listings, review amenities and submit bids while viewing a property with a client. ePrudential offers real estate services through Palm devices. Users can search for homes for sale, find local real-estate offices or locate open houses. To request information, users are prompted to submit the city of interest, the type of housing and their price ranges. Using the specified criteria, ePrudential presents a series of listings including the asking price, the neighborhood and county, a description of the property and the contact information of a local realtor who can show the property. In this chapter, we explored a variety of business-to-employee (B2E) and business-toconsumer (B2C) applications. We also reviewed the decision to add wireless applications to an existing business. In the next chapter, Location-Based Services, we explore locationbased technology, the enabler of many applications discussed in this chapter.

2.7 Internet and World Wide Web Resources General Resources www.mbizcentral.com Online magazine that discusses the current business trends in the wireless industry. www.pmn.co.uk/mbusiness This site posts the latest events in the wireless industry. Users can find information and white papers on topics such as m-commerce, wireless financial services and many more.

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Wireless Application Solution Providers/ Enterprise Solutions www.callisto.com/orbiter_main.shtml Orbiter® Software helps organizations distribute wireless updates, track hardware and software, manage events, etc. www.mobileautomation.com Mobile Automation 2000™ provides IT personnel with the ability to maintain mobile systems in parallel with changes in the corporate infrastructure. www.xcellenet.com RemoteWare and Afaria allow organizations to manage communications with smartphones, PDAs, pagers, cell phones, kiosks and point-of-sale devices. www.infowave.com Builds wireless applications for businesses interested in keeping remote employees informed. The Wireless Business Engine® allows employees to access e-mail accounts, the corporate intranet, schedules, contact lists, etc. www.groupserve.com A telecommunications company that offers collaboration technologies to enhance organizational performance. www.terion.com This end-to-end solutions provider offers two-way messaging and other technologies for the enhancement of the shipping and transportation industries. www.progressive.com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company allows consumers to get insurance quotes or find local insurance agents using wireless devices. www.angelbeat.com This is the site for Angelbeat, a company that offers products and solutions, hosts conferences and seminars on the mobile Internet revolution. www.ciber.com/wireless This site provides information on Ciber’s wireless services and solutions for mobile commerce strategies. www.i3mobile.com Offers products and services to businesses interested in enhancing their business-to-employee (B2E) communications. i3Mobile offers SMS, WAP, voice and other communications technologies across a variety of platforms.

B2C Applications www.go2systems.com go2 Systems, Inc. offers a directory of information and searching capabilities to wireless Internet users. An animated demo is available at the site. www.dotcomscoop.com Dotcom SCOOP offers a free wireless newsgroup designed to present the latest developments in the dot-com arena to its members. www.encryptix.com Technology providers for wireless ticket purchase and distribution. EncrypTix allows users to purchase tickets via their wireless devices and keep the purchase information stored there. When a user attends an event, the wireless device acts as the user’s ticket.

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www.ameritrade.com Ameritrade® also offers online trading. Its services include real-time quotes and company profiles. The company can provide you with stock alerts that can be delivered to your e-mail and pager. www.getthere.com Offers businesses the ability to coordinate travel plans via a wireless device. www.aa.com American Airlines enables customers to check airline arrival and departure times, shop for vacations and search for AAdvantage deals. www.ABCNews.com Allows users to download clips of the daily news. Categories include U.S. news, world news, technology, travel and entertainment. www.amazon.com Offers a wireless version of the wireline site. Users can shop for books, music, software, etc. www.ask.com Ask Jeeves allows users to search for answers to a specific question using their wireless device. To simplify searches, the wireless version of Ask Jeeves offers a list of categories including financial, news, shopping and sports. www.bn.com Similar to the wireline site, Barnes & Noble allows users to shop for book and music via their wireless devices. Users can also send e-cards and search for the nearest Barnes & Noble bookstore. www.barpoint.com BarPoint allows users to enter the barcode of a variety of products. The wireless site then returns the name of the product and its listed price. Users have the option to search for the lowest available price. www.brandfinder.com Allows a user to search for a particular product or service, such as gas, food or entertainment. Brandfinder then displays the nearest establishments to the user’s location. www.britannica.com Encyclopedia Britannica’s wireless research capabilities allow users to search for information on a variety of topics via their wireless device. www.marketwatch.com CBS’s wireless Web site allows users to check stock quotes, read the headline news and manage their portfolio. www.m-w.com Merriam-Webster Dictionary’s wireless Web site enables users to define words via their wireless devices. A thesaurus is also available. www.etak.com Etak’s Traffic Touch allows users to check traffic reports according to their location. www.moviefone.com AOL’s moviefone enables users to locate theaters, search movie titles and times, read film descriptions and purchase tickets via their wireless devices. www.ticketmaster.com Ticketmaster’s TM Wireless allows users to search for events in a variety of locations. Tickets can also be purchased through the wireless service. www.usabancshares.com Users can manage their online banking accounts via wireless devices.

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SUMMARY • M-business, defined as e-business enabled by wireless communications, is the new frontier of electronic communications and business opportunity. • Wireless interfaces are able to display only condensed text and basic graphics, whereas wireline communications capitalizes on full color, interactive, information-packed sites. • Wireless transmissions are, for now, less secure than wireline transmissions. • M-business has capabilities that e-business does not possess, such as highly targeted advertising and the ability to communicate at any time from almost anywhere. • For employers and employees, wireless access provides the ability to communicate, access corporate databases, manage administrative tasks and enhance customer relations. • An important step before building wireless capabilities into a business is deciding whether or not the business has a wireless audience. • Cell phone providers charge by the minute as a payment model. This is not conducive to “surfing” the Internet via a wireless-enabled cell phone. • Phone reception can be limited or unavailable depending on the user’s location when the call is made. • In the future, 3G technologies will enable faster connection speeds and the ability to download streaming audio and video. • A business that creates m-business applications can benefit from the first-to-market advantage. • To determine whether mobile applications are a profitable decision for a business, the business’ infrastructure and services offered must be considered. • The cost of wireless access is expected to drop. Businesses may want to begin to develop applications in anticipation of decreasing costs. • A business plan states the objectives and long-term expectations, forcing a business to formulate goals prior to investing in the project. • Once the business plan is presented on paper, prepare to convince others of its merit. • Making corporate databases available to remote employees, tracking shipments and managing customer relationship management are examples of how wireless applications can benefit businesses. • Consumer activity via wireless devices might draw advertiser’s attention, bringing in additional advertising dollars. • Businesses must also consider wireless reliability. Broken connections and lost transactions will result in a reduced number of consumers. • Translating, converting HTML content into WML content, is one method of delivering content. However, translated content will not be readable to all devices. • Customizing content, or writing code specifically for wireless access by a variety of devices and standards, contributes to user experience but the expenses are greater because of the additional programming. • Wireless Web sites that offer secure services, and sites that demonstrate high functionality and reliability will become the sites of choice. • Supplying employees with the ability to send and receive information from remote locations, place orders, track deliveries and manage transportation and shipping enhances existing procedures.

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• Businesses must consider the cost of each product (cell phones, PDAs, laptop computers, etc.), the cost of the service, the storage capabilities and the devices’ ability to integrate with existing systems. • Wireless technologies can change, leaving businesses with applications that are not interoperable with the necessary devices. To accommodate businesses seeking a wireless solution that meets the demands of changing technologies, many organizations are establishing themselves as wireless solution providers. • Major shipping vendors, including UPS (www.ups.com®), DHL (www.dhl.com™) and Federal Express (www.fedex.com®) have Web sites to enhance their services. Each of the sites allows customers to track shipments and process payments. • The use of location-based technologies enables businesses to keep track of their employees during working hours—for the shipping industry, this enables faster shipping times. • In the future, wireless chips will enable companies to track sales and inventory. • Wireless technologies can also be built into machines, enabling factories to run without constant supervision. Production, temperature gauges, other instrumentation and computer systems can be monitored remotely using wireless devices. • E-learning—the use of the Internet and related technologies for the development, distribution and enhancement of learning resources—has enormous potential as a new educational medium. • Consumers use mobile devices to access news, sports scores and e-mail. Some consumers use wireless devices to buy and sell stocks. Small transactions, called micropayments, are wireless enabled. • A retail store purchases goods from a wholesaler and offers the products to consumers. On the Web, the retail process works the same way, although consumers cannot touch the products they are viewing. • Electronic retail services are evolving to include wireless access. Amazon.com, Buy.com and Barnes & Noble (www.bn.com) are among the merchants already offering online shopping capabilities. • Many of the leading online news services offer wireless access, although the presentation varies from wireline connections. Wireless news generally offers concise versions of full length stories and does not include images. • Individuals can play games, check sports scores, browse the daily news and read a novel through their wireless devices. • Using technologies such as Bluetooth, hotels are enabling guests to check in with a hotel-issued personal identification number (PIN). • Wireless banking and trading is a growing area of electronic financial management. Many companies offer wireless trading capabilities. • Full-service brokers, such as Merrill Lynch and Salomon Smith Barney, offer the speed and convenience of online trading together with the advice of a broker. • The investor is responsible for making and executing investment decisions when using a discountbrokerage service, such as E*TRADE. • The ability to be productive while traveling affords many people the ability to spend more time away from the office. Many automobiles offer built in televisions, mobile phones, Internet access and fax machines enabling business people to communicate. • Driver’s are a captive audience and a valuable market for advertisers. Using location-based services, consumers can be alerted of upcoming restaurants, stores and attractions.

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• Insurance companies, real estate agents and many other groups are finding the wireless Web to be an effective and efficient means of communications.

TERMINOLOGY asynchronous learning Bluetooth bond broker business-to-consumer (B2C) business-to-employee (B2E) customizing content discount-brokerage service dollar-based investing e-learning electronic ticketing first to market full-service broker global positioning systems (GPS) instant messaging (IM) location-based services m-business micropayments mutual fund personal identification number (PIN) return on investment shrinkage stock stylus third generation (3G) technologies time to market transcoding

SELF-REVIEW EXERCISES 2.1

State whether each of the following is true or false; if false, explain why. a) Images are usually included in wireless news distribution. b) In the future, wireless chips attached to a variety of products will enable companies to track sales and inventory. c) When choosing a wireless application, interoperability is not an important feature because most employees will be communicating through corporate-owned devices. d) Wireless transmissions are, for now, less secure than wireline transmissions. e) Making corporate databases available to remote employees, tracking shipments and managing customer relationship management are examples of how wireless applications can benefit businesses.

2.2

Fill in the blanks in each of the following statements. a) The investor typically is responsible for making and executing investment decisions when using a _______, such as E*TRADE. b) Using technologies such as _______, hotels are enabling guests to check in wirelessly with a hotel-issued personal identification number (PIN).

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c) Web retailers use a variety of business models, including the _______, the _______ or the _______. d) Small transactions, called_______, are wireless enabled. e) _______—the use of the Internet and related technologies for the development, distribution and enhancement of learning resources—has enormous potential as a new educational medium.

ANSWERS TO SELF-REVIEW EXERCISES 2.1 a) False. Wireless news is usually a condensed version of a story and no images. b) True. c) False. Wireless technologies can change, leaving businesses with applications that are not interoperable with new devices. d) True. e) True. 2.2 a) discount-brokerage service. b) Bluetooth. c) shopping-cart model, auction model, price comparison model. d) micropayments. e) E-learning.

EXERCISES 2.3

State whether each of the following is true or false; if false, explain why. a) Building wireless applications is potentially expensive and risky. b) The cost of wireless access is expected to increase. c) Cell phone providers typically charge by the minute. This is conducive to “surfing” the Internet via a wireless-enabled cell phone. d) An important step before building wireless capabilities into a business is deciding whether or not the business has a wireless audience. e) Wireline interfaces are able to display only condensed text and basic graphics, whereas wireless communications capitalizes on full color, interactive, information-packed sites.

2.4

Fill in the blanks in each of the following statements. a) The use of _______ enables businesses to keep track of their employees during working hours—for the shipping industry, this enables faster shipping times. b) _______, defined as e-business enabled by wireless communications, is the new frontier of electronic communications and business opportunity. c) _______, or writing code specifically for wireless access by a variety of devices and standards, contributes to user experience but the expenses are greater because of the additional programming. d) _______, converting HTML content into WML content, is one method of delivering content. e) Broken connections and lost transactions are examples of poor _______.

2.5

Define the following. a) business-to-employee (B2E) b) stylus c) micropayments d) electronic ticketing e) Bluetooth

2.6 (Class discussion). In this chapter, we introduced location-based services and discussed how they are applied to the shipping industry. Using this technology, companies are able to follow a shipment from the time it leaves the distributor to the time it is received by the buyer. In the future, tracking might include the end-purchaser, usually the individual consumer. What are some problems with this application of wireless technology? What are some of the advantages? Is this technology infring-

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ing on the privacy rights of others? Do the corporate benefits outweigh this? Be sure your argument acknowledges both approaches before you decide on a stance. Be prepared to discuss your answers in class. 2.7 (Group Project) In this chapter, we explored many wireless Internet applications. As a group, create a new application for the business model of your choice. Prepare a business plan to present your ideas to the class. How will the application work? Do the benefits outweigh the costs? Who is the target audience?

WORKS CITED The notation indicates that the citation is for information found at the Web site.

G. Jones, “Wireless: What to Do?” The Industry Standard 20 November 2000. K. Delaney, “Market for Wireless Web,” The Wall Street Journal 27 February 2001: B13A. N. Evans, “CEOs Will Give IT Call for Wireless Plan,” Internet Week 4 December 2000: 23. J. Salzetti, “Define Business Requirements Up Front,” Information Week 18 September 2000: 108. ”The Internet Unplugged,” Fortune Tech Guide: 161. S. Lais, “Still A World Wide Web in Trucking Industry,” Computer World 3 April 2000: 36. C. Schmidt, “Beyond the Bar Code,” Technology Review March 2001: 82. R. Tieman, “WAP Phone Technology Will Aid Factory Automation,” Financial Times 6 December 2000: XX. B. Hall, “E-Learning,” Forbes 2 October 2000: 38. G. M. Farrell, Ed., The Development of Virtual Education: A Global Perspective (Vancouver: The Commonwealth of Learning, 1999) 4. B. Grimes, “Wireless E-Learning,” .

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B. Grimes, “Wireless E-Learning,” . L. Rogak, “Commerce Adds an M,” 27 June 2000. ”M-Commerce Users Feel Frustrated,” M-Commercetimes 16 November 2000. D. Wilson, “Unleashing the Power of Wireless Marketing,” 8 November 2000. R. Poe, “Tickets to Go,” Business2.com 20 March 2001: 60. L. Rogak, “Check This!” M-Commercetimes 10 May 2000. N. Gohring, “Wireless Gets Serious About Gaming.” Interactive Week 4 December 2000: 90. S. Wilkenson, “NFL’s Wireless: A Big Score,” eWeek 4 December 2000: 76. S. Khan, “Wireless Service Bypasses Hotel’s Front Desk,” USA Today 30 January 2001: B1. ”M-Commerce Users Feel Frustrated,” M-Commercetimes 16 November 2000. A. Dornan, “Hotel Chain Reserves Room on Space Network,” Network Magazine: 58. “Announcing the Toyota InfoTechnology Center,” 25 September 2000. D. Buss, “Connected Cars,” Revolution February 2001: 52.

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NOTES TO REVIEWERS 1) Are any topics missing?

2) What topics should/shouldn't be included in this chapter?

3) Is the information presented clearly?

4) Is this information accurate?

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3 Location-Identification Technologies and Location-Based Services Objectives • To review the leading location-identification technologies. • To identify the advantages location-identification technologies provide to various industries. • To discuss the standardization of locationidentification technologies. • To review the E911 initiative. • To review the leading location-based services. • To understand how location-based services can enhance the lives of people with disabilities. [***QUOTES***] To review the leading location identification applications.

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Outline 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4

3.5

3.6 3.7

Introduction Enhanced 911 Act (E911) Identifying Cellular Devices: Cell-ID Location-Identification Technologies 3.4.1 Cell of Origin (COO) 3.4.2 Angle of Arrival (AOA) 3.4.3 Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) 3.4.4 Enhanced Observed Time Difference (E-OTD) 3.4.5 Location-Pattern Matching 3.4.6 Global Positioning System (GPS) Applications For Location Services 3.5.1 Automotive 3.5.2 Fleet Tracking 3.5.3 Location-Based Advertising and Marketing 3.5.4 Agriculture and Environmental Protection 3.5.5 Security and Theft Control 3.5.6 Accessibility and Wireless Technology 3.5.7 Wireless Mapping Location-Interoperability Forum Internet and World Wide Web Resources

Summary • Terminology • Self-Review Exercises • Answers to Self-Review Exercises • Works Cited

3.1 Introduction Telematics is the convergence of computer technology and mobile telecommunications. [***E. Young, “Car 540819, Where Are You?” The Industry Standard, April 23, 2001: 69.***] Some of the most impressive telematics applications are location-based services (LBS). These services and the technologies that support them allow businesses and individuals to determine a wireless user’s location within a few yards. Theses services include wireless marketing, customer relationship management (CRM), emergency services, business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-employee (B2E) applications, and wireless accessibility features. Location-based services are enabled by the relationship among cellular service providers, cellular networks and mobile-device users. Many of the leading wireless companies have developed their own methods for determining a user’s location. Some considerations that affect these methods are bandwidth availability, communication speed, multipath errors (errors resulting from signals reflected off objects like buildings and mountains in a given area) and overall accuracy in their product development efforts.

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In this chapter, we review several of the technologies that support location-based services, including the immensely popular Global Positioning Systems (GPS), which uses satellites to determine a user’s location. We consider the benefits and challenges these technologies present, introduce existing applications and review some of the leading companies in the industry.

3.2 Enhanced 911 Act (E911) The E911 Act (the “E” stands for “Enhanced”), put forth by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 1996 and signed into law in 1999, is designed to standardize and enhance 911 service across mobile devices. Its goal is to improve emergency response time to 911 calls made by cell-phone users. The Disabilities Issues Task Force of the FCC is making efforts to ensure that hearing and speech-impaired people have access to 911 service through mobile devices. Although the E911 Act will surely improve safety, it raises concerns about users’ privacy. Wireless technology and privacy issues are discussed in Chapter 7, Legal and Social Issues; Web Accessibility. M-Fact 3.1 According to the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA), approximately 118,000 emergency calls are made using cell phones every day. [***“Recently Pinpointed: Industry News from Around the Globe,” NEAR Volume 1 Issue 2: 49.***] 3.0

The first phase of the E911 Act requires all wireless cellular carriers to provide Automatic Number Information (ANI)—the phone numbers of cell phones calling in 911 emergencies. The carriers must also provide the locations of the cell sites (a cell site identifies a particular tower’s area of coverage) receiving the 911 calls. Emergency technicians can use this information to determine a user’s location, although to within the range of the nearest tower. The second phase of the bill mandates that all mobile-phone carriers provide Automatic Location Identification (ALI) of a caller within 125 meters, 67 percent of the time. There are several benefits to the E911 Act. In many emergencies, drivers are not sure of their exact locations. This new information can help emergency response teams accurately locate callers, improving response times and hopefully saving lives and reducing the consequences of injuries. In addition, if a call breaks up or the emergency operator cannot understand the caller, emergency response teams can still locate the caller.[***S. A. Pignone, “When Cell Phones Save Lives,” NEAR Volume 1 Issue 2: 11-14.***] The E911 Act presents several obstacles to wireless communications providers. For example, manufacturers need to know which standards will be used by wireless carriers before developing new phones and significant infrastructure development will slow the advancement of wireless technology, making it difficult for companies to meet the deadlines. Companies that meet the deadline will likely set the standards for location-identification technology. [***R. Driscoll, “Mandating Major Change,” Near: 30. ***] For more information about the E911 Act, visit the FCC’s site at www.fcc.gov/ e911. For details about automatic location identification, visit www.fcc.gov/ Bureaus/Wireless/Public_Notices/2000/da002099.html.

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3.3 Identifying Cellular Devices: Cell-ID In this chapter, we identify discuss various technologies used to locate cellular devices. It is also possible to identify the particular devices. Each cellular device has a unique Cell-ID, a number that identifies the device to the network. [***S.L. Roberts-With. “You Are Here,” ***]. A Cell-ID allows networks to identify a user by analyzing communications among the device and various towers (the use of towers to locate a device is discussed throughout this chapter). A device’s Cell-ID can be used to determine if a phone has been cloned. Cloned phones are phones that share a Cell-ID with another phone. Criminals clone phones to make unauthorized calls. These calls are then charged to the phone’s legitimate owner.

3.4 Location-Identification Technologies In this section, we explore the various technologies used to determine the location of wireless devices (Fig. 3.1). These technologies enable businesses to provide location-based services to users. For example, when a user makes a call for help or asks for directions to the nearest coffee shop, the wireless carrier (e.g., AT&T, Verizon, Cingular, etc.) can use one of these technologies to determine the location of the user’s wireless device. This information is presented to the content provider (the business offering the location-based service) in the form of a geocode (the latitude and longitude of the user’s location). The geocode is then translated into a map or step-by-step navigational instructions with the help of a mapping service. As we discuss in Section 3.2, Enhanced 911 Act (E911), Phase II of the E911 Act mandates that network providers locate wireless devices within 125 meters, 67 percent of the time. M-Fact 3.2 Strategy Analytics estimates that location-based commerce and services will be a $7 billion dollar market by 2005. [***S. Marek, “Connecting the Dot-coms,” Near 2000: 15***]

3.2

Technology

Upgrade

Degree of Accuracy

Cell of Origin (COO)

No

Angle of Arrival (AOA)

No

Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA)

No

Enhanced Observed Time Difference (EOTD)

Yes

Least accurate of technologies discussed. User could be anywhere in tower’s range. Only meets Phase I of E911 Act. Fairly accurate. User is within the overlap of two towers’ cell sites. Used primarily in rural areas where there are fewer towers. Complies with Phase II of E911. Accurate. User’s location is determined by triangulating from three locations. Complies with Phase II of E911. Most effective when towers are close together. Accurate. User’s location is determined by triangulating from three locations. Complies with Phase II of E911.

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Technology

Upgrade

Degree of Accuracy

Location Pattern Matching

No upgrade to device or network, but database must be maintained. Yes

Accurate. User’s location is determined by matching noise and interference in a given area making it more effective for locating a device in an urban area.

Global Positioning Systems (GPS)

Fig. 3.1

71

Highly accurate. A user’s location can be determined anywhere on earth. However, GPS is not as effective when the user is indoors.

Location-identification technologies.

Triangulation is a popular technique used by many location-identification technologies. A user’s location is determined using the angles from (at least) two fixed points a known distance apart. We explore triangulation throughout the chapter in the context of each of the location-identification technologies. Location-identification technologies are satellite-based (a “constellation” of satellites is used to determine location) or network-based (a series of cellular towers are used to determine location). Satellite-based methods such as GPS have been in use longer than network-based methods such as Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA), Angle of Arrival (AOA) and Location Pattern Matching. [***Gravitate, Inc. “Gravitate Platform for LocationPrecise™ Services” October 2000.***]In addition, location-identification technologies are network-centric (the location of the device is managed by the network and no enhancements to the device are necessary), handset-centric (an upgrade to the device is necessary to determine a user’s location) or a combination of both. In some cases, if the locationbased service does not have the supporting technology, it will ask users to provide their locations manually, usually in the form of their zip codes. This, however, does not enable location-based services to provide highly accurate information, as zip codes usually cover a large area. There are many obstacles in the development of location-identification technologies. Cost is one issue. In the case of satellite-based services, such as those supported by GPS technology, the relative cost to the user is high as enhancements must be made to the handsets. Standardization presents other challenges. In accordance with the E911 Act, each wireless carrier must be able to identify the location of the user. The carriers have the option of choosing the technology used to provide this information. Figure 3.2 identifies the proponents of the various location-identification technologies. Because there is no one standard, the ability to locate a user becomes a proprietary effort, challenging seamless location identification as users move from place to place.

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M-Fact 3.3 The total cost of building, staffing, maintaining and monitoring a satellite used for locationidentification purposes is estimated to be $12 billion. The satellites currently being used have lifespans of 7–15 years, making periodic replacement inevitable. [***M. Brain, “Location, Location, Location,” eCompany May 2001.***]

3.3

Company

URL

Technology

AccuCom TruePosition™ Cell-Loc™ Grayson Wireless CellTrax KSI, Inc.

AOA TDOA TDOA TDOA TDOA AOA

Lockheed Sanders SnapTrack

www.accucom.com www.trueposition.com www.cell-loc.com www.grayson.com www.celltrax.com www.kesslersystemsinc.com www.sanders.com www.snaptrack.com

U.S. Wireless

www.uswcorp.com

SigmaOne Cambridge Positioning Systems

Radix Technologies, Inc.

www.sigma-1.com www.cursor-system.co.uk www.comm-nav.com/ e911.htm www.radixtek.com

Symmetricom Tendler Cellular

www.symmetricom.com www.fonefinder.com

IDC (Integrated Data Communications)

www.idcservices.com

Corsair - Phonetrack

Fig. 3.2

TDOA Cellular Aided GPS Location-Pattern Matching AOA and TDOA E-OTD AOA/TDOA Adaptive Beam AOA/TDOA E-OTD AMPS Cellular/ GPS/Voice Synthesized Phone Handset-based GPS

Organizations providing location information and the technologies used. [***Permission Permission requested 05.17.01, www.comm-nav.com/ e911.htm***]

3.4.1 Cell of Origin (COO) Cell of Origin (COO), the most primitive method of locating a wireless user does not require enhancements to be made to the network infrastructure or to the individual handset. It is, however, the least accurate of all location-identification technologies and does not meet the requirements of Phase II of the E911 Act. Simply put, each call made from a cell phone is transmitted to a nearby tower. From this tower, the call is sent to the intended recipient. The tower transmitting the call covers © Copyright 2001. Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. First round review.

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a specific area, usually a circumference of several kilometers (Figure 3.3). This is called the cell of origin (COO). This means, that when the call is made, the caller must be within the transmitting tower’s range. However, there is no way to determine whether the user is, for example, 15 kilometers north, east, south or west of the tower. In areas where towers are close together, users can be located more precisely, as the range of each tower is smaller. In rural areas, however, where there are fewer towers and the range of each tower is greater, the degree of accuracy is much less.

Cell-phone user can be anywhere within the tower’s range.

Fig. 3.3

Example of a Cell of Origin (COO).

3.4.2 Angle of Arrival (AOA) Angle of Arrival (AOA) measures the angles from which a cell phone’s signals are received by two towers to determine the user’s location (Fig. 3.4). Each of the two towers has a cell of origin. The overlap of the towers’ cells is used to determine the user’s location. For example, if a caller’s signal is received by two towers, and an imaginary circle is drawn

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around each tower to indicate that tower’s range, the region which the two spheres overlap is the location of the caller (Figure 3.2).

Cell-phone user is in the shaded area.

Fig. 3.4

An illustration of AOA.

The accuracy of signals using AOA, however, is limited by various forms of signal interference. For example, city skyscrapers may cause the signal to bounce. If the signal bounces, it is less likely to reach the target, resulting in a weak signal or none at all. AOA works best in sparsely populated areas where there is a lower likelihood of interference.[***E. Knorr, “The M-Business Guide to Location,” mBusiness January 2001: 71.***]In addition, the overlap of the two spheres does not pinpoint a specific location, but provides an area where the device is located. To deliver the most accurate service, many companies are combining AOA with Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) to provide location-based service capabilities to users in rural and urban areas.

3.4.3 Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) also uses triangulation to determine the location of the user. However, TDOA measures the time it takes a cell-phone signal to reach the receiving tower and two additional towers. [***E. Knorr, “The M-Business Guide to Location,” mBusiness January 2001: 71.***] From the signal’s travel time, the network can determine the user’s distance from each tower. This information is then used to create a set of arcs between the receiving tower and each of the two adjacent towers (used for positioning). The intersection of the arcs identifies the location of the cell-phone user (Fig. 3.5). [***R. Young, “Wireless Positioning Techniques and Services,” Office of the Man-

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ager National Communications System Technical Notes Volume 5, Number 2 ***]

Fig. 3.5

Illustration demonstrating TDOA. [Courtesy of National Communications System.]

TimesThree (a network-based solution provider) TruePosition and SigmaOne have committed to TDOA as their standard location-identification method (see Feature: CellLoc, Times Three and TDOA). Each company uses the technology to offer a wide range of location-based services to customers.

Cell-Loc, TimesThree and TDOA Cell-Loc, a wireless services provider, is developing location-based services for content providers and wireless information portals. Cell-Loc has also spun off an infrastructure development company called TimesThree to build the network necessary to make location-based services widely available. The TimesThree, which is testing its infrastructure in Canada, is planning to offer services in the U.S. The network will cost an estimated $200–$500 million and will offer a variety of consumer-oriented services. [***”Where in the World Is My Car in San Diego?” mBusiness January 2001: 71.***] In addition to its ability to locate callers, TimesThree can be used to manage fleets. Fleet management enables shipments to be rerouted or redistributed to maximize efficiency. TimesThree’s Geofencing™ technology establishes boundaries, indicating to managers when their employees have entered or exited a geographic area. Individuals can also manage their commutes using TimesThree. Users can request traffic reports based on their locations and reroute as necessary. L411 is a service that helps consumers find restaurants, stores and directions. Cell-Loc has created its own proprietary communication method based on XML (XML is discussed in Chapter 25, XML, XSL and XSLT). Location XML allows carriers and device users on disparate systems to communicate accurately and efficiently. Independent developers who wish to create location-based applications can use the Cell-Loc XML standard to build their products. The company has set up a service bureau called the Location Exchange™ which allows developers to access location information in real time. [***”Cellocate™ Technical White Paper” March 2001***]

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Cell-Loc, TimesThree and TDOA Calgary based Cell-Loc is currently developing its network in Canada and the U.S. and is lobbying for TDOA as the standard location-identification technology. U.S. Wireless (www.uswcorp.com) and Focusystems (www.focusystems.com) have also begun offering location-based services using TDOA. All three companies are preparing their systems for E911 compliance and are currently developing other commercial location-based applications.

3.4.4 Enhanced Observed Time Difference (E-OTD) Similar to TDOA, Enhanced Observed Time Difference (E-OTD) measures time travel between the handset and multiple towers to determine the user’s location. However, the cell towers initiate the transmission to the handset and not vice versa. The handset calculates the user’s location based on the time it takes a message to travel from each tower (Fig 3.6). Cambridge Positioning Systems (www.cursor-system.co.uk), a proponent of the E-ODT system, offers a product with positioning accuracy within 50 meters. However, unlike TDOA, this method of identifying a user’s location requires that handset technology be upgraded to offer this level of accuracy. [***E. Knorr, “The M-Business Guide to Location,” mBusiness January 2001: 71.***] One barrier to the E-ODT method is its dependence on the GSM wireless standard. Although GSM is a leading standard in Europe, it is not widely used in the U.S. The GSM standard is discussed in Chapter 10, Wireless Communications Technologies. The use of wireless technologies worldwide is discussed in Chapter 9, International Wireless Communications.[***E. Knorr, “The M-Business Guide to Location,” mBusiness January 2001: 71.***]

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Fig. 3.6

77

E-OTD in operation. [***Sent for permission 4/21/01 www.cs.jyu.fi/ ~mmm/documents/garmash_0900.pdf***]

M-Fact 3.4 Location-based services are expected to be valued at $6.5 billion in the United States and $9 billion in Europe by the year 2005, according to Strategy Analytics. [***E. Knorr, "The M-Business Guide to Location," mBusiness January 2001: 68.***]

3.0

3.4.5 Location-Pattern Matching A cell phone emits patterns created by noise and interference in a given area to form a distinct location pattern (Fig. 3.7). [***”Where in the World Is My Car in San Diego?” mBusiness January 2001: 71.***] This interference is often caused by multipath—the possible multiple routes for a single beam of energy. [******] In wireless communications it refers to mobile transmissions bouncing off various locations in a given area. In urban settings, multipath is common as transmissions must bypass buildings, cars and other stationary objects. Satellite-based location services like GPS rely on a relatively weak signal to pass information, making multipath errors a serious concern in urban areas. Network-based systems, like location-pattern matching,

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use a stronger signal and can therefore offer a more effective service in urban environments. U.S. Wireless has created a location-identification technology called location-pattern matching which uses multipath to locate a user. The company has created a database of location profiles. These profiles define a location by its unique multipath characteristics. Since a person standing in Times Square will almost always emit the same location pattern, the mobile device can be located with a relatively high degree of accuracy. However, a slight change in the environment could cause the area’s multipath characteristics to change. As a result, frequent updates to the database are necessary to prevent errors. Location-pattern matching is not as effective in rural areas where a distinct location pattern cannot be detected, as there are fewer objects with which signals may collide. It is likely that locationpattern matching will be used in combination with other location-based technologies in rural areas.

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Fig. 3.7

79

Location-Pattern Matching. (***Sent for permission 4/21/01***)

3.4.6 Global Positioning System (GPS) The Global Positioning System (GPS) was developed by the United States Department of Defense in the late 1970s to coordinate military operations. It is now used in commercial devices. GPS uses satellites to track a user’s latitude, longitude and altitude. It can be used virtually anywhere in the world, including on airplanes and ships. Originally, the government had two levels of GPS service. The Standard Positioning Service (SPS) was available for public use. SPS was accurate to approximately 100 meters horizontally (along the ground) and 156 meters vertically. The Precise Positioning Service (PPS), originally available only to the military but now available commercially, is precise to 10 meters, 90 percent of the time. [***”Where in the World Is My Car in San © Copyright 2001. Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. First round review.

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Diego?” mBusiness January 2001: 71.***] This enhancement in accuracy is having a positive impact on industry. Ships and trucks are using GPS to avoid traffic, bad weather and other delays. [***C. Mandel, “Throwing the GPS Switch” Near:20.***] For several years, the U.S. Department of Defense controlled this technology for reasons of national security. To do this, a random-error signal (a scrambling mechanism) was used to alter tracking information, making it impossible to determine a device’s location within 300–500 meters. [***M. Brain, “Location, Location, Location,“ eCompany May 2001: 122.***]This was done so foreign powers and terrorists would not be able to use the service effectively. GPS uses 24 satellites to locate wireless devices. The satellites follow fixed orbits 12,500 miles above the earth. [***M. Brain, “Location, Location, Location,” eCompany May 2001: 122.***]To determine a user’s location each satellite sends a signal containing a pseudo-random code to the user’s device. The pseudo-random code identifies the time the signal left the satellite. This time is measured by highly accurate atomic clocks built into each satellite. The user’s device, which contains a GPS receiver, determines the signal’s travel time by comparing the time the signal left the satellite to the time the signal was received. The travel time is then multiplied by the speed of light to determine the distance between the device and each of the satellites. [***”What is GPS?” ***] After the distance has been determined, the next step in determining the user’s location is to find the location of each satellite. As previously mentioned, this information is readily available as each satellite follows a fixed orbit. The location of the satellite and the distance from the satellite to the user’s device create an imaginary a sphere around the satellite. The user could be located on any point along the surface of this sphere. However, when three satellites are used to determine a user’s location, the spheres will intersect indicating the location of the user. This process is demonstrated in Fig. 3.8.

Satellite B

GPS Location-Based Services

Satellite A

Satellite C

A mobile device is located by triangulating the distance between three satellites. The intersection of the three spheres indicates the user’s location.

Receiver

Earth Fig. 3.8

GPS triangulation. [***Permission requested 05.11.01***]

While GPS is extremely accurate, it is also costly. Building the satellites and maintaining them in space has cost billions of dollars. In addition, the GPS chips make handsets

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heavier and more expensive. [***M. Brain, “Location, Location, Location,” eCompany May 2001: 122.***] Aside from cost, GPS has other disadvantages. For example, the signals emitted from the satellites lose strength as they travel through space. Therefore, GPS is not an effective solution for indoor use.

3.4.7 Java and Location-Identification Technologies Location based services are developed with a number of programming languages. Java offers improved interoperability, and a greater number of options for programmers developing location-based services. Java Location Services (www.jlocationservices.com) is a Web site that offers news and information describing Java-based initiatives in location-based services. In the future, a convergence of technologies is expected to change the way location-based services are offered to consumers. It is likely that a single handheld device will serve as a phone, computer, television, radio, and PDA. Java will facilitate this convergence and allow for the proliferation of location-based services for each of these devices. Jini™, a specification of the Java language is designed to improve portability across disparate systems such as home appliances, industrial machinery and various other computer systems. The combination of Jini and other Java specifications make Java a valuable development tool for the many wireless devices available today. Location-based services rely on a database to store personal data and mapping information. This information must be retrieved and analyzed before the user receives location information. This retrieval is conducted by intelligent agents, software programmed to seek out specific information in large databases. JavaBean technology is an ideal development option when designing intelligent agents. ObjectFX is one of many companies that has chosen to use Java in its development efforts. C-it Locate v. 3.0 is the companies latest location-based product. Product users will be able to locate their employees, map their current location, and track inventories. The product was created entirely with Java making it scalable, portable and a powerful alternative to other products on the market. [***industry.java.sun.com/javanews/ stories/story2/0,1072,36242,00.html***] Wireless technology will continue to evolve to meet the demands of the market. Java offers a great deal of flexibility to support the many changes that location-based services and technology will undergo before a standard is reached. [***www.jlocationservices.com/GettingStarted/tutorials/HowJava2.1.1.2.3.html***]

3.5 Location-Based Services The ability to locate users and provide them with information is crucial to the development of the wireless Internet. Some of the most popular applications include fleet tracking, employee and supply management, shipping applications, mapping services and gaming. Location-based services also raise significant privacy questions. Location-identification technology will allow anyone with the right equipment to track the location of a given mobile device at any time. Device manufacturers and legislators will regulate location-based © Copyright 2001. Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. First round review.

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services to prevent privacy violations. This issue is discussed in detail in Chapter 7, Legal and Social Issues; Web Accessibility. In this section, we review these applications and feature some of the leading providers of location-based services.

3.5.1 Automotive Most of the early location-based services were made available to consumers in their automobiles. Drivers could feel secure knowing that their cars were protected with a GPS security system. Also, in the event of an accident or a breakdown, emergency rescue systems and towing companies could locate the vehicle. The Motorola OnStar system, introduced in 1996, provides security and reliability to customers. Its services have been expanded to include such features as OnStar Med-Net, a service that gives rescuers instant access to your medical history at the scene of an accident. If drivers are concerned about recurrent noises, poor gas mileage or other common problems with their automobiles, a call to the OnStar Center will provide them with real-time diagnostics. OnStar also offers premium features including taxi services, route support and a concierge. Each of these services is based on GPS. Motorola gains 1500 new subscribers to the system daily. [***B. Wallace, “Cars will let Motorists Drive and Surf,” Informationweek, January 8, 2001: 109***] Ford offers similar services to its Lincoln customers through in a partnership with ATX technologies. The ATX RESCU has been in use since 1996. Ford has also formed partnerships with Qualcomm and Sprint PCS to provide additional telematics services in a system called Wingcast. These services are similar to the premium services offered through Motorola OnStar. Wingcast services will be available to U.S. customers in 2002.[***B. Smith, “U.S. Drives the Telematics Show,” Wireless Week, 19 March 2001: 5054.***] Location-identification technology will improve traffic monitoring. Researchers in Maryland and Virginia recently began reviewing traffic patterns based on the locations of a representative number of mobile devices in traffic. No longer will commute times be estimated by helicopters flying above the road, but by the actual drive time of motorists in traffic. Local news organizations will be able to direct drivers to alternative routes. [***A. Sipress, “Tracking Traffic by Cell Phone,” Washington Post, 22 December 1999: A12.***] U.S. Wireless Corporation (www.uswirelesscorp.com) has formed partnerships with local governments in San Diego, CA and the state of Maryland to analyze traffic patterns with wireless devices in real time. Using location pattern matching, U.S. wireless informs wireless device users of traffic patterns and alternative routes based on the movement and location of the wireless users. [***S. Diaz, “Cell Phone Signals Touted to Fight Area Traffic Wars,” San Jose Mercury News, 20 January 2000: 1C, 5C***]

3.5.2 Fleet Tracking Location-based services will enhance a company’s ability to track its employees and products. This is a particularly important feature for trucking companies. Location-identification technology will allow customers to track each individual shipment. Shippers will know precisely where their packages are at all times. © Copyright 2001. Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. First round review.

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Trucking companies will realize great benefits from location-based services. Truckers that minimize their mileage will save money and wear and tear on their vehicles. Terion Corporation has created a solution for trucking companies that is intended to minimize cost, increase customer satisfaction and protect drivers if they are lost or in an accident. The system uses GPS to give both the dispatcher and driver real-time location information. The device, which includes liquid crystal display (LCD) screen for mapping, is mounted in the truck’s cab and allows the driver to keep in touch with the company, friends and family. Terion is featured in Chapter 2, m-Business. [******] Cimarron Technologies (www.cimtechcorp.com/avlsoftware.htm) offers a GPS-based fleet tracking system that monitors a vehicle’s location, speed and direction. For example, a taxi dispatcher can find the closest available taxi to a caller to maximize the effectiveness of the fleet. Similar fleet-tracking products are available from Manning NavComp (www.navcomp.com) and Telogis (www.telogis.com). The United States Army has created the Army Movement Tracking System (MTS), a GPS-based system used to track the location of supply vehicles, weapons, fuel trucks and other military vehicles. Many vehicles do not have radios and can have a difficult time locating their destination. The MTS allows these vehicles to be monitored and directed to their destinations. [***B. Brewin, “Army to Award $400M Fleet Tracking Pact,” Federal Computer Week 7 June 1999: 208.201.97.5/pubs/fcw/1999/0607/fcwnewsarmy-6-7-99.html***] Fleet tracking is not restricted to land-based vehicles. The Royal Australian Navy uses location-based fleet tracking to manage its unmanned remote-controlled mine sweeping vessels. Fleet tracking and GPS makes finding live mines and lost vehicles a safer process. A demonstration of the system is available at www.gpsonline.co.nz/Products/ ProductBrochures/Navy.htm.

3.5.3 Location-Based Advertising and Marketing Advertising and marketing applications are some of the most intriguing and potentially lucrative location-based services. Advertisers can offer promotions on shopper’s phones or PDAs. Discounts and promotions can be transmitted to the shopper instantly to entice the buyer into a particular store. Radio advertisers can broadcast personalized commercials to drivers in close proximity to certain restaurants, sporting events or stores. In Chapter 4, eMarketing and m-Marketing we expand our discuss of location-based advertising and marketing. Lucent Technologies (www.lucent.com) and Profilium, Inc. (www.profilium.com) have partnered to offer permission-based marketing and advertising to people based on their locations. Those opting in will receive advertisements over their wireless devices. [***D. McDonough, “Lucent Joins Location-based Ad Game,” www.wirelessnewsfactor.com, 23 January 2001***] Go2 Systems, Inc. (www.go2systems.com) has formed partnerships with companies nationwide to allow users to get directions to local restaurants, schools, shopping malls and various retail stores. A demonstration of its location-based marketing service is available at www.go2online.com/webbrowser/go2rimFlashDemo.html. Further, Coca-Cola (www.coke.com) has signed a deal with Go2 Systems Inc. to offer wireless users access to local purchasing info for Coca-Cola products. The service will give users © Copyright 2001. Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. First round review.

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discount offers and directions to the nearest reseller. [***B. Brewin, “Coke Launches Wireless Location Service,” ComputerWorld 11 December 2000: 8***] Motorola (www.motorola.com) offers a service called Virtual Advisor with its new OnStar systems. The system alerts drivers when they come into the vicinities of their preferred gas station, convenience store, ATM or any other locations specified by the users. [***S. Baran, “Show Me the Way,” Internet World Magazine, 15 March 2001 www.internetworld.com***]

3.5.4 Agriculture and Environmental Protection Planting and harvesting that must be performed precisely to produce the best crop yields. Using GPS and other location-identification technologies, farmers can map their lands and maximize the use of each parcel. In growth periods, a farmer can use GPS measurements from previous years to estimate yields and market conditions for that year. During the harvest, a farmer can plan out the most effective harvesting strategies. GeoFocus, Inc. (www.geofocus.com) has a product that helps farmers accomplish these goals. Forestry officials and conservationists can use location-identification technology to regulate planting and logging guidelines. Growth patterns and the effects of deforestation can be mapped and measured. Similar applications are used to protect wildlife populations, reduce pollution and measure rainfall levels around the world. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established the Location Data Policy to enhance its protection efforts. The EPA uses advanced mapping systems to locate pollution and monitor environmental hazards. An overview of the Location Data Policy is available at www.epa.gov/enviro/html/spatial_data.html Navigation and tracking systems are essential to the commercial fishing, shipping and travel industries. A vessel tracking system based on GPS is available from Sasco-Inc. (www.sasco-inc.com). The Sasco product maps oceans and fishing grounds to improve catch percentages and to monitor vessel locations. A free software demo of the system is available at www.sasco-inc.com/demo_form.htm.

3.5.5 Security and Theft Control Theft is a concern for any company. Retailers must worry about shoplifters, manufacturers must worry about the loss of proprietary data and technology, and homeowners worry about burglary. Location-identification technology offers a tracking solution to each of these problems. Automobile owners already have location-identification options available to them as security features, such as the LoJack® Stolen Vehicle Recovery Network (www.lojack.com) which uses a small location device in registered vehicles to locate them if they are stolen. If a low-cost tracking method is developed, it will even be possible to track a stolen item such as a sweater or CD. Location-identification technology will also enhance efforts by law enforcement officials to track criminals. Pro Tech Monitoring, Inc. (www.ptm.com) specializes in offering GPS tracking for this purpose. The systems prevent criminal activity by paroled criminals by tracking their movements. In addition, tracking enables local law enforcement agencies to trace stolen objects and apprehend perpetrators. Visit www.ptm.com for a demonstration of this application. © Copyright 2001. Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. First round review.

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3.5.6 Accessibility and Wireless Technology Exciting location-based services are available to people with disabilities. Individuals can access advanced navigation tools, enhanced emergency services and maintain a feeling of security when using devices enabled with location-identification technologies. A person with visual disabilities navigating the streets could use a wireless devices with mapping and voice capabilities. As technologies advance, maps could be specialized to include landmarks such as park benches and other obstacles. By using a handheld device with locationidentification technology, people with Alzheimer’s can access location information, local authorities and family members. For the family members and friends of people with disabilities, such as Alzheimer’s and autism, wireless location-identification technology can provide peace of mind. The same technology could be used to help patients call for help could also be built into a wristband for Alzheimer’s patients and small children, allowing family members to find them immediately (Feature: Digital Angel).

Digital Angel Applied Digital Solutions, Inc. offers location-based products and services intended to help people who are lost or in distress. These products, which include watches and pagers, are equipped with GPS location-identification technology. It is not uncommon for a person suffering from Alzheimers to become lost and disoriented. Digital Angel devices can help friends and family members locate their loved ones who may have this experience. Digital Angel includes a GPS location-identification device and a wristwatch that monitors vital signs—such as heart rate and body temperature. The wristwatch also includes a panic button allowing family members and emergency personnel to receive a distress call from a lost or ill family member. Families can also request the location information and health status of individuals through a password protected Web site. Digital Angel also markets its products to parents who wish to keep track of their children. Pet owners can also monitor their animals with a Digital Angel device.[***B. Brewin, “Digital Angel to Watch Over Patients,” ComputerWorld January 1, 2001: 8.***] See Fig. 3.9 for an example of the Digital Angel devices. A flash demonstration of these services is available at www.digitalangel.net. A discussion of Flash can be found in Chapter 32, Flash 5.0.

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Digital Angel

Fig. 3.9

Digital Angel accessibility products. [***Permission requested 05.17.01***]

3.5.7 Wireless Mapping Mapping services on handheld devices give users access to maps via their wireless devices. Location-identification technology enhances these services by allowing users to track their locations while they follow digital maps. GeoView™ Mobile, built on the Palm OS, is one of many mapping services available to mobile device users (the Palm OS is discussed in detail in Chapter 11, Palm and Palm OS). GeoView Mobile provides users with area maps, landmark information and distance measurements. The Geodiscovery™ (www.geodiscovery.com) Geode™ GPS module identifies a location and guides the user through a city in real time. Maps are available for locations across the United States. The Geode GPS Module uses the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) to identify a user’s location within a few meters [******]. The module also uses a digital compass to determine the direction the user is facing and gives directions accordingly. Mapquest (www.mapquest.com), a leader in Internet-based mapping services, also offers mobile mapping services. Customers using Nokia or Palm products can access mapping services while on the road. Mapquest cites traffic updates and precise mapping as major advantages to their service. © Copyright 2001. Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. First round review.

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3.6 Location-Interoperability Forum In an effort to standardize location-identification technologies, Ericsson, Nokia and Motorola formed the Location Interoperability Forum (LIF) (www.locationforum.org) that now has over 70 member organizations. Wireless solution providers have invested a great deal in their preferred location-based technologies. The LIF facilitates the standardization and adoption of these wireless technologies. The LIF is primarily concerned with access to location information. This includes the ability to locate wireless customers in roaming areas (areas outside local calling areas) and how to manage the use of the various location-identification standards. [***S. Peterson, “A Standard for Location,” mBusiness January 2001: 90-91.***] LIF contends that all players in the development and use of wireless devices will benefit from a common location-identification standard. These players include manufacturers, developers, consumers, service providers, content generators, etc. In this chapter, we explored location-identification technologies, including TDOA, AOA and GPS. We addressed the advantages and disadvantages of each technology, as well as investigating how they operate. We also discussed location-based services, including wireless advertising and marketing, wireless accessibility and fleet tracking. In the next chapter, e-Marketing and m-Marketing, we review electronic marketing and advertising tactics and explore how wireless communications can enhance marketing efforts.

3.7 Internet and World Wide Web Resources Location-Based Service Providers www.uswcorp.com A location-based solution provider offering a full range of location-based products and services. www.trueposition.com TruePosition® uses a TDOA technology to provide location-based services. TruePosition specializes in E911 applications. www.cell-loc.com Cell-loc, Inc. provides location-based services to wireless users with its TimesThree product. The product uses the company’s TDOA-based location system called Cellocate™. www.ericsson.com GSM phones can be located using the Ericsson Mobile Positioning System. Ericsson has developed a wide variety of wireless location solutions. www.geodiscovery.com This company offers a modular product that attaches to a phone or PDA and guides a user with realtime driving directions. www.intuwave.com Offers a GPS-based service that allows users to call taxis without the users knowing their exact locations. The service sends the nearest taxis to customers. www.casio.com Offers a series of wireless-enabled products, including the Satellite NAVI—a watch with locationidentifying technologies.

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www.mapquest.com Mapquest provides a free location mapping service on mobile phones. Driving directions and a roadtrip planner are also available. www.aeris.net Fleet and asset tracking are a few of the location-based services provided by this company. Aeris also offers remote security options and utility monitoring services. www.blueimpact.com This company has created a product that combines the functionality of a Handspring Visor with GPS location technology and a mobile phone. The product, called Tellman, attaches to a Handspring Visor PDA. www.airbiquity.com Nokia product users can use the Airbiquity GPS accessory to turn their mobile phone into a mobile location device. Airbiquity also offers a variety of telematics services. www.airflash.com This company provides location-based services such as ATM machine location, emergency services and telematics. WAP-enabled phone users can get a free demo version of the Airflash wireless location product. www.atroad.com This company offers fleet tracking and other location-based services. @Road offers a demo of their fleet tracking product at the site. www.mapinfo.com MapInfo Corporation provides a full line of electronic mapping solutions. These solutions include geocoding, data analysis, and routing services.

Location-Based Technology News and Information www.lbszone.com This site provides links to the latest location-based services new and to leading location-based service providers. www.lbsz.com This site is a portal providing extensive links to news and information regarding location-based services. www.geoplace.com This site offers a collection of articles about location-based services. groups.yahoo.com/group/Location-Based-Services This user group is free to join and discusses the latest issues in location-identification technologies. www.pswn.gov The Public Safety Wireless Network is dedicated to improving public safety efforts with wireless technology. The group recently introduced a national wireless interoperability initiative. www.trimble.com/gps Provides an online tutorial demonstrating GPS technology. www.pulver.com This site lists conference information for various wireless and LBS trade shows. www.the3gportal.com News and information related to third-generation wireless products, services and technologies. The site has a section dedicated to location-based services.

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www.wireless.internet.com A portal site for wireless information. The site offers news and information about location-based services. www.wirelessweek.com This web-based magazine covers of the location-based services industry. www.topconps.com/gpstutorial/TOC.html An in-depth GPS tutorial is available at this site. www.cnde.iastate.edu/staff/swormley/gps/gps.html This site offers a comprehensive GPS resources listing. www.cio.com/forums/communications/technology_content.html CIO magazine offers a special section with news and information on location-based services.

Location-Based Services Standards and Legislation www.locationforum.org The Location Interoperability Forum (LIF) is dedicated to developing standards for location-identifying technologies. www.fcc.gov/e911 The Web site established by the FCC to provide information regarding the E911 Act. www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Wireless/Public_Notices/2000/da002099.html The Web site established by the FCC to provide details about the automatic location-identification specification of the E911 Act. jlocationservices.com The Java location services portal. This site provides various technology discussion, product reviews, current standards information and news. www.openls.org/ The Open Location Services initiative is dedicated to finding an open-source solution for locationbased services. A recent proposal to the LIF is available for download. www.wireless-location.com Paid subscribers gain access to the latest news and research in the location-based services industry. www.wliaonline.org The Wireless Location Industry Association home page. This site offers news, standards updates and workshops on LBS.

People With Disabilities www.eWorldTrack.com This company specializes in personal tracking systems. A free tracking demo is available. The site offers tracking services for parents, law enforcement, automobile owners and people with disabilities.

SUMMARY • Telematics is the convergence of computer technology and mobile telecommunications. • Location-based services are enabled by the relationship among cellular service providers, cellular networks and mobile-device users. • The E911 Act (the “E” stands for “Enhanced”), put forth by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in June of 1996, is designed to standardize and enhance 911 service across mobile devices. Its goal is to improve emergency response time to 911 calls placed using cell phones.

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• The Disabilities Issues Task Force of the FCC is making efforts to ensure that hearing and speechimpaired people have access to 911 service through mobile devices. • The second phase of the E911 Act mandates that all mobile-phone carriers provide Automatic Location Identification (ALI) of a caller within 125 meters, 67 percent of the time. • Each cellular device is given a unique Cell-ID, a number that identifies the device to the network. A device’s Cell-ID is most often used to determine if a phone has been cloned. • Triangulation is a popular technique used by many location-identification technologies. A user’s location is determined using the angles from (at least) two fixed points a known distance apart. • Location-identification technologies are satellite-based (a “constellation” of satellites is used to determine location) or network-based (a series of cellular towers are used to determine location). • Location-identification methods are network-centric (the location of the device is managed by the network and no enhancements to the device are necessary), handset-centric (an upgrade to the device is necessary to determine a user’s location) or a combination of both. • The tower transmitting a call covers a specific area, usually a circumference of several meters. This is called the cell of origin (COO). • Angle of Arrival (AOA) measures the angles from which a cell phone’s signals are received by two towers to determine the user’s location. • The accuracy of signals using AOA is limited by various forms of signal interference. • To provide the most accurate service, many companies are combining AOA with TDOA to provide location-based service capabilities to users in rural and urban areas. • TDOA measures the time it takes a cell-phone signal to reach the receiving tower and two additional towers (used for location identification). • Similar to TDOA, Enhanced Observed Time Difference (E-OTD) measures time of trave of the signal between the handset and multiple towers to determine the user’s location; however, the cell towers initiate the transmission to the handset and not vice versa. • A cell phone emits patterns created by noise and interference in a given area to form a distinct location pattern. Location-pattern matching uses this to locate a user. • The Global Positioning System (GPS) was developed by the United States Department of Defense in the late 1970s to coordinate military operations. • Building the satellites and maintaining them once they are in space can cost billions of dollars. The GPS chips (which are added to the handset) make handsets heavier and more expensive. • The ability to locate users and provide them with information is crucial to the development of the wireless Internet. Some of the most popular applications include fleet tracking, employee and supply management, shipping applications, mapping services and gaming. • Location-based services also raise privacy questions. Location-identification technology allows anyone with the right equipment to track the location of a given mobile device at any time. • Most of the early location-based services were made available to consumers in their automobiles. • Location-based services enhance a company’s ability to track its employees. Trucking companies will also can use location-based services to minimize their mileage. • Using location-identification technologies, advertisers can offer promotions on a shopper’s wireless devices. Discounts and promotions can be transmitted to entice buyers into particular stores. • Using GPS and other location-identification technologies, farmers can map their lands and maximize the use of each parcel. In growth periods, a farmer can use GPS measurements from previous years to estimate yields and market conditions for that year.

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• Forestry officials and conservationists can use location-identification technology to regulate planting and logging guidelines. They can map growth patterns and measure the effects of deforrestation. Similar applications are used to protect wildlife, reduce pollution and measure rainfall levels worldwide. • Location-identification technology enhances efforts by law enforcement officials to track criminals. • People with disabilities can access advanced navigation tools, enhanced emergency services and maintain a feeling of security when using devices enabled with location-identification technologies. • Blind people can navigate the streets using a PDA with mapping and voice capabilities. As technologies advance, maps could be specialized to include landmarks such as park benches and other obstacles to prevent accidents. • By using a handheld device with location-identification technology, Alzheimer’s patients who have become disoriented can access location information, local authorities and family members. Family members and friends can use the same technology to locate their loved ones. • In an effort to standardize location-identification technologies, several of the leading wireless device manufacturers formed the Location Interoperability Forum (LIF). • LIF is primarily concerned with access to location information. This includes the ability to locate wireless customers in roaming areas (areas outside local calling areas) and how to manage the use of the various location-identification standards.

TERMINOLOGY Angle of Arrival (AOA) Automatic Location Identification (ALI) Automatic Number Information (ANI) Cell of Origin (COO) Cell-ID Disabilities Issues Task Force E911 Act Enhanced Observed Time Difference (E-OTD) geocode Global Positioning System (GPS) GSM handset-centric technologies Location Interoperability Forum (LIF) Location Pattern Matching Location-Based Services (LBS) Location-Pattern Matching multipath network-centric technologies Precise Positioning Service (PPS) pseudo-random code satellite satellite-based Standard Positioning Service (SPS) telematics Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) triangulation

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SELF-REVIEW EXERCISES 3.1

State whether each of the following is true or false; if false, explain why. a) A geocode is created by a GPS chip to pinpoint the location of a mobile device user. b) TDOA location-identification technology is often combined with AOA technology to improve its accuracy. c) Cell-ID is the leading location-identification standard for the upgrade to 3G wireless networks. d) E911 is intended to provide marketers with the accurate location information of all cellphone users. e) GPS relies on a series of towers to pinpoint the location of a wireless device.

3.2

Fill in the blanks in each of the following statements. location method. a) Two towers are necessary to pinpoint a user when using the is the process of identifying a device by analyzing the unique signal embedb) ded in its transmission. is similar to TDOA, except the towers initiate location identification. c) location-identification technology depends on a “constellation” of satellites d) to determine a user’s location. is an initiative that will allow rescuers to reach victims more quickly and e) with greater accuracy using location-identification technologies.

ANSWERS TO SELF-REVIEW EXERCISES 3.1 a) False. A geocode is generated by the mobile carrier to help pinpoint a user with longitude and latitude. b) True. c) False. Cell-ID location-based services will likely be phased out when 3G technology is released. d) False. E911 was designed to help emergency rescuers find accident victims. e) False. GPS uses 24 orbiting satellites that provide information to locate a device. 3.2

a) AOA. b) Location-Pattern Matching. c) AOA. d) GPS. e) E911.

EXERCISES 3.3

State whether each of the following is true or false; if false, explain why. a) Standard Positioning Service allows three towers to communicate simultaneously to identify a user’s location. b) All wireless carriers are required to use the same location-identification standard. c) E-OTD relies on a series of satellites to pinpoint a mobile device. d) Wireless location is not available on the GSM wireless protocol used in Europe. e) According to the E911 Act, location identification technology must enable rescuers to locate a victim within 125 feet, 67% of the time.

3.4

Fill in the blanks in each of the following statements. a) The government recently made a more accurate version of GPS available to the public. . This new version is often referred to as is the term that represents an object’s longitude and latitude in locationb) A identification technologies. is a U.S. wireless technology that uses unique patterns to identify the locac) tion of a mobile device. . d) The "E" in E911 stands for is used in rural areas as fewer towers are needed to send and receive location e) information.

3.5

Define the following.

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a) b) c) d) e) f)

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TDOA E-OTD AOA GPS Cell of Origin Location-Pattern Matching

3.6 (Class discussion) Divide the audience into groups. Each groups is assigned the task of developing new location based-services. Each group should include their preferred location-based technologies with their answer. 3.7 Create a list of five leading location-based services. List the most effective location-based technology (TDOA, AOA, etc.) for providing each of these services. Give a short explanation for each answer. 3.8 (Class discussion) Location-based services will change the way people conduct business, go shopping and navigate their environment.These same services could have a profound effect on personal privacy. Discuss the many ways location-based services could compromise personal privacy. How could these violations be avoided. 3.9 Visit www.trimble.com/gps and click on the link for the "How GPS Works" demonstration and answer the following questions. a) According to the first segment of the demo, accurate _______ is needed to calculate travel time. b) How many satellites are needed in a mathematical sense to locate a user according to the demo? c) _______, built into the satellites, are used to measure time. d) To determine the location of the user, each satellite sends a signal containing a _______ to the user’s device. This complex coding system identifies the time the signal left the satellite. 3.10 Go to the Pro Tech Monitoring, Inc. Web site (www.ptm.com) and walk through the demo to answer the following questions. a) SMART stands for _______. ANS: Satellite Monitoring and Remote Tracking b) Describe the first stage of SMART. ANS: The SMART satellites are used to determine the latitude and longitude of the tracking device. c) Once the position of the offender has been identified, it is sent to the _______. ANS: Customer Call Center via the Cellular Network. d) The Customer Call Center alerts many different parties, including law enforcement officials and the victim. It also sends a _______ to the offender. ANS: warning message 3.11 Visit the Digital Angel Web site (www.digitalangel.net) and answer the following questions. a) What three examples are used in the Introduction as applications of Digital Angel technology? ANS: Grandpa (potential heart attack victim), Jane (car trouble) and Spot (lost pet). b) According to the explanation provided on the "What is Digital Angel" page, what are the other sensors Digital Angel plans to add to its product? ANS: EKG and EEG monitoring, blood chemistry (glucose monitoring), temperature, blood pressure, sound, vibration and parts proximity pressure. c) What device is used to monitor a patient’s body temperature and heart rate?

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ANS: A wristwatch.

WORKS CITED The notation indicates that the citation is for information found at that Web site. 1. E. Young, “Car 540819, Where Are You?” The Industry Standard 23 April 2001: 69. 2.

“Recently Pinpointed: Industry News from Around the Globe,” Near (Volume 1 Issue 2): 49.

3.

S. A. Pignone, “When Cell Phones Save Lives,” Near (Volume 1 Issue 2): 11-14.

4.

R. Driscoll, “Mandating Major Change,” Near (Volume 1 Issue 2) 30.

5. S.L. Roberts-With. “You Are Here,” . 6.

S. Marek, “Connecting the Dot-coms,” Near 2000: 15.

7.

Gravitate, Inc. “Gravitate Platform for Location-Precise™ Services,” October 2000.

8.

M. Brain, “Location, Location, Location,” eCompany May 2001: 122.

9.

E. Knorr, “The M-Business Guide to Location,” mBusiness January 2001: 71.

10. E. Knorr, 71. 11. R. Young, “Wireless Positioning Techniques and Services,” Office of the Manager National Communications System Technical Notes Volume 5, Number 2 . 12. ”Where in the World Is My Car in San Diego?” mBusiness January 2001: 71. 13. ”Cellocate™ Technical White Paper” March 2001. 14. E. Knorr, 71. 15. E. Knorr, 71. 16. E. Knorr, 68. 17. ”Where in the World Is My Car in San Diego?” mBusiness January 2001: 71. 18. ”Where in the World Is My Car in San Diego?” mBusiness January 2001: 71. 19. C. Mandel, “Throwing the GPS Switch” Near:20. 20. M. Brain, 122. 21. ”What is GPS?” . 22. M. Brain, 122. 23. R. Young, “Wireless Positioning Techniques and Services,” Office of the Manager National Communication System Technical Notes . 24. B. Wallace, “Cars will let Motorists Drive and Surf,” InformationWeek January 8, 2001: 109. 25. B. Smith, “U.S. Drives the Telematics Show,” Wireless Week 19 March 2001: 50-54. 26. A. Sipress, “Tracking Traffic by Cell Phone,” Washington Post 22 December 1999: A12. 27. M. McCall, “Heavy Traffic Keeps Location Firm in Business,” Wireless Week 21 August 2000. 28. S. Diaz, “Cell Phone Signals Touted to Fight Area Traffic Wars,” San Jose Mercury News 20 January 2000: 1C, 5C.

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29. B. Brewin, “Army to Award $400M Fleet Tracking Pact,” Federal Computer Week 7 June 1999: . 30. D. McDonough, “Lucent Joins Location-based Ad Game,” 23 January 2001. 31. B. Brewin, “Coke Launches Wireless Location Service,” ComputerWorld 11 December 2000: 8. 32. Baran, “Show Me the Way,” Internet World Magazine15 March 2001 . 33. B. Brewin, “Digital Angel to Watch Over Patients,” ComputerWorld January 1, 2001: 8. 34. . 35. D. Jessop, “TimesThree and Airflash Integrate Wireless Services,” . 36. S. Peterson, “A Standard for Location,” mBusiness January 2001: 90-91.

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DUMP FILE Answers to Exercises 3.12

State whether each of the following is true or false; if false, explain why. a) Standard Positioning Service allows 3 towers to communicate simultaneously to identify a user’s location. False. The Standard Positioning System is the less accurate of two government mandated GPS systems available to the general public. b) All wireless carriers are required to use the same location-identification technology. False. Each carrier can chose a technology, but it must comply with Phase II of the E911 Act. c) E-OTD relies on a series of satellites to pinpoint a mobile device. False. E-OTD relies on towers or base stations to send and receive location information. d) Wireless location is not available on the GSM wireless protocol used in Europe. False. There are a number of GSM based location-based technology options available in Europe. e) Location identification technology must allow rescuers to locate a victim within 125 feet 67% of the time under E911 quidelines. True.

3.13

Fill in the blanks in each of the following statements. a) The government recently made a more accurate version of GPS available to the public. . This new version is often referred to as ANS: Precise Positioning System. is the term that represents an object’s longitude and latitude in locationb) A identification technologies. ANS: Geocode. is a U.S. wireless technology which uses unique patterns to identify the loc) cation of a mobile device. ANS: Location Pattern Matching. . d) The "E" in E911 stands for ANS: Enhanced is used in rural areas as fewer towers are needed to send and receive location e) information. ANS: Angle of Arrival (AOA).

3.14

Define the following. a) TDOA ANS: TDOA stands for Time Difference of Arrival and is a network-based, location-identification technology that uses three satellites to triangulate the location of a user. b) E-OTD ANS: Enhanced Observed Time Difference is a network-based location-identification technology similar to TDOA and AOA. E-OTD relies on fewer towers as it also uses a local Measurement Unit (LMU). c) AOA ANS: Angle of Arrival is a network-based, location-identification technology that uses two towers to determine the location of a user, it is often combined with TDOA to improve its accuracy in urban areas. d) GPS ANS: Global Position System is a satellite-based, location-identification technology that uses advanced encryption and a network of 24 satellites to locate a mobile device. e) Cell of Origin

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ANS: A location-identification technology that can determine the location of the user to within the transmitting tower’s range. f) Location Pattern Matching ANS: A proprietary location-identification technology that locates a user by analyzing the unique multipath patterns created by the buildings and other obstacles in a given area. 3.15 (Class discussion) Divide the audience into groups. Each group is assigned the task of developing new location based-services. Each group should include its preferred location-based technologies. ANS: Students participating in this exercise should have generated a new location-based service, or should have attempted to enhance an existing service. The service should be described in step-by-step detail, including how the user initiates a request for information, how that information is transmitted, the preferred transmission technology and why it was chosen, the target market of the service and an explanation of why the students think the service is valuable. A class discussion format can be used so students may share their ideas and discuss their strengths and weaknesses. 3.16 Create a list of five leading location-based services. List the most effective location-based technology (TDOA, AOA, etc.) for providing each of these services. Give a short explanation for each answer. ANS: Students should consider the most likely location for the application they are listing.Those applications used in urban areas would be used with TDOA or E-OTD while those in rural areas might use GPS, E-OTD or AOA. Students should also consider cost and E911 in their answer. Applications may be those listed in this chapter or their own suggestions. 3.17 (Class discussion) Location-based services will change the way people conduct business, go shopping and navigate in their environment.These same services could have a profound effect on personal privacy. Discuss the ways in which location-based services could compromise personal privacy. How could these violations be avoided? ANS: Privacy issues are discussed in detail in Chapter 7, Legal and Social Issues; Web Accessibility. Students should provide specific examples of potential privacy violations, such as employee tracking and unsolicited advertising. Students should consider the values these services provide and weigh them against the potential drawbacks. Some drawbacks include, cost to the user for airtime and dissatisfaction with advertising tactics. Solutions to the privacy problem, such as opt-in policies and various legislation, should also be discussed. 3.18 Visit www.trimble.com/gps and click on the link for the "How GPS Works" demonstration and answer the following questions. a) According to the first segment of the demo, accurate _______ is needed to calculate travel time. ANS: timing b) How many satellites are needed in a mathematical sense to locate a user according to the demo? ANS: 4 satellites c) _______, built into the satellites, are used to measure time. ANS: Atomic clocks d) To determine the location of the user, each satellite sends a signal containing a _______ to the user’s device. This complex coding system identifies the time the signal left the satellite. ANS: Pseudo Random Code

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1

A AccuCom 72 Angle of Arrival (AOA) 70, 71, 73, 90 Army Movement Tracking System (MTS) 83 AT&T 70 ATX RESCU 82 Automatic Location Identification (ALI) 69, 90 Automatic Number Information (ANI) 69

B business-to-consumer (B2C) application 68 business-to-employee (B2E) application 68

C Cambridge Positioning Systems 72 Cell of Origin (COO) 70, 73, 90 cell-ID 70, 90 Cell-Loc 72, 75 CellTrax 72 Cimarron Technologies 83 Cingular 70 cloned phone 70 content provider 70 Corsair Phonetrack 72 customer relationship management (CRM) 68

D Digital Angel 85 Disabilities Issues Task Force 69, 90

E E911 Act 69, 89 Enhanced Observed Time Difference (E-OTD) 70, 76, 90 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 84

F Federal Trade Commission (FTC) 69, 89

G geocode 70 GeoFocus, Inc. 84 GeoView Mobile 86 Global Positioning System (GPS) 69, 71, 79, 80, 90 Go2 Systems, Inc. 83 Grayson Wireless 72 GSM 76

H handset-centric technology 71, 90

Chapter

Chapter

I IDC (Integrated Data Communications) 72

K KSI, Inc 72

L L411 75 Location Interoperability Forum (LIF) 87, 91 Location Pattern Matching 71 Location XML 75 location-based services (LBS) 82, 90 Location-Pattern Matching 71, 78 Lockheed Sanders 72 Lucent Technologies 83

M Manning NavComp 83 Mapquest 86 Motorola 84 multipath 68, 77

N network-based location-identification technologies 71, 90 network-centric technology 71, 90

O OnStar 82

P Precise Positioning Service (PPS) 79 Pro Tech Monitoring, Inc. 84 Profilium, Inc. 83 pseudo-random code 80

R Radix Technologies, Inc. 72 Royal Australian Navy 83

S Sasco-Inc. 84 satellite 80 satellite-based location-identification technologies 71, 90 SigmaOne 72, 75 SnapTrack 72 Standard Positioning Service (SPS) 79 store.geodiscovery.com/geodegpsmodule1.html 86, 95 Symmetricom 72

2

3

T telematics 68 Telogis 83 Tendler Cellular 72 Terion Corporation 83 Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) 70, 71, 74, 75, 76, 90 TimesThree 75 triangulation 71, 90 TruePosition 72, 75

U U.S. Wireless 72

V Verizon 70

W Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) 86 www.accucom.com 72 www.cell-loc.com 72 www.celltrax.com 72 www.cimtechcorp.com/avlsoftware.htm 83 www.coke.com 83 www.comm-nav.com/e911.htm 72 www.cs.jyu.fi/~mmm/documents/garmash_0900.pdf 77 www.cursor-system.co.uk 72, 76 www.digitalangel.net 85 www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Wireless/Public_Notices/2000/da002099.html 69 www.fcc.gov/e911 69 www.focusystems.com 76 www.fonefinder.com 72 www.geodiscovery.com 86, 87 www.geofocus.com 84 www.go2systems.com 83 www.grayson.com 72 www.idcservices.com 72 www.kesslersystemsinc.com 72 www.locationforum.org 87 www.lucent.com 83 www.mapquest.com 86 www.motorola.com 84 www.navcomp.com 83 www.profilium.com 83 www.ptm.com 84 www.radixtek.com 72 www.sanders.com 72 www.sasco-inc.com 84 www.sigma-1.com 72 www.snaptrack.com 72 www.symmetricom.com 72 www.telogis.com 83 www.trueposition.com 72 www.uswcorp.com 72, 76

Chapter

Chapter

www.uswirelesscorp.com 82

X XML 75

4

4 e-Marketing and mMarketing Objectives • To explore the application of the Internet and wireless technology to traditional marketing methods. • To discuss online marketing research. • To discuss e-mail marketing. • To examine wireless and wireline advertising, promotions and customer relationship management. • To introduce the issues of privacy and personalization. • To examine business-to-business marketing. • To understand search engines and how to increase rankings on search result lists. The new electronic independence re-creates the world in the image of a global village. Marshall McLuhan If we value the pursuit of knowledge, we must be free to follow wherever that search may lead us. Adlai E. Stevenson "Will you walk into my parlor?" said the Spider to the Fly; "Tis the prettiest little parlor that ever did you spy." Mary Howitt There are no dumb customers. Peter Drucker You can tell the ideals of a nation by its advertisements. Norman Douglas

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Advertisers are the interpreters of our dreams . . . E. B. White

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Outline 4.1

Introduction

4.2

Branding

4.3

Marketing Research

4.4

E-Mail Marketing

4.5

Wireless Marketing

4.6

Promotions

4.7

Advertising

4.8

4.7.1

Banner Advertising

4.7.2

Buying and Selling Banner Advertising

4.7.3

Media-Rich Advertising

4.7.4

Wireless Advertising

Tracking and Analyzing Data 4.8.1

Log-File Analysis

4.8.2

Data Mining

4.8.3

Customer Registration

4.8.4

Cookies

4.8.5

Wireless Tracking

4.9

Personalization

4.10

Public Relations

4.11

Business-to-Business (B2B) Marketing on the Web

4.12

Search Engines

4.13

4.14

4.12.1

META Tags

4.12.2

Search-Engine Registration

4.12.3

Search Engines for Wireless Users

CRM 4.13.1

Wireless Customer Relationship Management

4.13.2

Sales-Force Automation

Internet and World Wide Web Resources

Summary • Terminology • Self-Review Exercises • Answers to Self-Review Exercises • Exercises • Works Cited

4.1 Introduction Competition is intense in the e-business, e-commerce and m-business/m-commerce worlds, and having solid e-marketing and m-marketing strategies can give a company a clear ad-

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vantage. Wireless devices, the Internet and the World Wide Web provide marketers with new tools and added convenience for the development and delivery of marketing campaigns. In this chapter, we explore various components of a marketing campaign, such as marketing research, advertising, promotions and public relations. We also discuss the importance of search engines and how they can be used to increase Web-site traffic. While generating Web-site traffic is important to the success of e-businesses and mbusinesses, it is not enough. Keeping user profiles, recording visits and analyzing promotional and advertising results are helpful when measuring a marketing campaign’s effectiveness. By discovering the target market—the group of people toward whom it is most profitable to aim a marketing campaign—a company can focus its campaign and increase the number of visits, responses and purchases. E-marketing and m-marketing should be used with traditional marketing to create the most effective corporate marketing strategy. This strategy includes a focus on attracting new customers to a site and bringing them back repeatedly. The development of the wireless Internet has greatly enhanced the ability of organizations to target consumers and deliver timely, relevant content. In the previous chapter, we discussed location-based technologies. In this chapter, we explore how these technologies can deliver promotions, coupons, advertisements and customer service more effectively. We discuss how marketing through wireless devices differs from traditional forms of marketing, as well as some of the challenges facing the development of accurate tracking and target marketing. m-Fact 4.1 According to Ovum, the wireless advertising industry will be $16 billion by 2005.1

4.0

This chapter also provides numerous e-marketing and m-marketing resources, including many URLs, tutorials and demos. These resources will expand knowledge and understanding of e-marketing.

4.2 Branding Brand is typically defined as a name, logo or symbol that helps identify a company’s products or services. Customers’ experiences can be considered part of a company’s brand and include the quality of customers’ interactions with a company and its products or services. 2 Brands should be unique, recognizable and easy to remember. 3 Brand equity includes the value of tangible and intangible items, such as a brand and its monetary value over time, customer perceptions and customer loyalty to a company and its products or services. Businesses that already have a solid brand may find it easier to transfer their brand to the Internet and wireless Web, while Internet-only businesses must strive to develop a brand that customers trust and value. In this section, we discuss e-marketing techniques and how they can be used to increase brand recognition. We also discuss how brand management applies to wireless marketing. Uniformity of the brand as it is used across many channels of customer contact will increase brand recognition. Businesses seek to create dominant brand awareness and encourage customer loyalty by using offline, online and wireless advertising, e-mail marketing and public relations. However, marketers using the wireless Web to deliver branding

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messages may consider altering their strategies. Established brands may be damaged or made ineffective by improper display on wireless devices. The technology to deliver wireless information is not currently at the level needed to send colorful, animated streaming media messages. The small screen size, low resolution and lack of color can create a challenge for even the most experienced brand managers. Other branding options including well-known phrases, slogans or jingles can be delivered through text messages and audio to provide an alternative to logos.4 The Internet also makes it difficult to protect a company’s brand from misuse. Rumors and customer dissatisfaction can spread quickly over the Internet and can appear on message boards and in chat rooms. It is not difficult for people to use other companies’ logos on their sites or products illegally. Companies can attempt to protect their brands by hiring people to surf the Web and look for news, rumors and other instances of brand abuse. Such brand monitoring activities can be outsourced to companies such as eWatch (www.ewatch.com) and NetCurrents (www.netcurrents.com).

4.3 Marketing Research Marketing research can help a company develop its marketing mix which includes product or service details and development, effective pricing, promotion and distribution. Marketing research has traditionally consisted of focus groups, interviews, paper and telephone surveys, questionnaires and secondary research—findings based on previously collected data. Research can now be performed over the Internet, giving marketers a new, faster option for finding and analyzing industry, customer and competitor information. The Internet also provides a relaxed and anonymous setting to hold focus-group discussions and distribute questionnaires. It is useful to learn about the demographics of Internet, World Wide Web and wireless device users to target marketing campaigns more effectively. Demographics are statistics on the human population, including age, sex, marital status and income. To view some Internet demographics and e-commerce statistics, visit www.wilsonweb.com/webmarket/demograf.htm and www.commerce.net/research/stats/ stats.html. Knowing customers’ ages, incomes and locations can help to reveal their buying power. Evaluating and researching further can allow marketers to find the customers’ psychographics, which can include family lifestyle, cultural differences and values.5 e-Fact 4.1 With 90 percent accuracy, Quova, a company developing technology to determine physical locations of Internet users, can provide browsers’ city locations within one-fiftieth of a second.6 4.1

Once this information is collected, the market can be segmented into groups that have similar characteristics and interests. Segmentation, both online and offline, can be based on age, income, gender, culture and common needs and wants. This process will help the marketer conduct further research and develop and target marketing campaigns more effectively. What does each group want? Which of their needs are not being met? Are they demanding a product or service that can be provided? Are they unhappy with current prod-

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ucts or services? Answers to these questions can help the marketer tailor product development and service management to fit the target market. Online focus groups can be conducted to allow current or potential consumers to present their opinions about products, services or ideas. This feedback can be useful when making critical decisions on the launch of a new product, service or campaign. It is important to note that although Internet focus groups do provide participants with a comfortable setting, the leader of the focus group cannot interpret a participant’s body language as a form of communication. 7 Traditional focus groups can allow customers to touch, smell and experience products or services in a manner not possible with online methods. It is important to understand each culture and each target market. By testing a site and marketing campaign on a smaller scale with focus groups and trials, misconceptions and misunderstandings can be corrected before launching a site or campaign. SurveySite™ (www.surveysite.com) conducts online focus groups and surveys. Its groups usually consist of 8 to 10 participants and a moderator, who meet during a specific time in one of SurveySite’s chat rooms. Messages sent between the moderator and participants can be delivered using text, graphics and multimedia. SurveySite then provides a transcript of the session and a report containing a qualitative analysis of the focus group. The company also provides demos of its online surveys at www.surveysite.com. Online surveys can be conducted from a Web site or through e-mail. InsightExpress.com offers automated marketing research, including survey creation and delivery. Visit the site to view the demo of its service. GoGlobal Technologies (www.goglobal.com) also creates online surveys for corporations and marketing research firms. QuickTake.com™ is a Web-based online-survey solution that can assist in survey creation; it can locate the target market over the Internet and collect answers to the survey. It then analyzes the findings and provides reports in real time. Data collected from a company’s Web site can also provide a user with valuable marketing research. Technologies that can reveal consumer preferences are available. To learn about log-file analysis and data mining, see Section 4.8, Tracking and Analyzing Data. Diameter (www.diameter.net) provides e-marketing research tools and support for using them. KVO (www.kvo.com) provides research for companies involved in the ecommerce and Web-advertising industries, and Macro Consulting, Inc. (www.macroinc.com) offers traditional and e-marketing research and consultations. Quirk’s Marketing Research Review (www.Quirks.com) is a marketing research magazine. Its site provides access to the Researcher SourceBook™, which contains a listing of companies that specialize in marketing-research products and services. Marketing research can also be used to evaluate campaign results. Measuring the costs and benefits of a campaign can help determine its relative success or failure. These measurements can also help develop a budget for the following year’s marketing activities. A marketer can use the results of marketing research to identify segments that may be growing or that may be the most profitable. To understand current industry trends, marketers may want to view research on e-commerce. Some of the most popular marketing-research firms are now publishing research results online. Forrester Research (www.forrester.com) provides access to research findings on Internet and e-commerce activities. It also offers a free e-research demonstration and some free research reports.

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Adknowledge has complete research solutions and free marketing-research information on the online-advertising industry. The free reports can be downloaded at www.adknowledge.com. Other popular research companies include Jupiter Communications (www.jup.com) and Media Metrix (www.mediametrix.com). To keep current on news from different industries, try searching at www.marketresearchinfo.com. Market researchers can find free tools, such as tutorials for Web surveys, a market-research company directory and an Employment Board for the marketingresearch industry, at @ResearchInfo.com. Also, trials for software, freeware and shareware are available at www.marketresearchinfo.com/docs/software/ index.cfm. Freeware and shareware are software distribution methods. Both are ways to offer software at no cost; however, shareware is distributed with the expectation of donations in return for use. Pricing of products and services can be affected by marketing research. The Internet provides ways for buyers and sellers to meet. People tend to shop for the lowest prices, forcing companies to price products and services competitively. While some products can be priced to reflect competition, companies that want customers to perceive products as luxurious may decide to keep high prices. Companies can use prices to position their products and services on the Internet. Positioning includes affecting consumers’ overall views of a company and its products and services as compared to the way those customers view competitors’ products or services. Positioning strategies can be based on price, quality, use and competitors’ positions in the market. Research and segmentation can also help marketers determine a proper distribution system for products and services. When operating an e-business, distribution cost and time can contribute to success or failure. For example, Amazon.com performed extensive research to determine an efficient distribution system and strategically built and located warehouses to minimize the time it takes to deliver products. Fulfillment is also a concern of e-businesses; they must be able to execute orders correctly and ship products promptly.

4.4 E-Mail Marketing E-mail marketing campaigns can provide an inexpensive and effective method to target potential customers. Before beginning an e-mail marketing campaign, a company should first determine its campaign goals. The marketer should define the reach, or the span of people the marketer would like to target, including geographic locations and demographic profiles; and determine the level of personalization of the campaign. Personalized direct e-mail targets consumers by using their names, offering the right products at the right time and sending special promotions targeted to their interests. The marketer can make a stronger connection with the people receiving the direct e-mails. If a company plans to enter global markets, its personalization methods should include translating e-mails into the proper languages for the convenience of international consumers. The Italian translation company Logos® (www.logos.it) offers free access to its online dictionary of more than 20 languages and will translate e-mails for a fee. 8 AltaVista offers a free text and Web-site translation service that can be accessed through the Translate link at www.altavista.com. See Chapter 8, International Wireless Communications for more information on global marketing.

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Personalization technology also allows the marketer to target campaigns to a specific market, which can improve the response rate— the percentage of responses generated from the target market viewing or receiving a marketing message or advertisement. Products and services are available to personalize e-mails and manage e-mail campaigns. One option is to outsource e-mail marketing. Outsourcing means that parts of a company’s operations are performed by other companies. Some service providers allow marketers to maintain control of content, mailing lists and campaign timing. Outsourcing services should be used when direct e-mail becomes too difficult to manage, because of e-mail volume and inadequate staff or technical support. Boldfish.com provides a tutorial on how its e-mail marketing-campaign system works. Other electronic-mail software and service sites are www.messagemedia.com, www.digitalimpact.com, www.ilux.com, www.247media.com and www.econtacts.com. Audio, video and graphics are important elements of creative e-mail marketing campaigns. Products such as MindArrow’s eCommercials® (www.mindarrow.com) can be sent as self-playing e-mail attachments. These attachments do not require plug-ins because all the necessary components are sent along with the eCommercial, allowing it to execute without requiring the viewer to download any extras. A plug-in is a small application designed to extend the capabilities of another product, such as a Web browser. MindArrow’s eComTracker™ provides companies with information about the recipients of the messages and the number of e-mail forwards of a particular eCommercial. inChorus (www.inChorus.com) provides its clients with the capability to send media-rich e-mail. MediaRing.com offers its customers the opportunity to place streaming audio in e-mail and newsletters or on their Web sites. Customers can click on a link to hear a voice making the e-mail or newsletter more personal. People use different programs to read their e-mails, so not all users may be able to view e-mails with enriched content or handle the size of media-enriched e-mails. The e-mails should be customized based on recipients’ preferences and their e-mail systems’ capabilities. E-mail recipients may also be concerned about computer viruses sent in e-mails. Companies will have more successful e-mail campaigns if they have a recognizable, trusted brand. E-mail can also be used to improve customer service. For example, adding an e-mail link to a Web site provides a convenient way for customers to voice their opinions and ask questions. Although this is a good idea, the marketer should make certain that the business can handle the anticipated volume of e-mails. E-mail systems can be set up so that incoming e-mails will be sorted automatically and directed to the appropriate people. 9 E-mail can also help customers track the location of their orders, informing them of delivery times and possible delays, and providing information such as the carrier’s name. Internet mailing lists can help target customers through personalized e-mail. Opt-in email is sent to people who explicitly choose to receive offers, information and promotions.10 Opt-in e-mail is part of permission-based marketing—a company can market its products and services to people who have granted permission for the company to do so. It is important not to abuse people who have given such permission. For example, marketers should not flood people with e-mails. Excessive e-mailing can decrease the effectiveness of an e-mail campaign. NetCreation’s Web site, PostMasterDirect.com, will send emails to those on a NetCreations lists who have expressed interest in a business category.

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Yesmail.com and Xactmail.com are other companies that create lists of people who want to receive information on certain subjects. Marketers should avoid sending e-mail to people who have not shown interest in a marketer’s products or services. Spamming—mass e-mailing to people who have not expressed interest in receiving e-mails from a company—can give that company a poor reputation. Spamming, its ramifications and federal regulations are discussed in Chapter 7, Legal and Social Issues; Web Accessibility. E-mail can be combined with traditional direct marketing—including sending information by mail and having telemarketers to contact prospective customers—to allow marketers to reach a large audience. Although traditional direct mailing can be more expensive, more difficult to analyze and can have a lower response rate than direct e-mailing, many companies, such as biz.zairmail.com and www.mbsmm.com can provide efficient direct-mailing services. Another option for targeting prospective customers is telemarketing—marketing to prospective and current customers by calling them on the telephone. Telemarketing can offer the benefit of live interaction between customers and service representatives. Also, people may find it more difficult to ignore phone calls than e-mail. However, unlike telemarketing calls, e-mail messages can arrive even if recipients are busy or away from their computers, and recipients can respond to the e-mail at their convenience.

4.5 Wireless Marketing Wireless marketing requires altering traditional marketing strategies to meet the demands of mobile consumers and wireless devices. Marketers should develop wireless sites and wireless campaigns separately from online initiatives. Wireless marketing can be classified as a push strategy, pull strategy or a combination of both.11 A pull strategy assumes that people will request specific information to be sent to their wireless devices in real time. A push strategy is when marketing messages requested by the recipient are not delivered to wireless devices in real time. Sending marketing messages and advertisements that do not benefit the customer will have poor results and most likely annoy customers. Some may view it as an invasion of their privacy. Therefore, wireless marketing that uses either strategy should be permissionbased, also known as opt-in. Permission-based marketing helps guard customer privacy. It increases campaign response rates and productivity because the target market is better defined. This can decrease wireless campaign costs because a lower volume of marketing is delivered to a highly concentrated group. In addition, giving customers control of the time, content and number of messages they want to receive may increase favorable results. Consumer privacy and other legal issues are discussed in Chapter 7, Legal and Social Issues; Web Accessibility. Wireless marketing offers unique personalization benefits. For example, marketers can send customized messages to customers based on their location and their interests. Messages can also be sent at the time of day when customers are most likely to act on them.12 For example, a person with a Web-enabled wireless device can register to receive sales promotions from a store in a shopping mall. When shopping at that mall, the person may receive a message that jeans are discounted for that day. The person decides to enter the store to view the sale and possibly purchase a new pair of jeans. This person may have passed by the store if the message had not been sent at that moment. This type of marketing

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and advertising relies on location-based technology. Location-based marketing and advertising sends particular messages and advertisements to wireless-device users depending on their location. Zip-code based marketing and advertising sends messages to users according to their zip codes. Users enter their zip codes into their wireless devices, determining which messages and advertisements they receive. 13 This method allows marketers to determine a customer proximity while at the same time locating customers that have opted-in to receive the advertisements by entering their zip codes. Some location-based marketing messages are sent using the technologies we discuss in Chapter 3, Location-Based Services, such as Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA), Enhanced Observed Time Difference (E-OTD), Global Positioning System (GPS) and Angle of Arrival (AOA). GeePS (www.geeps.com) develops wireless Internet applications based on the user’s location. The company’s products include mARKET, a marketing solution, mPLOY, a sales-force automation solution, and mCARE, for customer relationship management. The software supports multiple platforms, devices and infrastructures. The opt-in features allow marketers to target customers based on location, time and demographics. The technology can be integrated with location-positioning technologies including TDOA and GPS. mARKET distributes wireless marketing promotions and messages to customers who have requested them. When customers opt-in to receive the messages, they specify the times, types and the number of messages they are willing to receive. GeePS introduced its wireless marketing solution to shoppers and stores at the Palisades Mall in West Nyack, NY. Customers signed up for GPS (Go Power Shopping) at the kiosks inside the mall by selecting stores and product groups. The stores submitted their weekly promotions and GeePS matched the promotions with customers’ interests. The messages were sent in the format specified by the customers (cell phone, e-mail, voice mail and pager.) 14 Over 10,000 customers signed up for GPS during the two-month period that the service was operating. By the end of the period, over 250,000 messages were sent. 15 Marketers face new obstacles when developing ad campaigns for wireless devices. Security issues arise because content delivered over the wireless Internet may be vulnerable at certain points during transmission. Chapter 6, Security, discusses wireless and wireline security. Marketers must ensure that the messages appear in the intended format. Limited technology and a variety of protocols cause content to be displayed differently depending on the receiving device. Cell-phone reception may be poor and service may disconnect while customers are ordering or inquiring about a product or service. 16 When developing wireless marketing solutions in house, marketers should consider time and investment costs. Turnkey solutions—full-service solutions that already exist— may take less time to implement as compared to in-house development, but can also be expensive. If the campaign is delivered to cell-phone users, marketers should consider the phoneusage costs to users as they access the marketing content.17 To encourage users to accept marketing messages and advertisements, marketers can offer free or discounted phone service. 18 For example, AdBroadcast (www.adbroadcast.com) pays 5-50 cents per ad viewed to participants who have signed up at its Web site. 19 Marketers can send messages that include a direct link to purchase a product, contain a coupon that can be saved on a wireless device or provide news relevant to the recipients’ interests. Ideally, the customer can disable wireless marketing messages. 20 For example, Invertix (www.invertix.com) and C-Com One (www.ccomone.com) are devel-

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oping a marketing platform to deliver real-time mobile marketing with disabling options for customers. 21 Invertix’s TruePresence™ technology, currently available in Europe, interprets the wireless device’s status as Available, Busy, Away, Do-Not-Disturb and On or Off. Opt-in promotions can be sent using SMS and WAP. (Wireless technologies are discussed in Chapter 10, Wireless Communications Technologies (Part I).

4.6 Promotions Promotions can attract visitors to a site, influence purchasing and increase brand loyalty. Promotions include frequent-flyer miles, point-based rewards, discounts, sweepstakes, free trials, free shipping and e-coupons. When implementing a promotions campaign, companies should monitor the costs carefully. Further, it is important to make sure that customers are becoming loyal to the company and not just the rewards program.22 Offering frequent-flyer miles provides an incentive for customers to shop at a site. This can attract repeat visitors by allowing them to view the number of miles they have accumulated and receive more miles by purchasing additional products or services. A username and password system can control access to this information. Netcentives™ (www.netcentives.com) designs rewards programs for e-businesses. For example, Netcentives offers ClickRewards, a rewards program that allows customers to accumulate frequentflyer miles, called ClickMiles. ClickRewards requires that both the customer and the company offering the program are registered with ClickRewards. With a point-based promotion, every time customers perform prespecified actions they can receive points redeemable for products, services, rebates, discounts, etc. MyPoints® (www.mypoints.com) allows members to accumulate points for browsing and shopping on the Internet. These points can be redeemed for products and services of various companies including airlines, restaurants and merchandise stores. Giving away items with the company logo for redeemed points increases brand exposure. Businesses can upload their designs and logos to Branders.com to view how the designs will look on t-shirts, mugs and other promotional items. iSwag.com also offers brand management solutions. Its product, eBuyer, allows a company to add its logos to selected promotional products from a catalog. The company can then attempt to fill this customized order through iSwag.com, which connects buyers, sellers and distributors online. Offering discounts on products or shipping and handling can attract consumers. Advertising discounts in magazines, newspapers, on other Web sites and through direct e-mail can bring new and repeat customers to a Web site. Similarly, sweepstakes can encourage people to visit a site and can generate leads. Offering prizes can also increase interest in a site. iPromotions (www.ipromotions.com) offers businesses sweepstakes and incentive-based program development. Allowing customers to sample a product or try a service for free can make customers feel comfortable about purchasing that product or using the service. For example, at www.travelocity.com, customers can try the service as an anonymous guest before signing up as a member for free. Members can receive personalized information including airfare monitoring and promotional e-mails. Travelocity helps customers plan their travel and purchase travel services—it updates its site frequently with discount offers and special promotions.

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Some Web sites and companies offer e-coupons for online, wireless and offline shopping. A company can place coupons on sites to target consumers and bring them to its site. Some sites that feature e-coupon advertisements are www.directcoupons.com, www.coolsavings.com and www.valupage.com. Businesses can offer free promotional items by visiting and registering with portals such as free.com, free2try.com and freeshop.com. Visit www.promotionworld.com/tutorial/000.html for a tutorial on site promotion. Companies may also consider sending wireless e-coupons. A company can send promotions to customers by distributing e-coupons to users’ wireless devices. A wireless promotional strategy may allow users to select the promotion types and amounts as well as the time of day the coupons are to be sent. Strategies will be more effective when delivered to users on an opt-in basis. Wireless promotions can be delivered to people while they are in their cars to alert them of nearby shopping malls, gas stations and restaurants offering special deals. 2Roam (www.2roam.com), iQ.com and Engage Inc. (www.engage.com) have partnered to deliver wireless e-coupons. 2Roam is a wireless application service provider—a company that provides customized business software applications over the Internet. iQ.com provides e-marketing infrastructure and Engage, Inc. develops marketing software. To understand the system, imagine that a wireless surfer visits a site where there is an advertisement for a coupon. The user clicks on the advertisement and 2Roam sends this click-through information to iQ.com. Then the e-coupon is sent from iQ.com to 2Roam. Finally, the wireless device receives the e-coupon from 2Roam and stores it until the user redeems or deletes it.23 PlanetHopper (www.planethopper.com) provides a system that allows its clients to deliver wireless promotions to consumers. People sign up at PlanetHopper’s site to receive promotions determined by their locations and selected categories. When at the location, subscribers simply show the promotion on the wireless device to receive what was offered. New Line Cinema used PlanetHopper’s services to promote its movie Blow. PlanetHopper handed out flyers enticing customers to register with the service to receive special information, offers and a chance to win a Blow poster. The wireless promotion caused the theater to run out of Blow posters in three hours.24

4.7 Advertising Advertising is conducted through traditional channels such as television, movies, newspapers and magazines, as well as online and wireless advertising channels. Many e-businesses advertise during prime-time television, which is the most expensive time to air commercials. Advertising gives e-businesses the opportunity to establish and strengthen branding. Publicizing URLs on all direct mailings, business cards, billboards, print, wireless advertisements and other media helps increase brand awareness and bring more visitors to a site. e-Fact 4.2 The amount of money spent on e-business commercials during Super Bowl XXXIV totaled approximately $135 million.25 4.2

While newspapers, magazines, television and films all provide effective promotional channels, online and wireless advertising is quickly becoming part of the promotional

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world. Online advertising can include placing links and banners on other companies’ Web sites and registering a site with search engines and directories. A business can charge other companies for placing their advertisements on its site, providing the business with additional income. e-Fact 4.3 By 2003, revenues for online advertising are expected to reach $13.3 billion, according to Jupiter Research. 26 4.3

4.7.1 Banner Advertising Web-page banner ads act like small billboards containing graphics and advertising messages (Fig. 4.1). The benefits of banner advertising include increased brand recognition, exposure and revenue. Effective banner design and positioning will help determine the success of a banner ad campaign. Banners can be created in different sizes and placed in various positions on a Web site. Most ads provide a link to the home page of the product or service being advertised. A new style of banner ads—sometimes referred to as side panel ads or skyscraper banners—lie vertically on Web sites (Fig. 4.2).27 These vertical advertisements provide a new

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look for traditional banner advertising and also allow the advertiser to display more products or content in the banner.

Fig. 4.1

Banner advertisements. (Courtesy of GaryCohn.com Marketing.)

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Panel ad. [***sent for permission w/ text surrounding 5/29/ 01 (Original courtesy line was Courtesy of Venture Capital Online, Inc.)***]

When designing a banner advertisement, it is important to determine how a company would like to be recognized. For example, Deitel & Associates, Inc., uses its signature bug logo to enhance brand recognition. Inventive color schemes and movement will also catch a viewer’s attention. Movement can include flashing, scrolling text, pop-up boxes and color changes. A pop-up box is a window containing an advertisement that appears separately from the window the user is viewing. The box pops up randomly or as a result of specific user actions. These boxes can have a negative effect due to their intrusive nature. Before placing banner ads on Web sites, marketers should note the number of ads the sites already carry. Many consumers are annoyed by Web sites cluttered with ads. Marketers should experiment with different positions on Web pages and analyze the results to determine what positions get the greatest number of click-throughs. After selecting where to place banners, a payment method will have to be selected between the advertiser and the host of the site carrying the advertisement. Some sites will post banner advertisement during specific times. Advertising space is normally more expensive during peak traffic times. Exchanging banners with another site is also an option.

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The industry has calculated click-through rates for banner advertisements to be around .5 percent and this rate has been decreasing. 28 Although recent studies have indicated that banner advertisements are losing their effectiveness, 29 these ads still lead to brand recognition and possible purchases and can still be part of a good marketing strategy. Two of the many sites dedicated to the understanding and implementation of banner advertising are www.adbility.com and www.bannertips.com. Companies are creating software to block Internet ads. Customers can download the software and surf the Web with little or no advertisements. InterMute Inc. (www.intermute.com) offers AdSubtract™ which allows users to view streaming video and multimedia, but blocks banner advertisements (including the new, larger banners) and does not allow cookies to be downloaded on the user’s computer. 30 A cookie is a text file stored by a Web site on an individual’s personal computer that allows a site to track the actions of a visitor. Users should be advised, however, that disabling cookies may prevent a site from storing personal information, such as credit-card numbers and shipping addresses. Some people argue that ad-blocking software is not widely used and does not pose a threat to the online advertising industry, but marketers should nevertheless be concerned when developing their online advertising campaigns.

4.7.2 Buying and Selling Banner Advertising A company should buy advertising space on high-traffic sites that target a similar market. This can increase the company’s site traffic and lead to higher revenues. Additionally, selling advertising space on a company’s site can provide additional income. It is important to distinguish a site’s unique visitors from the total number of hits it receives. A consumer visiting a site counts as one unique visit. Hits are recorded for each object that downloads, and there could be many such objects per unique visit. For instance, if someone were to visit a Web site with three images and background music, five hits could occur—one for each image, one for the audio and one for the page itself. This visit would still count as only one unique visit. Companies have adopted different payment systems for advertising on their sites. Monthly charges for online advertising are rarely used today. Instead, some sites charge a designated fee for every 1,000 people who view the site on which a banner is located; this is called the CPM (cost-per-thousand) method. If a company hosting such an ad has 50,000 visitors per month, the advertisement will cost 50 times the CPM rate. The problem with this form of payment is that many people may visit the site, but may not see the advertisement. This means that the advertiser would be paying for an advertisement based on the number of people who are viewing the site, but not necessarily the advertisement. Even though this measurement is consistent with other forms of advertising media, the Internet provides ways that users can interact with an advertisement, which may make paying for user actions more attractive. With some advertising payment schemes, the company will be charged only if the customer performs an action predetermined by that company and the hosting Web site’s managers. Pay-per-performance fees include pay-per-click, pay-per-lead and pay-per-sale.31 When using the pay-per-click method, a company pays the site hosting the banner according to the number of click-throughs from the banner to the company’s site. Pay-perlead means that a company pays the host for every lead generated from the advertisement,

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and pay-per-sale means that the company pays the host for every sale resulting from a clickthrough. Another advertising option involves exchanging advertising space on the site in return for advertising space on another site. This arrangement is effective for businesses that complement one another, and is typically free. If a company wants to sell advertising space, it should provide the appropriate contact information on its Web site. The company can also register with organizations that will sell the space for it. These companies typically charge a percentage of the revenue received from the advertisements placed on the site. Some companies that offer banner advertising options include ValueClick (www.valueclick.com), DoubleClick (www.doubleclick.com) and LinkExchange (www.linkexchange.com).

ValueClick: An Advertising Option32 ValueClick (www.valueclick.com) manages advertising campaigns by acting as as a broker for companies that want to buy and sell advertising space (Fig. 4.3). ValueClick has access to advertising space on thousands of Web sites and offers the option of targeting specific markets. To buy advertising through ValueClick, a banner must be designed. A representative of ValueClick can then help determine what program best fits the advertising needs. Payment is made in advance and is based on the number of visitors the company wants to receive.

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ValueClick: An Advertising Option32 (Cont.)

Fig. 4.3

ValueClick’s home page. [***sent for permission 5/7/01 (original courtesy was Courtesy of ValueClick, Inc.)***]

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ValueClick: An Advertising Option32 (Cont.) ValueClick offers many segmented markets for advertising. Segmented markets consist of people or companies with similar characteristics. A business can select a particular segment or advertise on a variety of sites. ValueClick does not offer services to companies hosting illegal or questionable content. When publishing advertisements on the site through ValueClick, the earnings will depend on the number of visitors the advertisements draw. ValueClick pays the publisher monthly as long as revenues are greater than a certain amount. If revenues do not meet that amount in one month, the balance rolls over to the next month. ValueClick offers four options for publishing advertisements on a site: the ValueClick Affiliate, Premium, AdVantage and AdVantage Plus programs. Each program requires a specified minimum number of clicks before ValueClick starts paying the higher prices per click. Payments per click increase progressively when moving from the Affiliate program to the Premium program to the AdVantage programs. The AdVantage Plus program is for the largest Web sites.

4.7.3 Media-Rich Advertising Webcasting uses streaming media to broadcast an event over the Web. Streaming video simulates television. Marketers must consider, however, that many people still have relatively slow Internet access; the slower the connection, the more choppy the streaming video appears. 33 Victoria’s Secret’s (www.victoriassecret.com) Webcast was the most popular Webcast ever. 34 The first time Victoria’s Secret, a lingerie store for women, tried to Webcast a fashion show, the servers could not support the volume of traffic to the site, and the show was unavailable to many individuals. These problems were corrected in the year 2000 fashion-show Webcast.35 Some streaming media experts include Resource Marketing (www.resource.com), a company offering a variety of e-marketing services, and Clear Digital (www.cleardigital.com), a company that develops Web commercials and extensive Web sites. Navisite (www.navisite.com) offers consulting, development and implementation of a variety of streaming-media events. Cyber-Logics (www.cyber-logics.com) designs Web sites, e-commerce sites and develops streaming media. To find out about current streaming-media conferences, news, company directories and many other streaming media details, visit www.streamingmedia.com. In addition, Macromedia® (www.macromedia.com) offers many media software products employing audio and visual technologies such as Macromedia Flash™, Dreamweaver™, Fireworks® and Director®. Burst.com offers Burstware®, a client–server software package that delivers video and audio content through bursting (rather than streaming). Streaming delivers a flow of data in real time. In contrast, bursting delivers content faster, so that it builds up substantially at the receiving end, potentially enabling a smoother appearance. Visit www.burst.com for an explanation of the difference between streaming and bursting and to view some examples of bursting.

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Users may need to download player software such as RealPlayer (www.realplayer.com), QuickTime (www.apple.com/quicktime) or Shockwave (www.shockwave.com) to view the rich media. If the user has Microsoft® Windows, Windows Media Player can be used. Cross-media advertising or hybrid advertising uses a combination of media including rich media over the Internet (such as audio, video, images and animations) and traditional advertising forms (such as print, television and radio advertisements) to execute an advertising campaign. H 2 O Design (www.h2odesign.com) and Lot21 (www.lot21.com) specialize in cross-media advertising. Involving consumers in a company’s advertising process makes them more likely to remember that company. For example, Nike developed a campaign that included interactions between the consumer, television and Nike’s Web site. In this campaign, Nike aired television commercials with an ending that directed viewers to www.nike.com. The site also offered a link to a Nike digital video. The consumer had the option to select various action pictures of an athlete and music to be played in the background. The consumer could then view the video and send it to other people via e-mail, providing viral marketing for Nike. Viral marketing, similar to word-of-mouth advertising, occurs when a customer receives or sees a marketing message and passes it on to another person. As more people pass the message to others, the message becomes more viral. Wireless advertising can also be viral if wireless users send ads to their friends’ wireless devices via beaming, e-mail or Short Message Service (SMS). Beaming and SMS are discussed in section 4.7.4. Interactive television advertising allows television viewers to respond to what they are seeing on the screen. For example, when a television commercial airs, there may be a question asked on the screen that a viewer can actually answer by using a remote control to click on an icon on the screen. Through this technology, consumers can choose to learn more about an offer, make a purchase or even request that customer service representatives contact them. RespondTV (www.respondTV.com), a company that provides technology to support interactive television, signed up major advertisers for a trial of interactive television advertising. PowerTV and WebTV are platforms for interactive television that can run this type of advertisement. e-Fact 4.4 Forrester Research predicts that iTV (interactive television) boxes in the United States will number 25 million by 2004.36 4.4

4.7.4 Wireless Advertising Successfully implementing a wireless advertising system requires the content provider, the advertiser and the carrier to establish a system that delivers the ad to the consumer at the right location at the right time. Wireless advertising offers the benefit of highly targeted information delivery. For example, an individual who requests e-coupons from a fast-food restaurant when nearby is far more likely to respond to the ad than a consumer fifty miles away who receives a coupon for the same restaurant. The increased chance that consumers will act on an advertisement increases the value of that advertisement. Advertisers are willing to pay more for ads that increase response rates. Wireless advertisers should be concerned with wireless-device signal availability, the lack of wireless advertising standards and the complex value chain that exists in the wire-

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less advertising industry. Traditionally, advertisers work with publishers who deliver advertisements to the consumers through various mediums. Wireless advertising casts the carrier into the chain, as publishers must go through the carriers to reach consumers. The carrier, or wireless service provider, most often captures the user’s geographic location. They have the control in the industry and make the decisions about allowing wireless advertising to reach their subscribers. The carriers do not want to aggravate their customers, therefore it may be difficult to entice them to allow advertising through their services. Wireless advertisers will have to select a solution that can be implemented in house or use a wireless ad-serving network to deliver ads for them. The company will also have to select a publisher or publisher network, which is the site or group of sites that carry wireless content and wireless advertisements. Carrier and publisher wireless transmission protocols should be evaluated by advertisers. A device that operates on one standard may not be able to receive an advertisement designed for a device operating on a different standard. For example, sometimes graphics can be more effective than text for a wireless advertisement because it is possible to use a smaller font in the graphic. This allows more letters to be used than may be permitted in a text-formatted ad. However, marketers must be aware that some wireless devices cannot display graphics.37 Currently, wireless advertising revenues are small, making it difficult to divide them between the groups involved. A standard revenue model for wireless advertising has yet to be developed. Wireless advertising should be focused, personalized and classified as either push or pull advertising. Pull advertising helps protect users’ privacy by allowing them to request the information that will be delivered to their wireless devices in real time. While browsing, users will have the option to interact with an ad or ask to see more advertisements. For example, if consumers want to receive promotions for a local coffee shop, they could alert the advertiser by requesting that information and providing their location. In return, the advertiser would deliver a coupon and directions to the nearest coffee shop. m-Fact 4.2 The wireless advertising market is expected to grow from $1.2 billion in 2003 to $16 billion in 2005 according to Ovum.38 4.2

Push advertising occurs when a customer opts in to receive advertisements at a later time. For example, customers may visit a site and select to receive wireless information and advertisements related to concerts in their local areas. As information and advertisements are found for these events, the wireless ads are sent to the customers’ wireless devices. The advertisements are delivered asynchronously—not in real time. Wireless advertisements can be delivered using Short Message Service (SMS), a service that delivers text messages of 160 alphanumeric characters or less. When marketers send SMS messages, they are limited by the length, creativity and interactivity of the message because the messages cannot contain graphics. However, text messages take far less time to load than rich multimedia and graphics-packed messages.39 m-Fact 4.3 Over one billion messages are sent through SMS in Europe per month.40

4.3

SMS can be used when companies want to provide their customers with news and product updates through mobile alerts. Offering customers the option to receive mobile

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alerts can be perceived as positive customer relationship management if the alerts are relevant to the subscribers’ requests. Text-based messages have become a popular wireless marketing option. 41 SMS is discussed in Chapter 10, Wireless Communications Technologies (Part I). Advertisers may also send advertisements to wireless-device users as alerts. Alerts Inc.™ (www.alerts.com) provides wireless alerting solutions for businesses. The company offers services including the Internet Alerts Program, Insider Alerts Program and Channel Partners Program. Internet Alerts enables a company to offer notifications from its Web site to users who have opted in, while Insider Alerts allows the company to deliver corporate information to designated individuals. Alerts, Inc.’s Channel Partners Program enables a company to send personalized alerts to customers and partners. Advertisers that want to enter the wireless advertising arena without developing a fullscale wireless campaign can send an advertisement on other wireless services. 42 For example, sports scores sent by a wireless service can also serve as a link to buy tickets to upcoming games. Wireless advertisements can also be interactive or delivered using audio. Interactivity can include requiring users to click-through, call or take another type of action. Sometimes interstitial advertisements are used to catch the recipient’s attention. These ads appear in between page loads in a separate browser window (unless delivered on a wireless device). Interstitials can appear during wireline and wireless Web surfing and ad delivery. However, some people feel these ads interfere with their browsing speed. m-Fact 4.4 According to a study conducted by Ericsson, 60 percent of participating individuals approved of receiving wireless advertising and 20 percent acted on the ad.43 4.4

Many wireless devices have the ability to exchange information through infrared beams. Streetbeam (www.streetbeam.com) incorporates wireless technology with other media to create interactive advertisements. The ads enabled with wireless technology are placed on bus-stop shelters, telephone booths and other street-level structures. People can then view the ads and point their infrared beam-enabled wireless devices at the blinking red lights to download information. Infrared technology is discussed in Chapter 10, Wireless Communications Technologies (Part I). Coupons, directions to the nearest store or venue, schedules, movie listings, games and other applications can be downloaded to WAP-enabled phones and Palm PDAs. Banana Republic was the first company to try using Streetbeam’s technology. It placed its ads throughout New York City and allowed people to download gift ideas and store locations from the advertisements. Visit www.streetbeam.com to view the Banana Republic advertisement demonstration. Palm, Inc. created four new applications that users can download from its Streetbeam advertisements. Sotheby’s and American Express are also employing Streetbeam to deliver wireless advertisements. adAlive, Inc. (www.adalive.com) is developing a method of distributing ads by installing infrared ports on airport billboards throughout the United States. When travelers arrive at an airport, they can receive that city’s travel guides, directories and promotions beamed to their wireless devices. 44 JungleSoft (www.junglesoft.com) and Vindigo offer similar services. Vindigo ( www.vindigo.com) provides city guides for Palm wireless devices. Finlandia Vodka joined with Vindigo to distribute wireless advertisements to

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Vindigo users’ PDAs. Finlandia is also considering sending e-coupons to PDAs. 45 PDA banners allow users to click on these banners from their PDAs to find out more information, receive discounts or even make purchases (see the Vindigo feature).

Vindigo: A City-Navigation Service46 Vindigo™ (www.vindigo.com) is a free guide for city navigation. People can search nineteen US cities and London, England to locate movies, restaurants, bars, clubs and shops. Vindigo users can designate their locations and destinations by selecting streets, intersections or neighborhoods. After deciding the location of interest, the users choose from eat, shop or play menus. The eat selection provides restaurant and coffee shop information, while the shop option leads users to nearby stores. Bars, clubs and nightlife activities (including movies) can be accessed through the play option. Vindigo provides reviews from users and professional review sources such as Zagats, the Washington Post and New York Today. Prices, phone numbers, addresses and distances from users’ locations can be found through Vindigo. Clients of Vindigo can place advertisements that are specific to users as they browse the information. This provides a highly targeted advertising option for companies and increases the potential that Vindigo users will see the ads and act on them. These advertisements can offer discounts or special promotions to target nearby Vindigo users. For example, if a user wants to eat at a Manhattan steakhouse and is viewing Vindigo’s list of those in the area, one of the steakhouses may have an advertisement at the bottom of the screen offering a discount. The price-conscious user may be more likely to select that steakhouse. Customers can find useful information about the companies through the service (Fig. 4.4). The service is supported by paying advertisers. Visit the site to download the service.

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Vindigo: A City-Navigation Service46

Fig. 4.4

Vindigo-hosted restaurant information. (Courtesy of Vindigo, Inc.)

SkyGo (www.skygo.com) provides wireless marketing solutions for carriers, publishers and advertisers. Its SkyGo Mobile Advertising Platform™ enables targeted marketing and m-commerce. SkyGo introduced m-commerce capabilities by adding Qpass’ (www.qpass.com) “Click-to-Buy” feature to its service, simplifying and shortening the user’s purchasing process after clicking on an advertisement.47 SkyGo also offers click-tocall services, allowing customers to click on the link to contact a representative. SkyGo’s corporate customers include Visa, CompUSA, eCoupons and Kinko’s. SkyGo conducted a wireless marketing study in Boulder, Colorado. It gave one thousand customers free WAP phones in exchange for their agreement to receive three ads per day for the length of the trial. The study showed that more than three daily advertisements were requested by about half the people.48 Advertisements that included interactive trivia had the greatest response rate at 52 percent.49 Over half the customers used their phones to surf the wireless Web and 27 percent said that they would consider changing wireless service providers if their current provider did not deliver wireless advertisements.50 Advertising.com marketing services include SMS, PDA and wireless Internet advertising (creating WAP-enabled advertisements on sites). Advertisements (often

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referred to as “Wapverts”) can be sent to mobile devices that use the Wireless Application Protocol. Advertising.com is sponsoring trials and research of wireless advertising, called the Wireless Advertising Marketing and Measurement Initiative (WAMMI). The research and trials will last one year, and participants include Pepsi, Motorola, Burger King and Palm.51 The initiative attempts to address the need for standard wireless advertising elements such as research, metrics and rates. 52 For more on wireless advertising, see the WindWire feature.

WindWire: Wireless Advertising Solutions53 WindWire (www.windwire.com) technology enables advertisers to send wireless promotions and ads to a variety of wireless devices. The solution includes planning, managing, tracking and reporting features for wireless advertising campaigns. Advertisements are paired with content relevant to the consumer’s interests and location. See Fig. 4.5 for sample advertisements through WindWire.

Fig. 4.5

Sample advertisements from WindWire. (Courtesy of WindWire.)

WindWire’s WindCaster Network connects advertisers with wireless publishers. The network includes publishers from different industries. Advertisers can join the Network and choose to advertise with a group of sites or with one site at a time. WindWire assists in increasing revenue by connecting publishers of wireless sites with wireless advertisers. The company assists in implementing the technology needed to serve the ads on the sites and can also assist in transforming content into wireless formats. The technology also allows for m-commerce transactions. Payments are discussed in further detail in Chapter 5, Wireless Payment Options. Some marketers use wireless Internet in automobiles as a new form of interaction with consumers. Ford and Qualcomm have joined to install telematics in automobiles.54

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Telematics is using telecommunications combined with computers to transmit information. 55 This technology allows marketers to send messages and advertisements to alert drivers to nearby restaurants, rest areas and stores or to deliver news and weather information. Safety is an important topic as the use of telematics in cars increases. Wireless Internet access and navigation systems in automobiles will have to be simplified as to not distract drivers. Systems that respond to voice commands and deliver information through audio will help address these problems. m-Fact 4.5 General Motors is placing voice-activated Internet access in half a million automobiles by the end of 2001.56 4.5

During the 2001 NCAA basketball tournament, Volvo (www.volvo.com) introduced a marketing campaign that used both television and wireless advertisements. The company offered Web-site visitors a chance to win a new car if they entered the contest. The Volvo advertisements were carried by CBS SportsLine (www.sportsline.com) and Go2.com. CBS Sportsline is a sporting news portal that offers wireless sports updates and Go2.com is a wireless location-based search engine and directory. While viewing NCAA scores, wireless Internet users could click-through the advertisement to enter the contest. Volvo also created WebTV advertisements that allowed WebTV users to clickthrough the ad and enter the contest. When entering the contest, the users first had to report where they saw the ad, allowing Volvo to discover how the majority of the consumers had been reached.57 m-Fact 4.6 According to Jupiter Communications, the number of Internet-enabled cell phones in use will number more than 75 million by 2003. 58 4.6

Wireless advertising campaigns should be tested in a controlled environment using real wireless devices. Advertising companies can alter the appearance of ads on wirelessdevice simulators, therefore using screen shots of the ads as they appear on simulators is not enough. Wireless marketing and advertising will become more successful and accepted as standards are created and adopted. The Wireless Advertising Association (WAA) (www.waaglobal.org) recommends wireless advertising standards and evaluates existing standards. It resulted from the merger of the Wireless Internet Advertising Association (WIAA) and the Internet Advertising Bureau’s (IAB) Wireless Advertising Council. The WAA is a unit of the IAB. The organization is concerned with privacy issues and wireless advertising measurements (privacy is discussed in detail in Chapter 7, Legal and Social Issues, Web Accessibility). The WAA thoroughly researches the industry and updates members and the public with recent wireless advertising developments. It offers lectures, conferences and seminars on wireless advertising topics. To view some of its research and discussion topics, visit www.waaglobal.org/issues.html.

4.8 Tracking and Analyzing Data One of the principal methods used by online advertisers, communities and businesses to keep track of their visitors’ behavior is to employ tracking devices. Data gathered through

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log-file analysis, data mining, customer registration, cookies (discussed in Section 4.8.4) and other tracking devices can be used to personalize each visitor’s experience, find trends in customer use and measure the effectiveness of a Web site over time. These tracking devices are covered in detail in the following sub-sections. By tracking and analyzing data, the marketer can also uncover the need for changes to the marketing campaign, potentially improving campaign efficiency and customer satisfaction. Advertisers and Web-site owners can use ID cards, click-through banner advertisements and Web bugs to track visitors. An ID card enables information to be sent to a computer from a Web site. A name and e-mail address are not included. Only the IP address (the unique numerical address of the PC on the Internet), the browser and the operating system are necessary for a computer to retrieve information. 59 Click-through advertisements enable visitors to view a service or product by clicking the advertisement. This also serves as a tracking device, as advertisers can learn what sites generate the most click-through sales and which advertisements are most effective.60 Web Bugs, or clear GIFs (a type of image file), are embedded in an image on the site. Site owners allow companies, especially advertising companies, to hide these informationcollecting programs on various parts of their sites. Every time a user requests a page with a Web bug on it, the Web bug sends a request to its company’s server, which then tracks where the user goes on the Web. This method of tracking allows affiliates to gather consumer information.61 For example, imagine that an advertising company is allowed to place Web bugs on its client’s Web sites. If someone visits one of these sites with a Web bug, information is recorded on the advertising company’s server about the visit. Then, if that person views another site that has the advertising agency’s Web bug on it, that visit is also recorded. This allows the advertising company to build customer profiles over time. The following sections discuss tracking and analysis including log-file analysis, data mining, customer registration, cookies and wireless ad tracking.

4.8.1 Log-File Analysis When someone visits a site, a request for information is sent to the site’s server. The request is recorded in a log file. Log files consist of data generated by site visits, including each visitor’s location, IP address, time of visit, frequency of visits and other information. Log-file analysis organizes and summarizes the information contained in the log files. For an example of log-file analysis products, see the WebTrends® feature. Log-file analysis can be used to determine the number of unique visitors. This information is useful for advertising purposes. Log-file analysis can show the Web-site traffic effects of altering a Web site or advertising campaign. Knowing visitors’ origins can assist in better defining target markets. For example, if marketers notice that they have many international visitors but they market to local regions, they may want to consider defining a target market that includes these visitors and modifying their Web sites accordingly.

4.8.2 Data Mining Although log-file analysis is a good way to determine Web-traffic statistics, eventually marketers may want to know more about their customers. Data mining uses algorithms and statistical tools to find patterns in data gathered from customer visits. Although businesses are “data rich,” they often do not use their data to their best advantage. It would be extreme-

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ly costly and time consuming to analyze large amounts of data manually. Businesses can use data-mining to analyze trends within their companies or in the marketplace—information that, in turn, helps them market their products and run their businesses more effectively. Uncovered patterns can improve CRM and marketing campaigns by helping businesses better understand their customers. Businesses can also discover a need for new or improved services or products by studying customer purchase patterns.

Log-file Analysis Products: WebTrends®62 WebTrends (www.webtrends.com) provides solutions for tracking visitors (Fig. 4.6). It offers products that enable site-visitor profiling and measure the effectiveness of each of the Web pages. After downloading a WebTrends product, the user must specify the source of the log files, types of reports and location where data is stored. Then the analysis is conducted automatically. The program can be scheduled to analyze data during non-business hours to maximize its efficiency. The collected information can be used to evaluate e-commerce methods, customer service and Web-site design. WebTrends offers free-trial versions of many of its products. Once a WebTrends product has been downloaded and installed, it will use a site’s log files to show the effectiveness of the site. Figure 4.7 shows a graphical example of the analysis from a WebTrends product. Marketers can view the report in one of many applications including Microsoft Word, Excel, HTML and text format. The WebTrends program reports its progress as it analyzes the data. Depending on the output format chosen, different graphical interpretations of the log files will be presented. Marketers can view demographic and geographic data, technical analysis of the Web site’s effectiveness, top-referring sites—sites that refer visitors to the company’s site most frequently—and many other analyses that can help improve the site.

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Log-file Analysis Products: WebTrends®62 (Cont.)

Fig. 4.6

WebTrends home page. [***waiting for new homepage screenshot from WT 5/30/01 original courtesy line was (Courtesy of © 2000 WebTrends Corporation. All rights reserved. WebTrends is a registered trademark of WebTrends Corporation.)***]

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Log-file Analysis Products: WebTrends®62 (Cont.)

Fig. 4.7

Example analysis from a WebTrends product. [***resent for permission, will get permission after new home page retake of screen shot in one week 5/30/01 original courtesy line was (Courtesy of © 2000 WebTrends Corporation. All rights reserved. WebTrends is a registered trademark of WebTrends Corporation.)***]

HNC Software offers the DataBase Mining® Marksman (www.hncmarksman.com) product, which mines data to provide marketers with statistical models and analyses of their customers and marketing campaigns. For example, it can help determine the correct target audience for a marketing campaign. HNC Software offers a thirtyday free trial for those who fill out a form and qualify. Data Distilleries (www.datadis-

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tilleries.com) also offers customer relationship management services and products, including its data mining software called DD/Marketer. Visit www.angoss.com/ download/indexH.html to try one of ANGOSS Software Corporation’s analytical tools. Other sites offering data mining services are www.appliedmetrix.com, www.datainstincts.com and www.smartdrill.com.

4.8.3 Customer Registration Customer registration—requiring visitors to fill out a form with personal information that is then used to create a profile—is recommended when it will provide a benefit to the customer. Every time customers log on a site using usernames and passwords, their actions can be tracked and stored in the company’s database. This information helps businesses customize their Web sites and their customer service and marketing strategies. Persuading customers to register can be difficult. People are often reluctant to fill out a form requiring personal information. The best way to start building a customer profile is to require minimal information, such as a username, password and e-mail address. Marketers should give potential customers an incentive to register. If a site offers an online service, marketers can offer a free-trial or a free demonstration to familiarize the user with the service. Businesses selling products can offer promotions, such as free gift certificates, free calling cards or discounts on online purchases. The registration process should be quick and simple; otherwise the consumer may go elsewhere. After potential customers have registered, companies can send them e-mails including their usernames and welcoming them to the Web site. Some sites ask each user to provide a specific question to which only the user will know the answer—users forgetting their passwords can then be asked the questions. Upon receipt of the correct answers, the site can e-mail the passwords to the users.

4.8.4 Cookies A cookie is a text file stored by a Web site on an individual’s personal computer that allows a site to track the actions of a visitor. The first time a user visits a Web site, the user’s computer may receive a cookie. This cookie is reactivated each time the computer revisits that site. The information collected is intended to be an anonymous account of log-on times, the length of stay at the site, purchases made on the site, the site previously visited and the site visited next. Although the cookie resides on an individual’s hard drive, it does not interact with other information stored on the system. Cookies can only be read by the host that sets them on a person’s computer. Cookies can be beneficial to the customer. They record passwords for returning visitors, keep track of shopping-cart materials and register preferences. Cookies also help businesses by allowing them to address their target markets with greater accuracy. For example, suppose someone is browsing the Web for the lowest price on a digital camera. The person might register for a contest or make a purchase, leaving a mailing address and some other personal information. As the person travels from site to site, the person might notice the advertisements are for companies that sell digital cameras. If that person returns to a former site, the person might be welcomed by name. Potentially, the sites visited belong to a direct advertising network, and, rather than one site gathering this personal information and using it in the future, information from several sites will be used to create a customer profile.

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This type of tracking can be beneficial to the customer. After completing the first purchase at Amazon.com, all subsequent purchases can be made without having to re-enter a mailing address and contact information. If a person is looking for a specific item, advertisements that appear because of cookie information can lead that person in the right direction. The advantages of cookies may be at the expense of customer privacy. For a discussion of the inappropriate uses of cookies and the consequences of such actions, see Chapter 7, Legal and Social Issues; Web Accessibility. Cookies can also be misleading to the site that places the cookie on a computer. Different people may use the same computer to surf the Web, and the cookie will not be able to differentiate the users. Cookies may be collecting information from each user and the combined information may not be useful to the company that placed the cookie.

4.8.5 Wireless Tracking Cell phones can be tracked because each phone has a unique identification number. Location-based advertising uses this capability. While wired connections allow advertisers to track a user’s actions to see if the user makes a purchase or shows further interest, wireless advertising does not have these benefits. Advertisers know when wireless phones and PDAs receive advertisements and they may also know if cell-phone users contact customer service representatives in response to advertisements. However, they will not know what happens after the calls are made.63 Therefore, tracking wireless advertising results is difficult and standards are needed. To address this uncertainty, marketers may consider sending SMS messages with a code that customers can call in and use to make a purchase, allowing marketers to track who made a purchase as a result of an advertisement.64 Another tracking option is the use of WAP advertisements. This technology allows users to click on advertisements, giving them more information from a wireless site. The click-throughs can be tracked using ad servers that are designed for wireless campaigns.65 As more cell phones become payment devices, advertisement tracking results may improve. If companies can access cell-phone purchase records, they may learn which advertisements result in purchases. OmniSky (www.omnisky.com) has partnered with DoubleClick (www.doubleclick.com) to deliver wireless advertising and reporting services. OmniSky’s wireless Internet, modem and e-mail services will be coupled with DoubleClick’s infrastructure to deliver advertisements based on content while also providing advertisers with reports on impressions and click-throughs. 66

4.9 Personalization Personalization uses information from tracking, mining and data analysis to customize a person’s interactions with a company’s products, services, Web site and employees. Consumers and companies can benefit from the unique treatment resulting from personalization. Providing content of special interest to a visitor can help establish a relationship that the marketer can build on each time that person returns to the site. By targeting consumers with personal offers, advertisements, promotions and service, customers will enjoy the individual attention and may become more loyal. Originally, the Internet lacked personal as-

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sistance when compared with the individual service often experienced in brick-and-mortar stores. Sophisticated technology helps many Web sites offer a personal touch to their visitors. For example, Amazon.com offers customer registration and provides recommended products and a personalized greeting to its customers. Collaborative filtering rates and compares a present visitor’s interests and decisions with those of past visitors to offer content relevant to the present visitor’s interests. Music and book sites often use collaborative filtering to make recommendations to their customers. Visit shadow.ieor.berkeley.edu/humor/info.html to experience personalization resulting from collaborative filtering. Rate the jokes that are displayed, and then register for free to receive jokes recommended using collaborative filtering. This site also offers links to other sites containing collaborative filtering information. Rules-based personalization is the delivery of personalized content based on the subjection of a user’s profile to set rules or assumptions. 67 Many sites offer personalization features. ExciteSM (www.excite.com) is a search engine that offers My Excite Start Page. This allows users to select the content and style that appears on their Excite home page. They can choose their Start Page greeting and colors as well as receive free e-mail, chat and voicemail. Visit www.excite.com to sign up for a free account and see how personalization can deliver content relevant to your interests and specifications. Excite also offers the option to keep a planner and receive e-mails reminding users of important dates, events or other appointments. People can have their Excite information synchronized with Microsoft Outlook® and with wireless devices such as Palm™ hand-held computers. Companies that provide personalization products and services include www.blazesoft.com, www.netgen.com and www.personify.com. Some people feel that personalization represents an invasion of their privacy, whereas others may not even be aware that data is being collected and personalization is occurring at a site. At the heart of this debate are the technologies enabling personalization. For example, cookies allow e-commerce sites to record visitor behavior and identify more valuable customers. Many customers are not aware that cookies are being stored on their computers as they browse sites. Cookies and privacy are discussed in depth in Chapter 7, Legal and Social Issues; Web Accessibility. Marketers must be discrete about the way they use personal information gained from data research. The Personalization Consortium, a newly formed alliance of major Web sites, attempts to accommodate those individuals who prefer to have their Web experiences tailored. In June 2000, the Consortium released a study suggesting that most users actually prefer to have their information stored and actions tracked.68 The results of the study can be viewed at www.personalization.org. Wireless marketing can deliver the highest level of Internet personalization, but it also raises concerns over customer privacy. Cell-phone user demographic information captured by service providers includes customer names, their current locations and permanent addresses.69 Users may not be aware that their phone service providers may be selling the information to advertisers. Customer information ownership is an issue that has not been resolved. People use their wireless devices to communicate and transfer information quickly and immediately—wireless marketing can interrupt users’ communications and be an invasion of privacy. To help users feel that their privacy is being respected and their communications are not being interrupted, marketers should send messages that are perceived as adding value

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to the customer’s wireless experience.70 Companies may decide to minimize the amount of personal information collected. Engage Inc. (www.engage.com), an e-marketing firm, has created Avesair Inc. (www.avesair.com) to provide wireless Internet advertising. Engage targets marketing messages without collecting extensive personal information. Avesair Inc. also attempts to protect the privacy of the recipients by collecting the least amount of information to locate a wireless user geographically.71 If used properly and with consumers’ privacy rights in mind, personalization and associated technologies can establish solid relationships with customers by giving them what they want, when they want it. Privacy and legal issues concerning personalization technology are discussed in detail in Chapter 7, Legal and Social Issues; Web Accessibility.

4.10 Public Relations Public relations (PR) keeps customers and employees current on the latest information about products, services and internal and external issues, such as company promotions and consumer reactions. It includes communicating with consumers and employees through press releases, speeches, special events, presentations and e-mail. The Web is a relatively new medium for public relations. Chat sessions are one method of learning how people regard a company and its products. A bulletin board on a Web site enables people to post their comments. A company can also involve its consumers by organizing a special event or function on its Web site. Brand awareness and increased exposure can result from attending and participating in trade shows and exhibitions where businesses can speak with prospective customers. Press releases, which announce current events and other significant news to the press, can be delivered over the Web. PR Web (www.prweb.com) allows the submission of press releases for free. The press release will be distributed to the contacts in PR Web’s database. Its site also provides access to public-relations firms, current press releases and newsletters. Another site that offers public-relations information and helps PR professionals find jobs is www.thePRnetwork.com. InternetNewsBureau.com sends online press releases to sites such as MSNBC.com, WSJ.com and CNBC.com based on journalists’ specified interests.72 Video clips of news appearances, speeches, commercials and advertisements can be effective publicity. Visit www.prnewswire.com and www.businesswire.com to view lists of recent press releases, including audio and video news. PR Newswire also offers Tbutton Interactive News Release, an option allowing people to make purchases and find out more about a product or service in a press release directly from the page on which the release is featured.73 PR specialists must be able to contact companies that will distribute and print the press releases. MediaMap is a company that provides PR contacts and software designed for PR. Visit www.mediamaponline.com to sign up for a free trial of MediaMap. The trial provides access to the company’s database of contacts and allows users to create their own concentrated sample list of media contacts. MediaMap also offers white papers on its product and how to use it. Outsourcing public relations is another option. Cohn & Wolfe (www.cohnwolfe.com) is a company that offers public-relations services such as pressrelease writing, news media relations and event planning. Visit www.webcom.com/

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impulse/prlist.html to view a listing of PR agencies by geographical location and links to many PR resources. Crisis management, another aspect of PR, is conducted in response to problems a company is experiencing. For example, many investors and consumers closely follow financial news about Internet companies. When a company is doing well financially, this fact should be made public. However, if the company is doing poorly, the public-relations department must be ready to issue information about what is causing the problem and what will be done to correct it. For example, when Bridgestore/Firestone, Inc., had to recall millions of tires, many people visited its Web site. The company had the opportunity to provide information that the public may not have been receiving from the news and other sources of information. 74

4.11 Business-to-Business (B2B) Marketing on the Web Business-to-business (B2B) marketing differs from business-to-consumer (B2C ) marketing. B2B marketers must consider their companies’ distributors, resellers, retailers and partners when developing their marketing strategies. When selling a product or service to another business, it is important that the seller recognize that the buyer might not be the end user. Because the user of the product might have an opinion or comment different from the business contact’s input, the seller should ask the contact to speak with the end users as they may have suggestions that could improve the product or service.75 e-Fact 4.5 According to an estimate made by Forrester Research, B2B e-commerce will grow from $109 billion in 1999 to $2.7 trillion in 2004.76 4.5

Usually more than one person is involved in a company’s purchasing process. This is different from B2C marketing, where one customer is usually making the decision to buy. Therefore, marketing to another business requires the marketer to be conscious of all parties involved in the purchasing decision and to design a marketing strategy accordingly. Maintaining strong relationships is key to the growth and success of business-to-business companies. Businesses making large purchases depend on their suppliers and expect them to be reliable and to deliver quality products and services on time. B2B marketers can use the Internet to market to other businesses. E-mails sent to companies should be addressed to all people involved in the purchasing decision and should be tailored to provide informative and personalized content. Personalization should include why and how a company’s products and services will benefit the targeted business. It is a good idea to require registration when a site visitor requests more information about the company. The marketer can then research the company and design an e-mail response that will present relevant marketing materials that address the inquiring company in a more customized manner. B2B companies can also use intranets and extranets for marketing purposes. To provide targeted marketing to their customers, B2B companies can offer special information and services through extranets developed for those with authorized access. This can include the introduction and promotion of additional services or products that companies may find useful.

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Industry marketplaces and exchanges are good resources for companies that want to sell to other businesses. Searching marketplaces for potential clients can help define the target market and generate customer leads more effectively. Business-to-business marketplaces for several industries are available on the Internet. For example, construction companies can find appropriate B2B marketplaces at www.construction.com and www.e-cement.com while retailers can visit www.globalnetxchange.com and www.worldwideretailexchange.com. Commerce One offers solutions for e-businesses. Its portal, www.marketsite.net, helps buyers and sellers find relevant business-to-business exchange sites worldwide. Commerce One also helps companies build industry-specific marketplaces. Connect, Inc. (www.connectinc.com), Concur Technologies (www.concur.com) and Ariba (www.ariba.com) also provide technology and consulting for creating marketplaces for buyers and sellers.

4.12 Search Engines A search engine is a program that scans Web sites and lists relevant sites based on keywords or other search-engine ranking criteria. Search-engine ranking is important to bringing new visitors to a site. The method used by search engines to rank a Web site will determine how "high" a site appears on lists of search results. Businesses can customize and register their sites to improve the position in which they appear in search-engine results.

4.12.1META Tags A META tag is an HTML tag that contains information about a Web page. HTML is an acronym for Hypertext Markup Language, a language used to create documents on the Web. The META tag does not change how a Web page is displayed, but can contain a description of the page, keywords and the page’s title. Search engines often use this information when ranking a site. Some search engines rank sites by sending out a program, called a spider, to inspect the site. The spider reads the META tags, determines the relevance of the Web page’s information and keywords and then ranks the site according to that visit’s findings. Marketers should examine competitors’ sites to see their META tags and information included in the sites. It is important to have a site appear in the top 10 results, because often people will not look further. For valuable information about keyword selection, visit www.keywordcount.com and www.websearch.about.com/internet/websearch/ insub2-m02.htm.

4.12.2Search-Engine Registration When registering a site with a search engine, submit keywords and a description of the business. The search engine will add this information to its database of Web sites. When someone uses that search engine, the Web site may appear in the list of results. Many search engines are constantly scouring the Web, visiting and ranking Web pages. Even if a site is not registered, the search engines may still find the page if it is linked to another site. Registering eliminates the uncertainty.

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Various companies will register a Web site with search engines for a fee. To view free information about some of the major search engines’ requirements for registering, as well as general tips about search-engine registration and META-tag development, visit www.searchenginewatch.com/Webmasters/index.html. See Fig. 4.8 for a chart of some popular search engines’ requirements and registration processes Many search engines do not charge a fee for registering, although some require payment to use other services they provide. Excite SM is a search engine that allows people to register their sites for free. Businesses also have the option to apply through Excite Plus, a quick way to submit a site to the LookSmart SM network. This service charges a one-time fee. 77 Popular search engines include www.yahoo.com, www.lycos.com, www.excite.com, www.altavista.com, www.google.com and www.askjeeves.com. Ask Jeeves SM uses natural-language technology that allows people to enter their search subjects in the form of full sentences, rather than just keywords. This system works well because the engine maintains a database of question templates that it uses to match questions with possible answers. 78 Natural-language technology is discussed in Chapter 32, Multimedia, Flash® 5.0 and Voice Technologies. Search Engine

Registration Requirements and Details

AltaVista www.altavista.com

In theory, a site does not have to be registered with AltaVista. The search engine should be able to find the site on its own by sending out crawlers. The crawler follows links from other pages it finds, and AltaVista adds these URLs (Web-page addresses) to its index. So, if many pages are linked to a site, it is more likely to be found. If not, it will never be found. To register, enter the URL in the form located at www.altavista.com/cgi-bin/ query?pg=addurl. After this process is complete, AltaVista sends out crawlers to find the site, learn what is included in the content and add the URL to the index. Submission is free.

Lycos® www.lycos.com

Lycos requires a URL to be submitted for each page of a site, as well as an e-mail address. Lycos then sends a spider to the site. In approximately 2-3 weeks, the site will be entered into Lycos’s catalog. If the site is not live for a certain amount of time, the spider cannot connect to it, resulting in deletion from the catalog. Registration is free.

Fig. 4.8

Search engines and their registration processes (part 1 of 3).

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Registration Requirements and Details

Ask Jeeves™ www.ask.com

To submit a URL to Ask Jeeves’ knowledge base, the company must send an e-mail including its URL and a short description of the site to Ask Jeeves. Human editors then review the request by visiting the site and checking if it matches guidelines including quick loading time, regular updating of content and free features without the requirement of user registration. Ask Jeeves also uses its patented popularity search technology to determine which sites have provided the best answers to Ask Jeeves users. In addition to the previous guidelines, e-commerce sites should meet additional guidelines including security requirements, customer service and credibility as an e-commerce site.

Yahoo!® www.yahoo.com

Before registering with Yahoo!, companies should first check to see if their sites are already in Yahoo!’s database. It is possible that a site has been suggested to Yahoo! by another user. If a site is in a foreign language, it may be located in an International Yahoo!. If it is in an International Yahoo! it will not be added to www.yahoo.com. Once it has been determined that a site is not in Yahoo!, the company should find an appropriate category in the Yahoo! directory under which to list the site. This can be done by going to the bottom of the category page and clicking on the link for suggesting a site. Yahoo! provides suggestions to help determine where a site should be placed. Suggesting sites is free. To suggest a site using the standard process, only the name, URL and a short description of the site are required. When using the Business Express a company is required to pay a fee, guaranteeing that the site will be reviewed within seven business days.

Fig. 4.8

Search engines and their registration processes (part 2 of 3).

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GoogleSM www.google.com

Fig. 4.8

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Registration Requirements and Details

Visit www.google.com/addurl.html to add a URL to Google. This search engine requests the URL and comments about the site (for Google’s information), however it does not use the comments submitted for indexing purposes. Google does not index every site submitted. The engine requires the submission of only a site’s main page because its crawler, Googlebot, will be able to find the rest of the pages as it searches all possible links. Google ranks pages by the number of connections between Web sites, with the theory that the more connections to a site, the more popular and useful the site. 79 This is different compared to other search engines that use META tags and site descriptions for ranking.

Search engines and their registration processes (part 3 of 3).

Metasearch engines aggregate results from a variety of search engines. For example, metacrawler® (www.metacrawler.com) lists results derived from many search engines. FrameSearch.net is another example of a metasearch engine—this engine allows users to indicate which engines they would like to use for their searches.

4.12.3 Search Engines for Wireless Users Wireless search engines offer users limited searching capabilities. Some search engines, such as PinPoint and WAPLY, display only sites specifically designed for wireless devices. Sites not designed for wireless devices may be displayed incorrectly, or not at all. Google (www.google.com) has another solution for wireless searching. It searches all the sites on the Internet and then translates these sites from HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) to WML (Wireless Markup Language). However, this solution is problematic because many sites contain graphics that cannot be converted.80 Wireless search engines should simplify navigation, especially for cell-phone users who have to use the limited numeric keypad to spell out words tediously. Some companies offer products to minimize keypad data entry. BeVocal (www.bevocal.com) offers BusinessFinder , a search feature that allows the user to dial (800) 4BVOCAL and speak into the phone to find a business on the Internet. BeVocal also offers weather, traffic, stock quotes and directions.

4.13 CRM Offering customers convenience, personalization and excellent service plays a key role in the success of many online businesses. Customer relationship management (CRM) focuses on providing and maintaining quality service for customers, by effectively communicating and delivering products, services, information and solutions to address customer

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problems, wants and needs. It is far less expensive to keep current customers than it is to acquire new ones. e-Fact 4.6 According to the Boston Consulting Group, the cost of acquiring a new online customer is approximately thirty-four dollars, while using the online channel to market to a current customer costs around seven dollars.81 4.6

CRM can include call handling (the maintenance of outbound and inbound calls from customers and service representatives), sales tracking (the tracking and recording of all sales) and transaction support (the technology and personnel used for conducting business transactions), as well as many other functions. eCRM is the application of CRM to an ebusiness’ strategy and includes the personalization and customization of customers’ experiences and interactions with a Web site, call center or any other method of customer contact with the e-business. The term iCRM (Internet customer relationship management) can be used interchangeably with eCRM for e-business customer relationship management. To provide quality CRM, a company must design a plan with defined goals and execute the plan with cooperation from the marketing and information technology departments. Business analysts should review all plan details and review data, such as decreased customer service costs or increases in customer complaints, to refine the CRM system. eCRM is essential to the success of an e-business. The relationship between merchants and customers is not always direct. Often transactions are conducted through a series of additional parties. Therefore, it is important to know more about the customers to establish and maintain a relationship, one that will bring them back for repeat purchases.

4.13.1Wireless Customer Relationship Management Customer relationship management (CRM) can benefit from wireless devices. Customers can receive timely and relevant information on demand and companies can provide more efficient communications with their sales and field forces through wireless devices. Making CRM information accessible for the many wireless platforms can be an obstacle for marketers. To accommodate wireless users, companies need to re-program their Web sites so that content appears correctly on the different wireless devices (developing and altering content for wireless devices is discussed in Chapter 2, m-Business). If a company offers phone support as a wireless customer relationship management option, the company should minimize the length of time the customer service representatives have customers on hold because many wireless customers are paying for the calls. 82 Data mining (Section 4.8.2) provides a company with analyses of large amounts of data. Wireless devices can deliver information including customer history, inventory, delivery status and product details to employees and sales forces. Ripcord™ (www.ripcord.com) provides companies with wireless communication to their sales and field forces. Its Field Service Solution and Sales Solution use the Ripcord Liberator™ Platform, a Java-based platform that integrates a company’s back-end system with a variety of wireless devices. The demo at www.ripcord.com/solutions_sales.asp shows the sales force’s view of the service including log-in screen, contact information, company information and literature delivery and ordering screens. Customers can check delivery times for their United Parcel Service of America Inc. (www.ups.com) packages from their wireless devices. This can reduce customer service

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costs and allow representatives to focus on other problems. The cost per customer interaction for UPS to deliver customer management data decreases when customers use wireless devices to access customer service information instead of making phone calls to customer service representatives.83 OnStar (www.onstar.com) provides assistance to subscribers while in their automobiles by using wireless technologies and global positioning. Subscribers can contact an OnStar advisor to assist with directions and other needs. Customers can add the Virtual Advisor service to their OnStar service. This service allows customers to access Internetbased information using voice commands. Subscribers can select specific topics to be delivered to their vehicles.84 The restaurant industry is testing wireless CRM applications as well. Johnny Rockets is a 1950s-style diner restaurant chain with locations around the world. Recently, Johnny Rockets decided to implement m-commerce at some of its restaurants to test the profitability of using the wireless Web. The chain partnered with Go2 to enable wireless-device users to locate the closest Johnny Rockets restaurant and view the menu. This m-commerce system has been tested at the Johnny Rockets in Long Beach, California. Go2 users can visit the Go2 site for that restaurant and place orders from their wireless devices or computers. This system benefits customers and the restaurant as it simplifies the pickup and order processes. Customers can view the menu and prices and place orders directly from the site. Payment is due when an order is placed. See Fig. 4.9 for a list of companies providing CRM products and services that can help businesses in different industries add wireless applications to current customer service.

Company

Product and Service Names

SalesLogix™

SalesLogix.net

Sales, support, marketing and e-commerce capabilities designed to connect front-end and back-end systems utilizing wireless devices.

Siebel Systems

Siebel Handheld, Siebel Voice and Siebel Wireless

Sales- and field-force automation solutions that can be accessed through various wireless devices, handheld computers and voice recognition.

MicroStrategy®

Microstrategy CRM Applications™

Full-service Web-based solutions that provide direct targeted marketing, analytical features and automation options through traditional, Web, wireless and voice channels.

Fig. 4.9

Description

Some companies providing wireless CRM solutions.

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Product and Service Names

PeopleSoft®

PeopleSoft CRM

Fig. 4.9

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Description

CRM product line offers a variety of software and services addressing customer service and industry-specific needs. The solution allows the sales force to access information through wireless devices.

Some companies providing wireless CRM solutions.

4.13.2Sales-Force Automation Sales-force automation assists companies in the sales process, including maintaining and discovering leads, managing contacts and other sales-force activities. Assuring salespeople that sales-force automation does not mean the loss of their jobs, but the improvement of sales efficiency, has been difficult for some companies.85 Sales-force automation can lighten the administrative load on the sales force, allowing sales people to focus on important details and leads that can increase productivity and revenue. Important information about products and customers can be accessed in real time through sales-force automation, allowing salespeople to keep current on company and client information. 86 Salespeople’s relationships with customers can increase trust and loyalty. Customers will most likely want human contact at some point in the purchasing process, especially with higher-priced items. e-Fact 4.7 According to Mercer Management Consulting, an average 37% increase in sales occurred when customers visited a company’s Web site to find information on products—and salespeople followed up on leads generated through the Internet.87 4.7

Services and products for sales-force automation are available over the Internet. Salesforce.com provides Internet-based sales-force automation. The service is provided online and fees are subscription-based. The service allows salespeople to keep track of daily and upcoming appointments and gives them access to information regarding partners, customers and leads. Hoover’s (www.hoovers.com) and Dow Jones (www.dowjones.com) have become partners with salesforce.com. Hoover’s provides company and industry information and Dow Jones provides financial information and current news on many companies and markets. Both companies offer some services on a subscription basis only. Salesforce.com offers its clients access to this information. Salesforce.com also allows salespeople to view quarterly progress and forecast reports. The forecast reports can be adjusted to include each additional opportunity, such as possible new clients or revenue. Go to www.salesforce.com and follow the quick tour to view screens of what the sales force would see as they use this service. Activities for the week and messages from management can be delivered to the sales force using Salesforce.com. Lead information can be imported from another program or entered manually and then routed to the appropriate person, depending on the nature of the lead. Customer account information can be shared with others within the company and may include past activities and contact information. The service is also available over the wire-

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less Internet, accessible by wireless devices operating on Palm OS or by WAP-enabled phones. Wireless devices can improve sales-force automation. Making information available to a sales force almost anywhere at anytime improves mobility and overall production. Imagine that a salesperson is at a professional hockey game with a potential client. The prospective client asks the salesperson a question that must be answered before the sale is made. Using a cell phone or PDA, the salesperson can access information at that moment, to help close the sale. Without wireless Internet and devices, the salesperson would have had to call the office or find a wired Internet connection. Some businesses’ sales forces are deployed to areas of rough weather and poor conditions where they need devices that can endure this kind of environment. Others may evaluate the degree of complexity needed to complete the sales-force tasks—some may only need to check e-mail while others may need to access databases, place orders and chat electronically. Companies may also consider their employees’ preferences. If employees need to open Excel spreadsheets and other attachments, they may decide to use Microsoft’s Pocket PC.88 Some sales forces may need larger screens or keyboards. Businesses should consider that wireless carriers’ geographical coverages may differ. Companies may need to use a few carriers to increase the overall service area. 89 Many industries can benefit from adding wireless features to their e-CRM systems. Auteo Media, Inc. (www.auteo.com) provides the automobile industry with communication services and technologies. The company has six business units including Autoloco.com, Bidthatcar.com, PocketAuto.com, ContactAuto.com™, Dealer Specialities® and PartCart.com. Auteo Media’s CRM system includes wireless capabilities. ContactAuto.com enables car dealers to search inventory, respond to customer inquiries and e-mail using wireless devices. This can decrease time between receiving a lead and making the sale. Customers will be more likely to discuss automobile purchasing opportunities with the first dealers that answer their inquiries.90 See the Thinque feature for another sales- and field-force automation solution.

Thinque Systems Corporation: CRM and Field Force Automation Solutions91 Thinque MSP™ is a suite of mobile enterprise software applications for field-force automation (FFA) and customer relationship management (CRM). The applications allow mobile workers engaged in sales, marketing, field service, quality assurance and customer service to reduce costs and improve customer relations. Thinque MSP provides real-time, actionable data and connectivity between mobile workers and the enterprise. Thinque’s client-server applications are designed to run on Windows CE handheld computers such as the Pocket PC, as well as desktop and laptop computers. They can also operate in either wireless or non-wireless mode. Palm is supported through Web access only and requires a wireless connection. View the diagram below to see the structural flow of the Thinque MSP solution (Fig. 4.10).

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Thinque Systems Corporation: CRM and Field Force Automation Solutions91 The Thinque MSP applications consist of seven major components. The MSP Server™ maintains the database of real-time information distributed to and from the field force and handles the communications between all other MSP components. The MSP Desktop™ is responsible for administration and data management. It maintains user information and all other information necessary for creating, scheduling and routing of call reports and documents. The MSP Handheld PC Client™ is designed for field representatives using handheld PCs and wireless devices, allowing the representatives to communicate with headquarters in real time. The field force can download and respond to call reports, merchandising questionnaires and surveys. The MSP Web/PC Client™ is created for mobile workers who have access to a desktop computer in a home or remote office but not a handheld PC. Using the Web Client module, remote workers download information and assignments for the day, and then go to the field to carry them out. When they return to their remote or home office, the results of their activities are entered into the system using the Web-based software. MSP Touchtone™ allows a field representative to respond to Interactive Voice Response (IVR)-enabled call reports via land-line, cellular or WAP telephones. MSP Web Reporting enables managers to access detailed reports as up-to-date as the latest upload from the field. Data is presented in graphical formats, allowing managers to view and track field activities, make adjustments and communicate new information to the field force. Managers can execute performance analysis by region, product, store/ site and time. Thinque MSP 2.6 also gives headquarters access to regional sales management data, enabling the review of store-level inventory counts, pricing compliance and competitive information. MSP Digital Imaging adds the capability of transferring multimedia data from the field. This allows the field force to take advantage of the latest digital imaging technology to record images and video—enabling managers to see the same screens viewed by the field representatives. Headquarters can receive detailed images of products, work sites, in-store promotions or anything else field representatives wish to transmit. In addition, field representatives can insert digital images into surveys and questionnaires as a way of illustrating or answering questions.

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Thinque Systems Corporation: CRM and Field Force Automation Solutions91

Fig. 4.10

Thinque MSP System flow. [***resent for permission 5/14/01 link from www.thinque.com/products/msp_sa.html***]

In this chapter, we discussed the importance of tailoring a marketing strategy to include the online and wireless channels. Advertising, direct marketing and public relations can all be implemented on the Internet. Businesses can increase brand awareness and traffic to their sites using e-marketing. Although wireless marketing is still in its infancy, its presence and acceptance will increase as standards and technologies develop. In chapter 5, Wireless Payment Options, we discuss m-payment processing and wireless payment options and standards.

4.14 Internet and World Wide Web Resources Direct e-Mailing www.radicalmail.com This company that performs streaming multimedia e-mailing services. Visit the site for demonstrations of its latest e-mail capabilities. www.flonetwork.com FloNetwork, Inc., manages direct e-mail campaigns. The company provides real-time tracking and analysis of e-mail campaigns.

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www.clickaction.com ClickAction offers e-mail campaign management.

Online Promotions www.webpromote.com WebPromote offers information on Internet marketing, including coverage of Web-site promotion. www.promotionworld.com/tutorial/000.html Promotion World has an online outline containing information on site-promotion services.

Internet Marketing Research www.iconocast.com ICONOCAST features a variety of marketing information, including a newsletter. www.zonaresearch.com Zona Research offers marketing-research reports. www.idc.com International Data Corporation offers specialized marketing research on the Internet, e-commerce and information technology.

Online Advertising www.engage.com Engage Media offers a variety of Internet marketing products and services. www.adresource.com Ad Resource offers Internet advertising resources, including information on software, events and articles. www.burst.com Burst.com uses bursting to deliver video content. Visit the site for a demonstration of the difference between bursting and streaming.

Webcasting and Interactive Advertising www.streamingmedia.com Streamingmedia.com is a site where visitors can learn about current streaming-media conferences, industry news, company directories and other information on streaming media. www.digiknow.com Digiknow.com offers interactive advertising, including online, on-disk and on-paper advertising. Visit the site to see demonstrations. www.bluestreak.com Bluestreak offers interactive banners. Visit the site to see demonstrations.

Business-to-Business Marketing on the Web www.verticalnet.com VerticalNet, Inc. provides a list of industry communities. It has a variety of e-business solutions that help bring buyers and sellers together. Its resources give marketers information on B2B marketing. www.commerceone.com Commerce One offers a portal (www.marketsite.net) for businesses to exchange products around the world. Commerce One also assists companies in building industry marketplaces.

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www.linkshare.com Linkshare is one of the few companies offering business-to-business affiliate programs in addition to business-to-consumer affiliate programs.

Public Relations www.mediarelations.com Media Relations provides publicity, marketing and event management. www1.internetwire.com/iwire/home Internet Wire offers a free PR newsletter. www.newsiq.com NewsIQ offers a service that tracks when a client appears in the news.

Search-Engine Information www.submiturl.com/metatags.htm This site has a brief tutorial on META tags. www.webdeveloper.com/html/html_metatags.html The Webdeveloper provides a tutorial on META tags. www.tiac.net/users/seeker/searchenginesub.html This site offers direct links to the registration portions of many search engines.

General Internet Marketing Information www.asknetrageous.com/AskNetrageous.html Asknetrageous answers questions on Internet marketing. Users can subscribe to any of its e-mail newsletters for free. www.eMarketer.com eMarketer aggregates content on Internet marketing, including news, statistics, profiles and reviews. www.channelseven.com Channelseven is a news and information site that helps marketing and advertising professionals keep up-to-date with the Web. www.roibotlibrary.com/index.htm ROIbotlibrary is a listing of free resources on Internet marketing. The resources include a free fiveday marketing course delivered over the Internet. The Web site also provides free marketing software.

Total Internet Marketing Solutions and Services www.wheelhouse.com Wheelhouse consults and provides implementation assistance for various marketing strategies. www.hyperlink.com Hyperlink is a full-service company that offers customer-acquisition management tools and relationship marketing consultancy. www.ilux.com Ilux develops and sells software for Internet marketing solutions and also provides services, including evaluation of Web sites, outsourcing and assistance with the use of Ilux software.

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Wireless Marketing and Advertising www.mobliss.com Mobliss develops wireless marketing solutions and focuses on targeting and tracking campaigns including games, contests, sweepstakes, and location-based promotions. www.digitalimpact.com Digital Impact designs and implements direct permission-based marketing campaigns. The company tracks and analyzes campaign results and delivers marketing through online and wireless channels. www.advertising.com The company provides marketing solutions for the Web, e-mail and wireless platforms. Ads are served for PDAs, wireless Internet sites and through SMS. www.mchannel.net MobileChannel.Network provides branded content services to mobile operators through SMS, audio and WAP. The company develops technology for the delivery of content including sports, music and other topics to wireless devices. www.sonata.com Sonata provides interactive mobile solutions using voice or Web-enabled devices. Applications are location-based and include targeted marketing campaigns, content distribution and CRM. Sonata’s OnTarget is a mobile targeting and advertising system. www.adforce.com AdForce’s® AdForce EveryWhere enables a company to deliver ads, promotions, coupons and incentives to wireless devices. The technology delivers ads in real-time based on criteria such as userlocation, digital device and user-defined profiles.

Log-file Analysis www.uu.se/Software/Analyzers/Access-analyzers.html This site offers a listing of URLs for various log-file analysis tools. The list is organized by platform, including Unix, Windows NT, Windows, Macintosh and platform independent. www.sane.com Sane Solutions offers NetTracker®, a log-file analysis product. Visit the site for an online demo. www.activeconcepts.com Active Concepts provides Internet analysis products for e-business, Web administration, online training and marketing.

Data Mining www.sas.com SAS® has many solutions for customer relationship management. Its Balanced Scorecard uses data warehousing and data management to analyze collected data. www-4.ibm.com/software/data/iminer/fordata IBM® offers DB2 Intelligent Miner for Data. This product mines high-volume data and also provides analysis results. www.magnify.com Magnify provides data-mining solutions including specific products for the financial industry.

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Personalization www.bluemartini.com The BlueMartini Customer Interaction Server allows businesses to manage the needs of individual customers by tracking and mining the customer’s visits. www.broadbase.com Broadbase Software, Inc. provides solutions for all aspects of e-commerce. The E-Marketing product assists the marketer in planning, executing and analyzing personalized marketing campaigns.

E-mail www.echomail.com EchoMail®, Inc. provides companies with EchoMail, a software application that routes e-mail to the appropriate employees; it also warehouses and mines e-mail for analysis in real time and creates mailing lists and administers e-mail campaigns. www.emailtoday.com This portal provides e-mail industry news and articles. www.clickaction.com ClickAction™ ERM is a Web-based e-mail management solution designed for marketers and database managers. The solution can be tailored to be self-service (e-mails are sent automatically) or full service (e-mails are managed by employees), depending on the company’s needs.

Sales Force Automation www.selectica.com Selectica’s Internet Selling System™ (ISS) is a solution that improves the sales process by assisting in product development, analysis, sales data management and other sales functions. www.oraclesalesonline.com Oracle® provides an online solution for sales-force automation. OracleSalesOnline.com gives a company’s sales force access to sales force automation tools, including company updates and forecasts. www.frontrange.com FrontRange Solutions™ sells GoldMine® 5.0, an automation software for sales and marketing.

Complete CRM Solutions www.peoplesoft.com PeopleSoft® created the Vantive Enterprise and the Web-based Vantive eBusiness application suites to fulfill companies’ customer relationship management needs. The modules of the solution can be used separately or together and include Vantive Quality, Vantive Support, Vantive Sales, Vantive Field Service and Vantive HelpDesk. www.pegasystems.com Pegasystem offers a full range of CRM solutions for service, marketing and sales, using various channels of contact with consumers. www.crmcommunity.com This site is a resource for customer relationship management. This site provides visitors with a listing of solutions, CRM events and a career center. www.crm-forum.com CRM Forum contains articles, tutorials, presentations, and white papers on improving the quality of customer relationship management on the Internet.

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www.isky.com iSky provides assistance for companies who need customer care systems. A company can outsource customer relationship management to iSky. www.acxiom.com Acxiom® offers Abilitec™, a solution that integrates all forms of contact with customers, so a company can have a single view of each customer.

Wireless Customer Relationship Management and Sales Force Automation www.aethersystems.com Aether™ Systems provides wireless systems, services and software that enable wireless devices for real-time transactions and communications. www.ca.com Computer Associates™ offers its Intelligent CRM Suite. It provides WAP-enabled sales and marketing automation and customer service. www.fieldcentrix.com FieldCentrix™ provides field-force automation services including its product, FieldCentrix Enterprise, which automates billing, ordering and other field services. www.nortelnetworks.com/products/04/cwfs/index.html Nortel Networks Clarify Wireless eBusiness Solution for Field Service allows the field force to interact in real time with the office. Companies can send detailed information about the customer and the problem to the field force. www.salesnet.com Salesnet offers Salesnet Wireless to provide wireless connection to its Web-based sales management solutions. It works from PDAs, cell phones and pagers. www.GoAmerica.com GoAmerica’s Go.Web wireless service and browser enables wireless access to desktop applications, e-mail, Intranets and the Internet.

SUMMARY • An e-marketing strategy can include e-mailing, advertising, promotions and public relations. • Keeping user profiles, recording visits and analyzing promotional and advertising results are key to measuring the effectiveness of a marketing campaign. • Brand is typically defined as a name, logo or symbol that helps one identify a company’s products or services. Customers’ experience can be considered part of a brand. • Brand equity includes the value of tangible and intangible items, such as a brand’s monetary value over time, customer perceptions and customer loyalty. • Marketing research can be performed over the Internet, giving marketers a new, faster option for finding and analyzing industry, customer and competitor information. • E-mail is a fast, cheap and far-reaching marketing tool. • Global businesses must have the ability to send e-mail translated into the proper languages. • Defining the reach and level of personalization for e-marketing campaigns is important. • Direct mailing is often more expensive, more difficult to analyze and has a lower response rate than direct e-mailing. • Spamming—mass e-mailing customers who have not expressed interest in receiving these emails—can reflect poorly on a company.

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• A push strategy is when marketing messages requested by the recipient are not delivered to wireless devices in real time. • When marketers deliver messages or advertisements that have not been requested by a wireless user, it is called a push strategy. • A pull strategy assumes that people will request specific information to be sent to their wireless devices. • Permission-based (opt-in) marketing ensures that a customer’s privacy is not abused. It increases campaign response rates and productivity because the target market is better defined. • Wireless marketing can be personalized based on the individual’s location and preferences. • Location-based wireless marketing and advertising sends particular messages and advertisements to wireless-device users depending on their location. • Zip-code based wireless marketing and advertising sends messages to users according to their zip codes. • Security issues arise as businesses and wireless customers consider that content delivered over the wireless Internet may be vulnerable at certain points during transmission. • Limited technology and a variety of protocols cause content to be displayed differently depending on the receiving wireless device. • If a campaign is delivered to wireless-phone users, marketers should consider the phone-usage costs to users as they access the marketing content. • Marketers can send messages that include a direct link to purchasing the product, contain a coupon that can be saved on a wireless device or provide news relevant to the recipients’ interests. • Placing discount advertisements in magazines, newspapers, direct e-mail and on other Web sites can bring both new and repeat customers to a Web site. • Advertising for e-businesses can be conducted through mainstream channels, such as television, movies, newspapers and magazines, as well as the online and wireless channels. • Banner-ad benefits include increased brand recognition, exposure and possible revenue gained through purchases by consumers. • Paying a designated fee for every 1000 people who view the site on which a banner is located is called the CPM (cost-per-thousand) method of payment. • One unique visit registers when someone visit a site. Hits are recorded for each object that is downloaded. To determine the value of a Web site for advertising purposes, one should use the number of unique visitors, not total hits. • Advertising fees based on actions include pay-per-click, pay-per-lead and pay-per-sale. • Companies that sell advertising space for other companies’ Web sites typically charge a percentage of the revenue received from the advertisements placed on the sites. • Webcasting involves using streaming media to broadcast an event over the Web. • Bursting delivers content faster than streaming. Bursting causes a substantial buildup of content at the receiving end, potentially enabling a smoother appearance. • Cross-media advertising includes using many forms of rich media and traditional advertising to execute an advertising campaign. • If a company wants to advertise on wireless sites, it will have to select a publisher or publisher network, which is the site or group of sites that carry wireless content and wireless advertisements. • Wireless advertising should be focused, personalized and classified as push or pull advertising.

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• Pull advertising helps protect users’ privacy by allowing them to request information that will be delivered to their wireless devices. • Wireless advertisements can be delivered using Short Message Service (SMS), a service that delivers text messages of 160 alphanumeric characters or less. Marketers are limited by the length, creativity and interactivity of the message because the messages cannot contain graphics. • Text messages load more quickly than rich multimedia and graphics-packed messages. • Offering customers the option to receive mobile alerts can be perceived as positive customer relationship management if the alerts are relevant to the subscribers’ requests. • Wireless advertisements can be interactive or delivered using audio. Interactivity can include requiring users to click-through, call or take another type of action. • Many wireless devices have the ability to exchange information with each other through infrared beams. • PDA banners allow users to click on these banners from their PDAs to find out more information, receive discounts or make purchases. • WAP advertisements (often referred to as “Wapverts”) can be sent to mobile devices that use the Wireless Application Protocol. • Telematics allows marketers to send messages and advertisements to alert drivers to nearby restaurants, rest areas and stores or to deliver news and weather information. • The Wireless Advertising Association (WAA) recommends wireless advertising standards and is concerned with privacy issues and wireless advertising measurements. • Data gathered through log-file analysis, data mining, customer registration, cookies and other tracking devices can be used to personalize each visitor’s experience, find trends in customer use and measure the effectiveness of a Web site over time. • Advertisers and Web-site owners can use ID cards, click-through banner advertisements and Web bugs to track visitors. • An ID card enables information to be sent to a computer from a Web site. Only the numerical address of the PC on the Internet, the browser and the operating system are necessary for a computer to retrieve information. • Click-through advertisements can serve as a tracking device, as advertisers can learn what sites generate the most click-through sales and which advertisements are most effective. • Web Bugs, or clear GIFs (a type of image file), are embedded in an image on the screen. Every time a user requests a page with a Web bug on it, the Web bug sends a request to the Web bug’s company’s server, which then tracks where the user goes on the Web. • Log files consist of data generated by site visits, including each visitor’s location, IP address, time of visit, frequency of visits and other information. Log-file analysis organizes and summarizes the information contained in the log files and can be used to determine the number of unique visitors. • Data mining uses algorithms and statistical tools to find patterns in data gathered from customer visits. • Customer registration is recommended when it will provide a benefit to the customer. Every time customers log on to a site using usernames and passwords, their actions can be tracked. • Marketers may give potential customers an incentive to register. If a site offers an online service, marketers can offer a free-trial or a free demonstration to familiarize the user with the service. • A cookie is a text file stored by a Web site on an individual’s personal computer that allows a site to track the actions of a visitor.

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• Cookies can be beneficial to the customer. They record passwords for returning visitors, keep track of shopping-cart materials and register preferences. • Cell phones can be tracked because each phone has a unique identification number. Locationbased advertising uses this capability. • Advertisers know when wireless phones and PDAs receive advertisements and they may also know if cell-phone users contact customer service representatives in response to advertisements. However, they will not know what happens after the calls are made. • Marketers may consider sending SMS messages with a code that customers can call in and use to make a purchase, allowing marketers to track who made a purchase as a result of the advertisement. • WAP advertisements allows users to click on ads, giving them more information from a wireless site. The click-throughs can be tracked using ad servers that are designed for wireless campaigns. • As more cell phones become payment devices, advertisement tracking results may improve. If companies can access cell-phone purchase records, they may learn which advertisements resulted in purchases. • Collaborative filtering compares ratings of a present user’s interests and decisions with those of past users to offer content relative to the present user’s interests. • Rules-based personalization is the delivery of personalized content based on the subjection of a user’s profile to set rules or assumptions. • The Personalization Consortium, a newly formed alliance of major Web sites, attempts to accommodate those individuals who prefer to have their Web experiences tailored. • Wireless marketing can deliver the highest level of Internet personalization, but also raises concerns over customer privacy. • Cell-phone user demographic information is captured by wireless service providers, including customer names, their current locations and permanent addresses. • Users may not be aware that their wireless phone service providers may sell users’ personal information to advertisers. • If used properly and with consumers’ privacy rights in mind, personalization and associated technologies can build relationships with customers by giving them what they want, when they want it. • PR includes communicating with consumers and employees through press releases, speeches, special events, presentations, e-mail and Web sites. • Press releases can be delivered over the Web. The Web site should contain a link that connects to all of a company’s press releases. • Video clips of news appearances, speeches, commercials and advertisements can be effective publicity for a company. • Crisis management, an element of PR, is conducted in response to company problems. • If a company is doing poorly, the public-relations department must be ready to issue information about what is causing the problem and what will be done to correct it. • When selling products or services to another business, it is important for sellers to recognize that the buyer might not be the end user. • Search-engine ranking is important to bringing consumers to a site. • A META tag is an HTML tag that contains information about a Web page. • Most search engines rank a site by sending out a spider to inspect the site. The spider reads the META tags, determines the relevance of the Web page’s information and keywords and then ranks the site according to that visit’s findings.

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• When registering a site with a search engine, the marketer submits keywords and a description of the business to the engine. The search engine will add the information to its database of Web sites. • Failing to submit a site to search engines does not mean that a site will not show up on various search engines, but registering will increase the probability of the site appearing in result listings. • Wireless search engines offer users limited searching capabilities. Some search engines display only sites specifically designed for wireless devices. • Sites can be displayed incorrectly or will not appear on a wireless device if they are not designed for access by the devices. • Customer relationship management (CRM) focuses on providing and maintaining quality service for customers by effectively communicating and delivering products, services, information and solutions to address customer problems, wants and needs. • eCRM is the application of CRM to an e-business’ strategy and includes the personalization and customization of customers’ experiences and interactions with a Web site, call center or any other method of customer contact with the e-business. • eCRM is essential to the success of an e-business because the relationship between the merchant and its customers is distant; the merchant may never see or even talk to the other party. • Customer relationship management (CRM) can benefit from wireless devices. Customers can receive timely and relevant information on demand and companies can provide more efficient communications with their sales and field forces through wireless devices. • Sales-force automation assists companies in the sales process, including maintaining and discovering leads, managing contacts and other sales-force activities. • Companies should evaluate the various needs of their sales forces before deciding to add wireless devices to enhance their sales-force automation. • The geographical coverage of various carriers differ, and companies will have to decide which carrier has service in the areas their sales forces frequent.

TERMINOLOGY alerts application service provider banner ads brand brand awareness brand equity bursting business-to-business (B2B) marketing business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing call handling carrier clear GIF click-through banner advertisement collaborative filtering cookie CPM (cost per thousand) crisis management cross-media advertising customer profile customer registration

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customer relationship management (CRM) data mining demographics direct e-mail e-coupons freeware hits HTML hybrid advertising ID card interactive television advertising Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) Internet mailing list interstitial IP address location-based marketing and advertising log file log-file analysis marketing campaign marketing mix marketplace metasearch engines META tag natural language technology online focus group opt-in e-mail outsource pay-per-click pay-per-lead pay-per-performance pay-per-sale PDA banner permission-based marketing personalization Personalization Consortium plug-in points-based promotion pop-up box positioning press release promotion public relations (PR) publisher publisher network pull strategy push strategy psychographics reach response rate rules-based personalization

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sales-force automation sales tracking search engine search-engine ranking secondary research segmented markets shareware Short Message Service (SMS) side-panel ad skyscraper banner spamming spider streaming video target market telemarketing telematics top-referring site tracking device traditional direct marketing transaction support turnkey solution unique visitor viral marketing Wireless Advertising Association (WAA) Wireless Advertising Council (WAC) Wireless Advertising Marketing and Measurement Initiative (WAMMI) Wireless Internet Advertising Association Web bug Webcasting zip-code based marketing

SELF-REVIEW EXERCISES 4.1

State whether each of the following is true or false; if false, explain why. a) Spamming is soliciting consumers with unwanted e-mail. b) Registering with search engines will increase the probability of a site appearing in result listings. c) The more effective way to determine the value of a Web site for advertising purposes is to use the number of hits the site receives versus using the number of unique visitors. d) CPM is considered an action-based fee. e) Streaming media delivers a flow of data in real time. f) Wireless marketing should not be opt-in. g) Wireless marketing is not as personalized as direct mail. h) Wireless search engines should simplify navigation, especially for cell-phone users who have to use the number keys to spell out words. i) When selling a product or service to another business, it is important that the seller recognizes that the buyer might not be the end user. j) While acquiring new customers is important, it is less expensive to maintain current customers.

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k) Personalization uses information from the tracking, mining and analyzing of data to customize a person’s interactions with a company’s products, services, Web site and employees. 4.2

Fill in the blanks in each of the following statements: a) A search engine sends out a ________ to survey and rank a Web site. b) ________ delivers content faster than streaming; it causes a substantial buildup of content at the receiving end, potentially enabling a smoother appearance. c) ________ is used to make Webcasts appear like television. d) ________, an aspect of PR, is conducted in response to problems the company is experiencing. e) When marketers send wireless messages by , they are limited by the length (160 alphanumeric characters or less) and creativity of the message because the messages cannot contain graphics. f) The is an organization resulting from the merger of the Wireless Internet Advertising Association (WIAA) and the Internet Advertising Bureau’s (IAB) Wireless Advertising Council that focuses on making recommendations for wireless advertising standards. g) uses algorithms and statistical tools to find patterns in data gathered from customer visits. h) The maintenance of outbound and inbound calls from customers and service representatives is known as . i) , requiring visitors to fill out a form with personal information that is then used to create a profile, is recommended when it will provide a benefit to the consumer.

ANSWERS TO SELF-REVIEW EXERCISES 4.1 a) True. b) True. c) False. Finding unique visitors is more effective than determining the number of hits. Visiting any site registers one unique visit. Hits are recorded for each object that is downloaded, and there could be many such objects per unique visit. d) False. Action-based fees include pay per lead, pay per sale and pay per click. e) True. f) False. Wireless marketing strategies should be opt-in, allowing customers to select to receive the messages. g) False. Wireless marketing is more personal than direct mail. h) True. i) True. j) True. k) True. 4.2 a) spider. b) Bursting. c) Streaming video. d) Crisis management. e) Short Message Service (SMS). f) Wireless Advertising Association (WAA). g) Data mining. h) call handling. i) Customer registration.

EXERCISES 4.3

State whether each of the following is true or false; if false, explain why. a) A target market is the group of people toward whom the marketer directs a marketing campaign. b) Search-engine registration is important to increasing traffic to a site. c) CPM stands for Consumer Product Management. d) Direct mailing is often less expensive, easier to analyze and has a higher response rate than direct e-mailing. e) Using Webcasting for an online advertising can simulate television commercials. f) Users may not be aware that their wireless phone service providers may sell the information to advertisers. g) Maintaining relationships with current customers by listening to their suggestions and continuing to improve service will build loyalty.

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h) Sales force automation eliminates the need for salespeople completely. i) The best way to start building a consumer profile is to require as much information as possible when customers make a purchase or even just visit the Web site. j) It is generally more expensive to maintain current customers than to acquire new customers. k) Sending mobile alerts to customers is positive customer relationship management. 4.4

Fill in the blanks in each of the following statements: a) A ________ is an HTML tag that contains information about a Web page. b) Online focus groups, surveys and interviews are all part of performing ________. c) A symbol or name that distinguishes a company and its products or services from its competitors is called a ________. d) Online and offline statistics based on age, income and gender are known as ________. e) By placing a ________ on a Web site, the marketer will allow people to post their comments and questions about the company, products and services on the site. f) A is based on the notion that people will surf the Web and request information from their wireless devices. g) advertising is sending particular messages and advertisements to wirelessdevice users depending on their physical locations.

4.5

Define each of the following terms: a) reach b) response rate c) spamming d) opt-in e-mail e) carrier f) SMS i) push strategy j) zip-code based marketing g) pull strategy h) top-referring sites

4.6

Research and compare three different online advertising agencies. a) What forms of advertising media does each company offer? b) Do any of the sites offer demonstrations? Explain any demonstrations that you can view. c) Which company has the most appealing and navigable site? Which company would you choose for your advertising campaign. Why?

4.7 Explain the three common types of pay-per-performance advertising campaigns. For each type of pay-per-action advertising, give an example of what type of site should use it and why. 4.8 Visit SurveySite (www.surveysite.com) and explore its online demo of Internet-based surveys. Answer the following questions. a) What does piping mean? b) What is the difference between skip pattern questions and branching questions? c) Visit www.surveysite.com/newsite/newpop/showmenewx.htm and describe SurveySite’s pop-up survey software. At the bottom of this Web page, click on the Click Here link to see an example of the pop-up software. Answer the survey questions. Do you think that the survey will help a site? What questions do you feel are most important? Why? List additional questions that you would ask in an online survey. 4.9 (Semester Project) Choose a traditionally marketed product or service, and create an e-marketing strategy for it. Discuss how you would perform each of the following for the product or service. Discuss the importance of each and give examples:

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a) b) c) d) e) f) g) h) i)

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direct e-mail cross-media advertising banner advertising target market public relations promotions Internet marketing research search-engine registration wireless marketing

4.10 Visit Excite TM (www.excite.com) and sign up for My Excite Start Page. Select the personal options of your choice and visit this site once a day for a few days. a) Name at least three personalization selections offered and describe the options for each. b) Are the personalization options you selected a convenience or are they bothersome? Explain. c) Was the delivered content personalized each day you returned? Discuss what you viewed at your Excite Start Page each day. d) Does this change your view of personalization’s benefits? How did you regard it previously? 4.11 (Class Discussion) Discuss your experiences with customer services. What experiences went well and why? What obstacles did you encounter? Could the situation have been handled using a wireless device? What problems might you have encountered using a wireless device? Select two ebusinesses of your choice and do a complete comparison of their customer relationship management tools, or lack thereof. Which company offers the best CRM? 4.12 Visit the sites of Sitel Corporation (www.sitel.com) and TeleTech (www.teletech.com) and compare their CRM applications. a) Which Web site had more informative content? What services does TeleTech offer? Do both companies have global reach? b) Based on the company’s Web sites, which company has the competitive advantage? Why? c) If your company was looking for CRM, which company would you choose? Prepare a detailed explanation. 4.13 The Wireless Advertising Association is attempting to address wireless issues including the need for wireless advertising standards. To discover more about wireless advertising, the WAA and IAB asked members to disclose information on their wireless advertising trials. Visit www.waaglobal.org/research_trials.pdf and answer the following questions regarding their research. a) How did members submit their findings to the WAA and IAB? b) On which wireless device were most trials delivered? What percentage of respondents ran their trials on that device? What percentage of members tried wireless advertisements on two-way pagers? c) What percentage of respondents identified brand building as their top campaign objective? d) What were the metrics used to track the advertising in the responding members’ trials? e) List and discuss the five measurement issues outlined by the WAA’s research findings. 4.14 Visit www.waaglobal.org/metrics.pdf to learn about advertising measurement metrics for the wireless channel as discussed by the WAA. a) Discuss the existing metrics versus the new metrics. What are the main differences? b) According to the IAB, what is the definition of an ad request?

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c) What are some possible options for the recipient’s interactions with an ad? d) If you were to deliver a wireless advertising campaign, what wireless devices would you advertise on? Which metrics would you use for measurement? Why? e) What options would you give the user to respond to the advertisements (specify the wireless device on which the advertisements would be displayed)? 4.15 There are different options for wireless advertising on PDAs and mobile phones. Visit www.skygo.com/adsamples/phone_examples.html and learn the ways consumers receive advertisements from SkyGo. Also see the various wireless advertisement examples. a) Describe the difference between SkyGo’s inline and interstitial advertisements for mobile phones. b) What company is used for the alert sample on mobile phones? What does the ad offer? How does the customer receive the special price? c) See the PDA example of an inline advertisement. What company is advertising? After viewing the example and more information is displayed on the PDA, what are the options for the user at the end of the ad? d) Can you have more than one feature in a SkyGo ad? Does SkyGo support SMS and WAP? Explain. Can you have the Call feature in an SMS ad? Can you have images in an SMS ad? e) Discuss the positive and negative aspects of wireless marketing and advertising for both the recipients and advertisers? What are the obstacles for wireless advertisers? 4.16 Sales force automation benefits from the addition of the wireless channel as a form of communication. Visit www.ripcord.com/solutions_sales.asp and click on the Demo icon to view the demonstration of the Ripcord’s wireless solution. Answer the following questions. a) For what company does Steve work? After logging in, what is the first thing Steve does? With who is Steve’s meeting? b) What is Joe’s position within Quest Company? Steve forgets to bring information about Vision2001 so what does he do? c) Before selecting to add wireless devices to a company’s sales force automation solution, what considerations should be evaluated?

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10. D. Greening, “When Push Comes To Shove,” Webtechniques April 2000: 20, 22, 23.

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11. “First-to-Wireless™,” WindWire, Inc. 27 December 2000: 2. 12. D. Wilson, “Unleashing the Power of Wireless Marketing,” www.allnetdevices.com/ wireless/opinions/2000/11/08/unleashing_the.html 8 November 2000. 13. E. Sutherland, “Finding Location-Based Ads May Take Some Searching,” M-Commerce Times 2 January 2001. 14. . 15. H. Winkler, “Using Location Based Wireless Advertising to Target Consumers,” Wireless Advertising Conference Atlanta, Georgia May 20-23. 16. E. Newborne, “Look Ma! No Ads!,” Inside 6 February 2001: 81. 17. K. Bayne, “Wireless Devices: The New Marketing Frontier,” e-Business Advisor December 2000: 10, 12-13. 18. J. O’Brien, “M-Commerce Off to a Slow Start,” Computer Shopper February 2001: 62. 19. J. Selingo, “Ads on Cell Phones (And You Thought You Had Escaped),” The New York Times on the Web 28 September 2001 . 20. K. Sharpe, “The New Battle For Hearts and Minds Begins,” 19 January 2001. 21. “Invertix and C-Come One Make m-Commerce Marketing in Europe a Reality,” 27 March 2001. 22. J. Black, “Dangle With Care,” Internet World 15 October 2000: 39. 23. . 24. C. Blank, “Wireless Promotion Pays Off for New Line Cinema’s Release of ‘Blow,’” iMarketing News 30 April 2001 . 25. S. Eliot, “Not X’es, Not O’s, It’s the Dot-Coms that Matter. Marketers Suit Up For a Costly Race for Recognition,” The New York Times 28 January 2000: C1. 26. S. Mulcahy, “On-line Advertising Poised To Explode; Learn Ropes Now,” Mass High Tech 28 February-5 March 2000: 4. 27. J. Gaffney, “Smart Buy: Ashford.com on NYTimes.com,” Revolution August 2000: 17. 28. T. Sweeney, “Advertisers Seek More Bang For Their Web Bucks,” informationweek.com 2 October 2000: 130. 29. D. Lehman, “Privacy Policies Missing on 77% of Web Sites,” Computerworld 17 April 2000: 103. 30. P. Resende, “InterMute Inc.’s Software to Silence Web Ads,” Mass High Tech 19-25 March 2001: 7. 31. L. Cunningham, “Marketing: Only Performance Counts,” Inter@ctive Week 1 May 2000: 116. 32. K. Weisul, “ValueClick Could Live Up To Its Name,” Inter@ctive Week 27 March 2000: 92. Information also collected from www.valueclick.com. 33. M. Smetannikov, “Perchance To Dream of Bannerless Ads,” Inter@ctive Week 17 April 2000: 22. 34. M. McCarthy, “Webcast Show Fashion Success,” USA Today 22 May 2000: 8B. 35. M. McCarthy, 8B.

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36. A. Houston, “Advertisers Get Set to Try Interactivity on Television,” Revolution August 2000:14. 37. T. Bair, “True Tales of Mobile Advertising: The Need for Standards,” Wireless Advertising Conference Atlanta, Georgia May 20-23. 38. J. Selingo, “Ads on Cell Phones (And You Thought You Had Escaped,” The New York Times on the Web 28 September 2001 . 39. K. Bayne, “Wireless Devices: The New Marketing Frontier,” e-Business Advisor December 2000:12. 40. J. O’Brien, “M-Commerce Off to a Slow Start,” Computer Shopper February 2001: 62. 41. D. Callaghan, “Marketers Targeting Mobile Buyers,” eWeek 26 February 2001: 35. 42. K. Bayne, “Wireless Devices: The New Marketing Frontier,” Marketing Advisor™ December 2000: 12. 43. “Ericsson: Users Like Wireless Ads,” M-Commercetimes 16 November 2000. 44. C.A. Soule, “AdAlive Adds City Guide Information to PDAs,” Mass High Tech 22-28 January 2001: 12. 45. “The Mobile Internet,” Revolution February 2001: 61. 46. . 47. C. Saunders, “SkyGo to Add “Click-to-Buy” to Wireless Ads,” Internet News 2 January 2001. 48. J. O’Brien, “SkyGo Releases WAP Ad Trial Results,” Digitrends.net 18 December 2000. 49. B. Smith, “Wireless Ads Drawing Mixed Opinions,” Wireless Week 19 March 2001: 42. 50. “SkyGo Study Suggests Wireless Advertising May Be Catalyst to Widespread Consumer Use of Wireless Web,” Wireless Developer Network . 51. L. Ehmann, “Wireless Advertising Tries to Fly,” m-business March 2001: 58. 52. L. Ehmann, 58. 53. . 54. D. Buss, “Connected Cars,” Revolution February 2001: 52. 55. . 56. D. Buss, “Connected Cars,” Revolution February 2001: 53. 57. S. Vranica, “Volvo Campaign Tests New-Media Waters,” The Wall Street Journal 19 March 2001: B5. 58. P. Schaut, “Online Advertising Report: I Don’t Think We’re In Kansas Anymore,” Revolution August 2000: 3. 59. T.E. Weber, “Tricks of the Web Snoops Trade,” The Wall Street Journal 23 February 2000: B1. 60. T.E. Weber, B1. 61. T.E. Weber, B1.

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62. . 63. “Wireless Advertising on Trial: Part 2 of 2,” allNetDevices 27 February 2001 64. L. Stevens, “Measuring Mobile Ad Campaigns,” m-business November 2000: 26. 65. L. Stevens, 26. 66. A. Gutzman, “Wireless Impressions Measured by OmniSky and DoubleClick,” M-Commercetimes 20 November 2000. 67. E-Business Technology Forecast (PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP: 1999) 83. 68. . 69. J. Taschek, “Wireless Ads are an Unnecessary Evil,” eWeek 12 February 2001: 64. 70. A. Katz-Stone, “Wireless Revenue - Ads Can Work,” M-Commerce Times 8 December 2000. 71. H. Bray, “With CMGI’s Aid, New Ad Firm Will Target Wireless Customers,” The Boston Globe 19 December 2000: C11. 72. J. Helpern, “Spinning Out of Control?” Business2.com 1 May 2001: 56. 73. J. Helpern, 57. 74. K. Lundegaard, “The Internet is Playing a Principal Role In Recall of Bridgestone/Firestone Tires,” The Wall Street Journal 16 August 2000: A14. 75. D. Peppers, et al., The One To One Field Book: The Complete Toolkit for Implementing a 1 to 1 Marketing Program (New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc., 1999) 42. 76. M. Boyle, “Anyone Up For a B-to-B Business-plan Bandwagon?” Revolution August 2000: 8. 77. . 78. . 79. C. Taylor, “In Search of Google,” Time 21 August 2000: 67. 80. C.J. Kennedy, “Wireless Search Engines: Bigger Isn’t Better,” Wireless Developer Network 81. B. Thompson, “Keeping Customers is Smart and Profitable,” Business Week Special Advertising Section 3 July 2000. 82. A. Gutzman, “The Wireless Killer App: Voice?” M-CommerceTimes 9 June 2000 . 83. M. Songini, “Wireless Technology Changes the Face of CRM,” Computerworld 12 February 2001: 20. 84. . 85. D. Drucker, “The Web: Hardly Death Of A Salesman,” InternetWeek 25 October 1999: 73. 86. D. Drucker, 73. 87. “Click, Then Call,” The Wall Street Journal 20 July 2000. 88. M. Douglas, “How To Choose The Right Device For Your Field Force,” Field Force Automation May 2001: 40. 89. M. Douglas, 42.

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90. “ContactAuto Breaks New Ground In Wireless Automotive Customer Relationship Management,” Cartoday.com 7 November 2000 . 91. .

RECOMMENDED READINGS Amor, D. The E-business (R)Evolution. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2000. Bond, J. "Marketers, Your Stock Has Never Been Higher." Revolution March 2000: 55-59. Cunningham, L. "Marketing: Only Performance Counts." Inter@ctive Week 1 May 2000: 116. Estabrook, A. “Drive Customers To Your Web Site.” e-Business Advisor November 1999: 22-25. Gray, D. The Complete Guide To Associate and Affiliate Programs on the Net: Turning Clicks into Cash. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000. Kuehl, C. “E-mail Marketing, Spam’s Good Twin.” Internet World 1 May 2000: 31-38. Mann-Craik, F. “The Power of Advertising Your Internet Firm.” Tornado-Insider, February 2000: 92-94, 96. Mowrey, M. “Thank You, Please Come Again.” The Industry Standard 27 March 2000: 196, 197. Seybold, P. and R. Marshak. Customers.com: How To Create A Profitable Business Strategy For The Internet and Beyond. New York: Random House, Inc., 1998. Siebel, T. and P. House. Cyber Rules: Strategies for Excelling At E-Business. New York: Random House, Inc., 1999. “Special Report: CRM e-volves.” Global Technology Business May 2000: 48+. "Special Report: Online Marketing: Customer Conundrum." Upside April 2000: 145+. Tiernan, B. E-tailing. Chicago: Dearborn Financial Publishing, Inc., 2000. Walsh, B. “Building A Business Plan For An E-Commerce Project.” Network Computing 15 September 1998: 69-71+.

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NOTES TO REVIEWERS This chapter is not a final draft. It is a work in progress so please keep this in mind while reviewing this material. Thank you for your time and consideration. 1. Are any topics missing from this chapter? If you believe something is missing, please include what it is specifically, and URLs or other information resources were we can find more about these subjects.

2. Is the information presented clearly?

3. To the best of your knowledge is the information accurate.

4. Any other comments or information you would like to include would be greatly appreciated.

Index

1

Symbols 264 @ResearchInfo.com 224

229

A adAlive, Inc. 239 Adknowledge 224 advertising 221, 223,

228, 229, 232, 234, 236, 237, 244, 249

Advertising.com 241 alert 238 Alerts Inc. 239 algorithm 244 AltaVista 224 Angle of Arrival (AOA) 227 Ariba 253 Ask Jeeves 254 audio 222, 239, 251 Auteo Media, Inc. 260 Avesair Inc. 251

Boldfish.com 225 brand 221, 222 brand awareness 251 brand recognition 230 Branders.com 228 Burst.com 236 bursting 236 Burstware® 236 business-to-business (B2B) exchange 253 business-to-business (B2B) marketplace 253 business-to-business (B2B) marketing 252 business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing 252 buying advertising space 233

call handling 257 carrier 237, 241 CBS SportsLine 243 chat sessions 251

Commerce One 253 communicate 250 complement 234 CompUSA 241 Concur Technologies 253 Connect Inc. 253 consulting 236 consumer preference 223 consumer reaction 251 contact information 234 cookie 244, 250 corporate marketing strategy 221 coupon 221, 238 CPM (cost per thousand) 233 crisis management 252 cross-media advertising 237 customer profile 248 customer registration 248 customer relationship management (CRM) 239,

248, 256, 257, 258, 260 249, 257, 286

230, 232,

234 BeVocal 256

C

232, 233,

customer service 221, 225, 248 customer service representative

B banner advertisement

exchanging banners 232 external issue 251

243, 249

Numerics 2Roam

Clear Digital 236 ClickMiles 228 ClickRewards 228 click-through 229,

Cyber-Logics 236

D data mining 244, 248, 257 database 251, 253 DD/Marketer 248 demographic 222, 245, 250 Diameter 223 digital video 237 direct e-mail 225, 228 directory 243 discount 227, 228, 240 DoubleClick 234, 249

E e-commerce 258 e-coupon 228, 229, 237, 240 eCoupons 241 e-mail 249, 260 e-marketing 221, 236 e-marketing research 223 e-marketing strategy 220 Engage Inc. 229, 251 Excel 245 exchanging advertising space 234

F field-force automation 258, Finlandia Vodka 239 focus group 222 Forrester Research 223 FrameSearch.net 256 free shipping 228 free trial 228 free.com 229 free2try.com 229 freeshop.com 229 frequent-flyer miles 228

260

G GeePS 227 geographic data 245 global positioning 258 Go2.com 243, 258 GoGlobal Technologies Google 256 GPS 227 graphic 230, 256

223

H H2O Design 237 hit 233 HTML 245, 253,

256

I identification number 249 impression 249 industry marketplace 253 infrared beam 239 InsightExpress.com 223 Interactive television advertising

237 interactivity 238 Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB)

243 Internet mailing list 225 interstitial advertisement interview 222 Invertix 227 IP address 244 iQ.com 229 iSwag.com 228

J Johnny Rockets

258

239

2

Index

JungleSoft 239 Jupiter Communications

224

K keyword 253 Kinko’s 241 KVO 223

L lead 259 LinkExchange 234 location-based advertising 249 location-based marketing 227 location-based technology 221 location-positioning technology

227 log file 245 log-file analysis logo 222, 228 Lot21 237

244

M

O

R

OmniSky 249 online advertising 224, 229, online natural-language technology 254 online survey 223 OnStar 258 opt-in 225, 226, 228 outsourcing 225, 251

233

P Palm 239, 260 paper survey 222 password 248 pay-per-click 233 pay-per-lead 233 pay-per-performance 233 pay-per-sale 233 payment 249, 258 permission-based 225, 226 personalization 224, 225, 226,

244, 249, 250, 256

Macro Consulting Inc. 223 Macromedia 236 magazine 229 marketing campaign 221, 245 marketing research 221, 222,

224 marketing strategy 233, m-business 257 m-commerce 241, 242, media contact 251 Media Metrix 224 media software 236 MediaMap 251 MediaRing.com 225 META tag 253 metasearch engines 256 Microsoft Word 245 MicroStrategy 258 modem 249 movie 229 multimedia 238

248 258

N Navisite 236 NCAA basketball tournament 243 Netcentives 228 NetCreations 225 newsletter 251 newspaper 229 Nike 237

PinPoint 256 plug-in 225 point-based rewards 228 points-based promotion 228 pop-up box 232 portal 229, 243, 253 positioning 224 PostMasterDirect.com 225 PR Web 251 presentation 251 press release 251 privacy 226, 250 promotion 221, 224, 226, 227,

228, 229, 238, 239, 240, 242, 248, 249, 251 psychographics 222 public relations (PR) 221, 251 publicity 251 publisher 241, 242 publisher network 238 pull advertising 238 pull strategy 226 push strategy 226

Q Qpass 241 question template 254 questionnaire 222 QuickTake.com 223

radio 237 reach 224 RealCall 286 recognition 233 registering 234 research 222 Resource Marketing 236 response rate 225, 226, 237 rich media 237 Ripcord 257

S sales tracking 257 sales-force automation

227, 259,

260 Salesforce.com 259 SalesLogix 258 scrolling text 232 search engine 221, 243, 253,

256 search-engine ranking 253 search-engine registration 254 searching 253 secondary research 222 security 227 segmented market 236 selling advertising 233, 234 Short Message Service (SMS)

228, 238, 241 Siebel Systems 258 SkyGo 241 spamming 226 special event 251 speech 251 spider 253 statistical tool 244 streaming event 236 streaming media 222, streaming video 236 SUMmedia.com 229 sweepstakes 228

236

T 221, 223, 226, 234, 244 targeted marketing 240, 241, 258 TDOA 227 Telematics 242 telephone survey 222 television 229, 236, 237 text format 245 Thinque 260 top-referring sites 245 target market

Index

3

tracking 249 traditional advertising form 237 traditional direct marketing 226 traditional marketing 221 traditional marketing research

223 traffic 221, 232 transaction support

257

U unique visitor 233, 244 United Parcel Service of America Inc. 257 user profile 221

V ValueClick 234, 236 ValueClick AdVantage 236 ValueClick AdVantage Plus ValueClick Affiliate 236 ValueClick Premium 236 Victoria’s Secret 236 Vindigo 239, 240 Visa 241 voice recognition 258 Volvo 243

236

W WAP 228, 241 WAPLY 256 Web commercials 236 Webcasting 236 WebTrends 244, 245 WebTV 243 WindWire 242 wireless advertising 227,

237,

242, 249 Wireless Advertising Association (WAA) 243 wireless advertising standard 243 Wireless Internet Advertising Association (WAIA) 243 wireless marketing 226, 241,

250 wireless service provider 238 wirelessclick.com 286 wirelesstoday.com 286 WML 256 www.247media.com 225 www.2roam.com 229 www.adalive.com 239 www.adbility.com 233 www.adknowledge.com 224

www.adresource.com 263 www.alerts.com 239 www.altavista.com 224, 254 www.apple.com/quicktime 237 www.appliedmetrix.com 248 www.ariba.com 253 www.askjeeves.com 254 www.asknetrageous.com/ AskNetrageous.html 264 www.auteo.com 260 www.avesair.com 251 www.bannertips.com 233 www.bevocal.com 256 www.biz.zairmail.com 226 www.blazesoft.com 250 www.bluemartini.com 266 www.bluestreak.com 263 www.broadbase.com 266 www.burst.com 263 www.businesswire.com 251 www.ccomone.com 227 www.channelseven.com 264 www.cleardigital.com 236 www.clickaction.com 263 www.commerceone.com 263 www.concur.com 253 www.connectinc.com 253 www.construction.com 253 www.crm-forum.com 266 www.cyber-logics.com 236 www.datadistilleries.com 247 www.datainstincts.com 248 www.diameter.net 223 www.digiknow.com 263 www.digitalimpact.com 225 www.directcoupons.com 229 www.doubleclick.com 234, 249 www.dowjones.com 259 www.e-cement.com 253 www.econtacts.com 225 www.eMarketer.com 264 www.engage.com 229, 251, 263 www.excite.com 250, 254 www.fiercewireless.com 286 www.flonetwork.com 262

www.forrester.com 223 www.geeps.com 227 www.globalnetxchange.com 253 www.goglobal.com 223 www.google.com 254 , 256 www.h20design.com 237 www.hncmarksman.com 247 www.hoovers.com 259 www.hyperlink.com 264 www.iconocast.com 263 www.idc.com 263 www.ilux.com 225 , 264 www.inChorus.com 225 www.invertix.com 227 www.ipromotions.com 228 www.isky.com 267 www.junglesoft.com 239 www.jup.com 224 www.keywordcount.com 253 www.kvo.com 223 www.linkexchange.com 234 www.linkshare.com 264 www.logos.it 224 www.lot21.com 237 www.lycos.com 254 www.macroinc.com 223 www.macromedia.com 236 www.marketresearchinfo.com 224 www.marketresearchinfo.com/docs/software/index.cfm 224 www.marketsite.net 253 www.mbsmm.com 226 www.mediamaponline.com 251 www.mediametrix.com 224 www.messagemedia.com 225 www.metacrawler.com 256 www.mindarrow.com 225 www.navisite.com 236 www.netcentives.com 228 www.netgen.com 250 www.newsiq.com 264 www.nike.com 237 www.omnisky.com 249 www.onstar.com 258 www.personify.com 250 www.prnewswire.com 251 www.promotionworld.com/tutorial/ 000.html 229 , 263 www.prweb.com 251 www.qpass.com 241 www.Quirks.com 223

4

www.radicalmail.com 262 www.rcrnews.com 286 www.realplayer.com 237 www.resource.com 236 www.respond.com 237 www.ripcord.com 257 www.roibotlibrary.com/ index.htm 264 www.searchenginewatch.com/Webmasters/index.html 254 www.shockwave.com 237 www.skygo.com 241 www.smartdrill.com 248 www.sportsline.com 243 www.streamingmedia.com 236 , 263 www.submiturl.com/ metatags.htm 264 www.surveysite.com 223 www.thePRnetwork.com 251 www.tiac.net/users/ seeker/searchenginesub.html 264 www.travelocity.com 228 www.ups.com 257 www.valueclick.com 234 www.verticalnet.com 263 www.victoriassecret.com 236 www.vindigo.com 239 www.volvo.com 243 www.waaglobal.org 243 www.webcom.com/impulse/prlist.html 251 www.webdeveloper.com/ html/ html_metatags.html 264 www.webpromote.com 263 www.websearch.about.com/ internet/websearch/ insub2-m02.htm 253 www.webtrends.com 245 www.wheelhouse.com 264 www.windwire.com 242 www.wirelessnetnow.com 286 www.worldwideretailexchange.com 253 www.yahoo.com 254 www.zonaresearch.com 263 www1.internetwire.com/ iwire/home 264

Index

X Xactmail.com 226

Y Yesmail.com 226

Z zip-code based marketing 227

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5 Wireless Payment Options Objectives • To explore wireless and online payment transactions. • To review and compare wireline transaction models to wireless transaction models. • To discuss the role of standards for online and wireless monetary transactions. • To discuss the role of security in support of online monetary transactions. • To understand digital currency, e-billing, m-wallets, micropayments and point-of-sale payments. Alas, how deeply painful is all payment. Lord Byron Cash payment is not the sole nexus of man with man. Thomas Carlyle Ah, take the Cash, and let the Credit go... Edward Fitzgerald So far as my coin would stretch; and where it would not, I have used my credit. William Shakespeare Beautiful credit! The foundation of modern society. Mark Twain O Gold! I still prefer thee unto paper, Which makes bank credit like a bark of vapour. Lord Byron

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Outline 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4

5.5 5.6 5.7

5.8

5.9 5.10 5.11

Introduction Online Transaction Standards Anatomy of an Online Credit-Card Transaction Wireless Payment Standards 5.4.1 m-Payment Standards Organizations 5.4.2 Remote m-Wallet Standard 5.4.3 Mobile Electronic Transactions (MeT) Standard 5.4.5 Transaction Enablers m-Payment Processing and Financial Institutions Online Credit-Card Fraud Online and Wireless Payment Options 5.7.1 Digital Currency 5.7.2 e-Wallets 5.7.3 m-Wallets 5.7.4 Point-of-Sale Transactions 5.7.5 Bar-Coding Payments 5.7.6 Peer-to-Peer Payments 5.7.7 Smart Cards Alternate Payment Options 5.8.1 Pre-Payment Versus Credit 5.8.2 Payment Options Business-to-Business (B2B) Transactions e-Billing Internet and World Wide Web Resources

Summary • Terminology • Self-Review Exercises • Answers to Self-Review Exercises • Exercises • Works Cited

5.1 Introduction Secure electronic funds transfer and consistent and successful user transaction experiences are crucial to e-commerce and m-commerce. In this chapter, we consider the mature online payments industry and the evolving mobile payments (m-payments) industry. We examine how individuals and organizations conduct monetary transactions on the Internet and through wireless devices. This chapter discusses payment transaction organizations and standards. We examine credit-card transactions, digital cash, electronic wallets (e-wallets) and mobile wallets (m-wallets), smart cards (cards with computer chips embedded) and micropayments (any transaction under $10). In addition, we describe the products, software and services that these companies produce, and we list their Web sites for further informa-

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tion. Security, a crucial element to the implementation and acceptance of electronic online and wireless payment technology, is discussed in depth in Chapter 6, Security. e-Fact 5.1 According to Forrester Research, the United States is expected to spend $1.4 trillion dollars online by 2004. [***ViaPay advertisement. Worth Nov. 2000.***]

5.0

5.2 Online Transaction Standards Standardizing payment mechanisms on the Internet and through wireless devices is essential to the success of e-commerce and m-commerce. Standards are guidelines for technologies, formats or processes. These guidelines have been either approved by standards organizations or have been widely adopted by an industry without a formal process. Businesses offering domestic and international online payment services are concerned that payments will be received, that they are secure and that the transactions are valid. Online payment processes have become popular. M-payments are working toward consistent user experiences to gain popularity. Banks and credit-card companies actively facilitate secure e-commerce using the SET protocol designed by Visa and MasterCard and Secure Socket Layers (SSL). SET provides a high level of security by using digital certificates to authenticate each party in an e-commerce transaction. SSL uses digital certificates and public-key cryptography. SET and SSL are discussed in detail in Chapter 6, Security. Transaction information also needs to be standardized. The online payment organization Open Financial Exchange (OFX) (www.ofx.net/ofx/default.asp) was founded by Intuit, Microsoft and Checkfree in 1997 to serve as a standard mechanism for the exchange of financial information. [******] Small businesses, large corporations and consumers can all use this technology to transmit financial information securely over the Internet.

5.3 Anatomy of an Online Credit-Card Transaction To accept credit-card payments online, a merchant must have a merchant account with a bank. Traditional merchant accounts accept only POS (point-of-sale) transactions—those that occur when a customer presents a credit card at a store. With the growth in e-commerce, specialized Internet merchant accounts have been established to handle online credit-card transactions. These include card-not-present (CNP) transactions. For example, when a customer submits credit card information to a merchant to purchase something on the Web, the merchant does not see the actual card in the purchase, but only the card numbers and expiration dates provided. [******] When making a purchase online using a credit card (Fig. 5.1), the buyer will be required to submit a credit-card number, expiration date and shipping and billing information. This information is sent securely over the Internet to the merchant (Step 1 in the diagram). Issues of authentication (people are, in fact, who they say they are), authorization (the money is available to complete the transaction), Secure Socket Layer (SSL) and SET technologies are discussed in Chapter 6, Internet Security. The merchant then submits the

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credit-card information to the acquiring bank (i.e. the bank with which the merchant holds an account) (Step 2). From there, the buyer’s account information is verified. This involves the issuing bank (i.e. the bank from which the buyer obtained the credit card) and the creditcard association (Step 3). Verification is received by the acquiring bank and is passed on to the merchant (Step 4), who then ships the product (Step 5). Payment cannot be issued to the merchant until the product has been shipped.

3

1

Merchant Makes purchase at online store. Credit card information is received by the e-store.

Fig. 5.1

Credit Card Association

2 Credit Card Information Acquiring Bank

4 Information Verified

5 Issuing Bank 3

Basic steps in an online credit-card transaction.

5.4 Wireless Payment Standards The variety of wireless devices, the lack of m-payment interoperability and the immaturity of the m-payment industry are factors that have created a fractured industry and inconsistent user experiences. Interoperability, the ability for transactions to be performed no matter which software or device is supporting the transaction, is a major hurdle for the mpayment industry. M-payments suffer from a lack of accepted transaction standards enabling interoperability. These factors have limited consumer adoption of m-payment technology. As organizations build support for standards and encourage interoperability, mpayments should become commonplace. This section discusses payment organizations and m-payment models. Early e-mail software is a good example of interoperability problems. America Online’s e-mail software did not communicate with other e-mail packages when it first came onto the market. America Online users could communicate only with other America Online users. America Online had to redesign their email software to support the open email standards such as Post Office Protocol (POP) and Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP). Currently, if users have m-wallet applications on their cell phones, they must go to the merchants who support the specific m-wallet software. Some m-payment companies have recognized this and are creating interoperable software. A standard m-payment tech-

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nology would makes m-payments simpler for people to use their mobile devices for payments. As with online payments, security issues are also crucial; consumers and merchants must be able to trust that their information remains intact and secure during transmission. In this section, we examine wireless payment organizations that are encouraging interoperability and that have developed transaction standards models. SET and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), two standards that protect the integrity of online and m-payment transactions, are discussed in depth in Chapter 6, Security.

5.4.1 m-Payment Standards Organizations Companies in the mobile industry, such as Ericsson and Nokia, and financial institutions such as Deutsche Bank and payment card companies such as MasterCard have recognized the importance and potential profitability of developing m-payment standards and have organized to support such efforts. Several groups have been formed to produce transaction models and recommendations that software companies could use as guideines when developing wireless payment software. m-Fact 5.1 According to Forrester Research, in conjunction with Eurostat and ECB, the European mpayments market will reach $23 billion (US dollars) by 2005. [*** “Europe’s m-Payments Worth E 26 Bn by 2005,” ePaynews.com 16 May 2001.***]

5.1

The Global Mobile Commerce Interoperability Group (GMCIG) (www.gmcig.org) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to develop secure and interoperable wireless payment standards. Its efforts are presented to wireless standards organizations, such as the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and the WAP Forum, to gain consensus in the industry. GMCIG’s specifications documents include Introduction to Digital Mobile Payments over Open Networks; Remote (Europay, MasterCard, Visa) Payments Using a Mobile Device; Remote Wallet Server Architecture and Remote EMV/SET Payments Using a Mobile Device. [*** “Specifications,” GMCIG ***] Section 5.4.2, Remote M-Wallet Standards, provides an introduction to GMCIG’s m-payment model. GMCIG members include payment-card companies, telecommunications-network operators, wireless-device manufacturers, mobile-technology developers, content providers and financial institutions. [*** “About Us,” GMCIG ***] m-Fact 5.2 Celent forecasts that 60 million people will use mobile payments by 2004. [*** “Wireless Payments-Money into Thin Air,” 8 January 2001***]

5.2

Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia, Panasonic, Siemens and Sony sponsor the Mobile Electronic Transactions (MeT) Group (www.mobiletransaction.org). This is another organization developing open, or public, standards. MeT is calling the cell phone a Personal Trusted Device (PTD) because the group expects it to evolve into a device that holds

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important personal and payment information. MeT has published specifications that include guidelines for a consistent user interface, security requirements and documents that outline scenarios including account-based payments, event ticketing, retail shopping, SET wallets and WAP banking. MeT has also joined the GMCIG to work toward interoperable standards. Section 5.4.3, Mobile Electronic Transactions (MeT) Standard, outlines the MeT m-payments model. The Mobey Forum (www.mobeyforum.org), formed in May 2000, works to encourage use of wireless payments, wireless banking and wireless brokerage access by financial institutions. Membership is open to financial institutions and mobile-phone manufacturers. Founding organizations include Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia, BNP Paribas, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, Nordea and Visa International. [******]

5.4.2 Remote m-Wallet Standard Over a dozen companies offer m-payment capabilities enabled with m-wallet software. GMCIG has created a wireless wallet (m-wallet) transaction model. This standard stresses secure transactions and a consistent user experience over multiple devices. [*** “Introduction to Digital Mobile Payments Over Open Networks,” ***] Central to this model is the remote-wallet server, a computer that holds a database of user information. To enter user information, the customer visits the wallet provider’s Web site and fills in billing and shipping information. The user is also required to submit a password and, if applicable, the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) of their cell phone. The SIM is a unique identifying number embedded in a cell phone. This model enables an embedded SIM card or a dual-slot phone that holds a smart card (credit card-sized plastic chip card with an integrated circuit) which store and process data. This information is stored on the wallet server. Cell phones designed to operate on the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network, the European standard, have SIM chips embedded in them when manufactured. TDMA and CDMA phones, used mostly in the U.S., do not necessarily hold a SIM, so another form of identification has to be used. [*** “Introduction to Digital Mobile Payments Over Open Networks,” ***] We discuss cell-phone technologies, including CDMA and TDMA, in detail in Chapter 10, Wireless Communications Technologies (Part II). For a cell-phone user to make a purchase, the user needs to complete a payment application. Payment applications signal the intent of the user to make a purchase. A payment application is enabled in one of two ways. The first is through the embedded-SIM card which holds user information. The second method is through a remote wallet server on which the payment application information resides and the mobile device activates. Identification and payment information is encrypted in the cell phone and sent through the mobile operator’s WAP gateway and to the remote wallet server (Step 2, Fig. 5.2). [*** “Introduction to Digital Mobile Payments Over Open Networks” ***] A WAP gateway is a software and hardware combination that translates HTML content from a Web server into information that is readable on a mobile device. The remote wallet server is located at the bank that issues and acquires the transaction payments, rather than at the mobile operator’s site. This is done for security reasons. When

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users wish to make purchases, they enter passwords that correspond to authentication information stored in the databases. With this model, credit-card information does not travel over the Internet and therefore has a higher level of security. The model uses the SET protocol for transactions between the remote wallet server and the bank servers (Step 3, Fig 5.2). Purchase verification is then encrypted and sent back over the mobile operator’s gateway to the mobile phone (Step 4, Fig. 5.2). [***P. Rysavy. “M-Wallets: Not Ready Yet,” m-Business April 2001: 85.***] Motorola and MasterCard are developing the means to ensure interoperability between MasterCard's electronic payment systems and Motorola's wireless Internet devices and platforms. The two companies plan to develop next-generation m-commerce technologies that support GMCIG models. For example, if users are enroute to an airport and their cell phones notify of flight cancellations, they can find and book alternative flights and pay for the new tickets using their cell phones as payment devices. [*** “Motorola and MasterCard Form Alliance to Promote M-Commerce,” Wireless Developer Network 18 July 2000.***]

2 Encrypted

payment information

1

Cell Phone

4 Information 3 verified, encrypted confirmation sent back to user via gateway Remote Wallet Server (using PKI) Mobile Operator

Makes purchase on cell phone. Payment information is encrypted and sent via gateway to remote wallet server.

Fig. 5.2

SET Protocol 3

M-wallet transaction model. [***Permission requested 4/18/01 from www.gmcig.org***]

5.4.3 Mobile Electronic Transactions (MeT) Standard Like the GMCIG, the Mobile Electronic Transactions (MeT) group (www.mobiletransaction.org) has developed protocols for payments from cell phones through either WAP gateways and the Internet to content servers, (anyone selling goods or services on the Internet) or from cell phones through the mobile-phone operators to remote-wallet servers. Some steps are similar to the GMCIG model (Fig. 5.3). [******] MeT transaction core steps include cell-phone initialization, authentication and user authorization. The MeT specifications do not address certain steps that would suit proprietary solutions, i.e. software or processes created by a company, specifically for its business needs. Proprietary interfaces include communication between the content server and the acquirer or the issuer and the acquirer. In some cases, one entity performs all the functions

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of content provider, acquirer and issuer (Fig. 5.3). [*** “MeT Core Specifications,” 21 February 2001 : 3.***] The MeT model refers to SIMs as security devices. Each phone contains a security device either embedded or added into a dual-slot phone, used for authentication (Step 1, Fig. 5.3). The security devices hold key pairs, which are certificates for authentication. Keys are strings of digits that act like passwords. Certificates are digital documents issued by certification authorities that include relevant information about the company or individual being certified. Authentication begins during the Service Registration Interface (Step 2, Fig. 5.3). In this step, the PTD downloads certificates from the issuer, which may be a bank or other financial institution. [*** “MeT Core Specifications,” 21 February 2001 : 7.***] The content server presents information to the PTD in the Service Execution Interface (Step 2, Fig. 5.3). The acquirer provides the contact between the issuer (the organization that supplies the account and the service certificate to the user) and the content provider. The acquirer potentially performs a variety of tasks, including consolidating the charges when there are multiple issuers. Users establish authentication when they enter their PIN numbers that correspond to service certificates and private keys stored in the PTDs at the request of the content server. [*** “MeT Core Specifications,” 21 February 2001 : 14.***] Key and certificate security are discussed in further detail in Chapter 6, Security. e-Fact 5.1 According to Cyber Dialogue, Inc., approximately 88 percent of the $53 billion dollars spent online in 2000 will be spent using credit cards [***R. Crocket, “No Plastic? No Problem,” Business Week E.Biz 23 October 2000: 18.*** 5.1

2 User Interface

1

Chip card

PTDPTD (cell phone) equipped with security chip card

Content Server

2

Security

Element Interface

Service Execution Interface

Service Registration Interface

Interface determined by vendor

Interface determined by vendor Issuer

Fig. 5.3

Acquirer

MeT payment transaction model interfaces. [***Permission requested 4/ 18/01 from www.mobiletransactions.org***]

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5.4.4 Future Wireless Standards Organizations are also developing standards for security and micropayments. One group is Radicchio (www.radicchio.org), founded in September 1999 to develop a mobile devices security standard. Radicchio supports the use of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and digital certificates. PKI encrypts the information and the certificates authenticate the user, identifying who or what is at each end of the transaction. These components are programmable into a chip card residing in a phone, and the user needs to enter a Personal Identification Number (PIN) to initiate a transaction. [*** “M-Commerce Dressing,” Global Technology Business June 2000: 29.***] We discuss PKI and digital certificates in detail in Chapter 6, Security. m-Fact 5.3 Wireless micropayments are forecasted to grow to $200 billion by 2005 worldwide, with the United States contributing $40 billion to that market, according to research firm Ovum. [***R. McGarvey, “Big Hurdles for Small Change,” m-Business May 2001: 65.***]

5.3

An Ericsson-Hewlett Packard joint venture produced Ericsson Hewlett Packard Telecom AB (EHPT), a for-profit company, and Jalda™ technology. Jalda is an opensource application programming interface (API). An API is a set of software tools and guidelines with which a programmer creates applications. This open source technology for mobile payments connects content providers with Internet Payment Providers (IPP) (network operators, ISPs, payment-card companies, banks, or utility companies). See the Jalda Feature for more information. [*** “How Jalda Works,” January 2000***]

Jalda™: Enabling Micropayments Jalda™ (www.jalda.com) is an open-source Application Programming Interface (API). This open standard for mobile payments connects content providers (anyone selling goods or services on the Internet) with Internet Payment Providers (IPPs) (network operators, ISPs, payment-card companies, banks, utility companies) and is attempting to become a standard for micropayments (transactions under $10). [*** “How Jalda Works,” January 2000.***]

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Jalda™: Enabling Micropayments When customers initiate purchases, they receive messages containing purchase information and costs via SMS or WAP cell-phone interfaces. The customers can keep prepaid accounts with the IPPs or credit accounts. The customers agree, send the agreements back to the IPPs to authorize the purchases and the Jalda software sends ticks to the IPP. Ticks can be measurements of time, mouse clicks, levels, searches, number of files, downloaded data packets or any other method of charging. When customers order services over their wireless devices, the Jalda API processes the orders by transmitting them to the IPPs’ servers with the Jalda API integrated into the server software. IPPs combine the sums of content transactions, transmit the payments to the content provider and bill the consumers periodically. The Jalda API is free to download at the Jalda Web site. [*** “How Jalda Works,” January 2000.***]

5.4.5 Transaction Enablers Creating proprietary software can be expensive. Online and m-payment solution providers are software companies that create configured products to suit a business’ processes. It is often a better financial decision to purchase this type of turn-key solution (a software package that already exists) than it is to produce a software package in house. In this section, we outline various e-commerce- and m-commerce-enabling products. Companies such as Trintech® offer online credit-card transaction capabilities and wireless payment solutions. Trintech’s Payware® product suite enables companies to process electronic transactions. The suite includes the eMerchant program, which enables merchants to accept online payments; eHost, which can accommodate transactions from multiple stores; and eIssuer, which issues the consumer a virtual credit card that is stored on the user’s computer, providing simplified shopping experiences at participating merchants. Trintech has established business relationships with financial institutions that will accept online credit-card payments for merchants that are clients. Trintech also offers mAccess™—a mobile payments option that can be used from cell phones,. This product is server software that performs authentication and transfers the payment from the cell phone to the payment processor. [******]. Demonstrations of mobile transactions are found at www.trintech.com/products/ payware_maccess/m_demos.html. [***www.trintech.com/products/ docs/payware_maccess.pdf***] NextCard, Inc.® (www.nextcard.com) enables secure online credit-card transactions. The site offers a shopping portal, GoShopping!, allowing users to search for the lowest prices and an instant-payment option, NextCard ConciergeSM. EHPT offers Safetrader™ as part of a mobile commerce platform. Safetrader enables m-payments over the Internet. Its mobile-commerce platform allows businesses to charge for content as well as goods and services. The Jalda technology enables Safetrader to charge by the minute, hour, game, point, download or online session. [*** “VeriFone and EHPT to Offer Integrated Micro- and Macropayment Solution for Fixed and Mobile

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Internet Payment,” 22 March 2001.***] Aether Systems’ Anywhere Commerce Platform is compatible with many m-wallet software offerings on the market. Aether has partnered with Visa, First Data and S1 to support m-payment offerings. Aether plans to accommodate banking, messaging, person-toperson payments and registration. [*** R. Scheier, “Aether’s Big Bet on M-Commerce,” m-Business April 2001: 20.***] Brokat’s PaymentWorks (www.brokat.com) processes large or small m-payments using credit cards, pre-payment cards or other methods. Industries that use Brokat products range from banks to manufacturers, to telephone companies. [******] Canada’s 724 Solutions’ Mobile Commerce Services Platform (www.724.com) creates m-payment products for large financial-services companies. 724 acquired Tantau, a financial company that provides 724 with the technology to interface with an enterprises systems’ wireless services. The acquisition provides a presence for 724 in North America, Mexico, Europe, New Zealand and South Korea. [***S. Yokomizo, “A Merger of M-Commerce Titans,” M-business March 2001: 20-21.***] Israeli-based Cellenium offers several m-payment solutions. One is their Cell-F™ product that allows gas-station customers to activate gas dispensers and pay for fuel with a cell phone. Dor-Alon stations have employed handset and network-independent Cell-F products since early 2000. Mashkar, Ltd., part of Israeli Coca Cola™ franchise, uses Cellenium’s Cell-U-Vend, a product that enables vending machines to accept m-payments. [******]

5.5 m-Payment Processing and Financial Institutions The m-payment industry poses significant challenges to traditional financial institutions. Banks and credit-card companies want to participate in m-payment processing because it is a new, potentially lucrative revenue stream. As we have seem, banks and credit-card companies already actively facilitate e-commerce, using the SET protocol. Mobile payments are well suited for certain situations. For instance, if users are carrying wireless devices, such as cell phones, they are more likely to use their m-paymentenabled cell phones to purchase cans of soda from vending machines than purchase refrigerators or other large, more expensive items. In time, this may change. According to the MeT group, cell phones and other wireless devices may eventually hold credit-card and bank-account information. [*** “MeT Threatened by Mobile SET Payments?” ePaynews.com : 7 March 2001.***] When wireless devices hold personal financial information and transaction capabilities, impulse purchasing costing hundred of dollars will become easier and more common. [***Y. Ecker, “Making M-Commerce Pay,” WAP Developers Symposium 2001: 24 April 2001***] In the meantime, micropayments will be the most popular application. The issue with this is that banks and credit-card companies cannot process micropayments profitably. Often, the cost to financial institutions of processing small payments is more than the actual payments. [*** “MeT Threatened by Mobile SET Payments?” ePaynews.com : 7 March 2001.***] m-Fact 5.4 According to the Gartner Group, all e-business will have some facet of it delivered across a mobile wireless channel by 2003. [*** “Idiom Introduces GlobalMobile™–First Global MCommerce Initiative,” Idiom Web site ***] 5.4

This raises the question of which industry can and should process m-payments if traditional payment processors do not. Mobile-phone operators are suited to process micropayments because the phone bills they produce are composed almost exclusively of small charges. However, mobile operators are not accustomed to the financial risk associated with payment processing for services other than theirs and consumers may not trust a mobile operator acting as a financial institution. [***D. S. Morrison “Don’t Bank on Mobile Payments,” Red Herring 29 December 2000.***] One solution appears to be for banks and wireless operators to partner to accommodate the wireless consumer. Wireless operators can use their billing system while banks provide their experience in payment processing and managing financial risk. [***J. Blau “Carriers, Banks Partner for Payments,” m-business April 2001: 36.***] For example, Germany’s MobilCom (mobile operator) and Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg (bank) created an m-payments solutions company, Mobilebank. Similarly, Money Planet is a joint venture between KPN Telecom (mobile operator) and ABN Amro Bank, both of the Netherlands. Money Planet intends to offer m-payment capabilities and investment services. [***J. Blau “Carriers, Banks Partner for Payments,” m-business April 2001: 37.***] Telecommunications and banking industries are crossing over into each other’s business territories because of the open-payment-processing market. Some banks are becoming Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO). MVNOs purchase bandwidth capacity from mobile carriers and resell it under their brand name. They couple the mobile service with their branded value-added services to sell the service to customers. Virgin Mobile (www.virginmobile.com)is just such a company. A part of the Virgin Records and Virgin Airline conglomerate, it is the fastest-growing cell-phone company in Britain. Virgin even announced in early 2001 plans to enter the U.S. market. [***J. Borland, “Virgin Phone Service to Reach U.S. Shores,” CnetNews.com 31 January 2001***] Some mobile operators have expressed interest in offering banking services. These companies would have to apply for banking licenses to serve as financial institutions as well as continuing as mobile operators. [*** “Don’t Bank on Mobile Payments,” Red Herring 29 December 2000.***] Non-traditional payment processors, such as content creators and technology providers, are also beginning to offer services as MVNOs. Bertelsmann (www.bertelsmann.com), a large European media company, is considering becoming an MVNO. Sony (www.sony.com) and Bertlesmann reportedly are considering a joint venture to sell content over mobile networks. Credit-card companies are also interested in the m-payment market. Visa Europe (www.visa.com) ran an m-wallet trial with Britain’s mobile oper-

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ator BT Cellnet (www.btcellnetcorporate.net). [***J. Blau “Carriers, Banks Partner for Payments,” m-business April 2001: 37.***] More cross-industry ventures may occur as the m-payment industry matures.

5.6 Online Credit-Card Fraud Credit cards are a popular form of payment for online purchases, although security concerns still prevent some people from using credit cards. Customers fear credit-card fraud by merchants and other parties. Some credit cards, such as the Prodigy Internet® MasterCard® and American Express, have features enabling them to accommodate online and offline payments (see American Express feature). The Prodigy card also provides online fraud protection, as well as a point-based reward program that allows card holders to redeem points for Prodigy Internet access. [******] In Section 5.8 we discuss credit-card alternatives. .Credit-card fraud is a significant problem for many e-businesses. When a credit-card holder claims a purchase was made by an unauthorized individual, or when a purchase was not received, it results in a chargeback. When this occurs, the charges in question are not the responsibility of the credit-card holder. In brick-and-mortar transactions, the merchant scans the card to produce proof of the sale and this is signed by the consumer. Should a chargeback occur, the merchant is protected against fines and reimbursement fees by having acquired this information. On the Internet, neither a scan of the card nor a signature is registered. When a chargeback occurs, it is most often the merchant who has to incur the cost. e-Fact 5.2 According to First Data Group, 1.25 percent of transactions on the Internet result in a chargeback. This is approximately four times the percentage of catalog transaction chargebacks and nine times the percentage of brick-and-mortar chargebacks. [***J. Angwin, “Credit-Card Scams Bedevil E-Stores,” The Wall Street Journal 19 September 2000: B1.***] 5.2

In an effort to combat this, Visa established a list of high-risk business models. Businesses following these models are subject to high levels of credit-card fraud and, as a result, are highly penalized when their chargeback rates climb to a specified percentage of the total number of transactions. This percentage generally falls between 1–2 percent. Opponents argue that the method often deters business owners from accepting online payments. The list includes travel and direct-marketing industries. [***R. Barrett, “E-Tailers Caught in Card,” Inter@ctive Week 10 April 2000: 10.***] Visa has also developed a list of “best practices” to be used by merchants when conducting credit-card transactions. The list includes implementing a firewall, using encryption (see Chapter 6, Security) and anti-virus software, and incorporating inter-company security practice. The protocols are mandatory: merchants failing to meet the requirements may not be able to accept Visa credit cards as a method of payment. Most credit cards have a three-digit code on the back of the card. This number does not appear on receipts of transactions, so it cannot be lifted from discarded or stolen credit-card receipts. MasterCard increases security by requesting this code when purchases are made. [***E. Messmer, “Online Card Fraud Targeted,” Network World 21 August 2000: 1, 72.***]

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Nochargebacks.com provides merchants with a solution for preventing online credit-card fraud. Site members can access the site’s database containing credit-card numbers, e-mail addresses and postal addresses used for purchases that resulted in a chargeback. [******] Verifyfraud.com offers similar fraud-protection services.

5.7 Online and Wireless Payment Options Electronic payments, either online or wireless, offer numerous payment options. This section examines the existing choices of digital currency, m-wallets, point-of-sale (POS) technologies and others.

5.7.1 Digital Currency Digital cash is one example of digital currency. It is stored electronically and can be used to make online electronic payments. Digital-cash accounts are similar to traditional bank accounts: consumers deposit money into their digital-cash accounts to be used in their digital transactions. Digital cash often is used with other payment technologies, such as digital wallets. Aside from alleviating some of the security concerns many people have about online credit-card transactions, digital cash allows people who do not have credit cards to shop online. For a demonstration of a digital-cash transaction, go to www.digicash.com/demo. eCash Technologies, Inc. (www.ecash.net) provides software solutions that extend physical-world payment methods into cyberspace. eCash Technologies’ product suite enables financial institutions and other businesses worldwide to offer a variety of secure, private and easy-to-use payment options. These include person-to-person (P2P), debit, business-to-business (B2B), prepaid and mobile payment options. The Monneta product suite also enables merchant-specific payment solutions, including electronic gift certificates and customer loyalty programs (Fig. 4.3). Demonstrations found at www.ecash.net/Demo describe how to obtain, use and give (as a gift) eCash currency.

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Using eCash on the Web. [***Repermission requested 4/18/01 from eCash Technologies, Inc.***]

Gift cash, often sold as “points,” is another form of digital currency that can be redeemed at leading shopping sites. It is an effective way of giving teen shoppers or those without credit cards the ability to make purchases on the Web. Flooz® (www.flooz.com) is an example of gift currency. Flooz can be used at online stores including toysrus.com and barnesandnoble.com. Some companies offer points-based rewards for completing specified tasks. These tasks may include visiting Web sites (which exposes the visitor to advertising), registering or buying products. One such reward scheme, beenz® (www.beenz.com), is an international, points-based currency system. Through a partnership with beenz, vendors can offer promotional systems. For instance, a retail site on the Web could offer beenz for registering with the Web site. As beenz are accumulated the customer can earn prizes, discounts or other rewards. [******] Many companies are developing methods for teenagers to shop online (see Visa Buxx feature). Internetcash.com offers a digital-cash model for teenagers. It sells cards in various monetary denominations at convenience stores and gas stations. These cards are

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activated over the Internet and can be used to shop at teen-oriented member stores. [******]

Visa Buxx: Developing Good Spending Habits

The Visa Buxx card can help develop responsible spending habits among teenagers. Parents and teenagers can register to use the card by visiting the Visa Buxx Web site (www.visabuxx.com). An online tour describes the service and highlights the benefits to both teens and parents. The card is accepted at more than 18 million merchants and can also be used as an ATM card. Similar to a debit card, the Visa Buxx card has a pre-determined balance that cannot be exceeded. Security is administered through a PIN number determined by the card holder and the merchant certifies each transaction through the credit-card association. The Web site also provides Money Tools, a section dedicated to teaching teenagers how to manage their money. Discussions cover investing, banking, establishing credit and guidelines for shopping online. Parents and students can access account balances by visiting the site and typing in the correct usernames and passwords.

Different m-payment providers have different methods of conducting transactions. For instance, Germany’s Paybox™ has an alternative to credit-card m-payments. Any user with a cell phone and bank account can use Paybox for $4.50 per year with a merchant that has signed up for Paybox. When a user wishes to purchase an item, the user enters their cellphone number in the order form. Paybox then calls the user, repeats the amount to be paid and the merchant’s name. To confirm the order, the user enters a personal identification number (PIN) on the cell phone, Paybox debits the amount from the user’s account and credits the merchant. This transaction method results in no online transmission of creditcard information. Merchants pay a 3 percent commission to Deutsche Bank, part owner of Paybox, for processing each transaction. [*** “New m-Payments Device to Rival Credit Cards,” European Banker 22 September 2000***]

5.7.2 e-Wallets To facilitate the credit-card order process, many companies have introduced electronic wallets (e-wallets). E-wallets allow a user to keep track of billing and shipping information so that this information can be entered easily while a user is online with one click at participating merchants’ sites. E-wallets also store e-checks, e-cash and credit-card information for multiple cards. In this section, we explore the technologies, companies that produce ewallets and m-wallets. Credit-card companies, such as Visa, offer a variety of e-wallets (www.visa.com/ pd/ewallet/main.html). Some Visa e-wallets are co-sponsored by specific banks; for example, the bankonewalletSM is available to Bank One customers for use only with a Visa/MasterCard credit or check card. MBNA offers an e-wallet that allows the consumer

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to perform one-click shopping at member sites. With one click, its e-wallet fills in transfer, shipping and payment information on the forms of nonmember merchants. Entrypoint.com™ offers a free, personalized desktop toolbar that includes an ewallet to facilitate one-click shopping at its affiliate stores. The toolbar’s features include news reports, sports scores and a stock ticker. Similar to MNBA, the Entrypoint e-wallet facilitates automatic form completion at nonmember stores. Entrypoint’s interactive product demonstration at www.entrypoint.com highlights the functions and features of the toolbar. Users can also read through a commentary that further describes the product. Many digital wallets on the market are not accepted by all vendors. Visa, MasterCard and a group of e-wallet vendors have standardized the payment presentation by adopting the Electronic Commerce Modeling Language (ECML). Since ECML specifications were released in June 1999, many leading online vendors have adopted it. [***M. Barnett, “Credit Card Heavies Unveil E-Wallet Standard,” TheStandard.com 14 June 1999.***]http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-trade-ecml2-spec-00.txt

5.7.3 m-Wallets M-wallets are the most offered transaction software in the immature m-payments market. In this section, we explore why m-wallets will probably be more popular than e-wallets and why. We examine the technologies and the companies that produce m-wallets as well as the companies that are developing technologies, such as voice-recognition, to enable m-wallets. We discuss m-wallet transaction models in Section 5.4.2, Remote m-Wallet Standard. As with e-wallets, m-wallets allow a user to store billing and shipping information that the user can recall with one click while shopping from a mobile device. Electronic wallets have not seen widespread adoption on the Internet, but the technology fills a need in a wireless environment. Wireless devices have a small keypad, and multiple keys have to be pressed to display a correct letter. M-wallets address this issue and facilitate the ordering process. Many m-wallet providers allow consumers to enter their billing and shipping information via the Web to set up m-wallet accounts. Usernames and passwords are registered before access to accounts is available, ensuring that the wireless device users have been authorized to make purchases. In addition, companies have been established to handle the infrastructure of m-commerce transactions for multiple merchants, allowing users to purchase many items from different vendors but make only one transaction (see Snaz Feature). Visit www.mastercard.com/shoponline/mcommerce/whatis/payment.html for a demo of an m-wallet transaction. A number of companies offer m-wallet services. Aether Systems’ m-wallet, part of its Mobile Commerce Platform, is designed to be compatible with all existing wallet software on the market. [***R. Scheier, “Aether’s Big Bet on M-Commerce,” m-business April 2001: 21.***] Deutsche Telecom will be using Brokat Technology’s Mobile Wallet software, and Brokat is releasing a version that is interoperable with other m-wallets in 2001. [***A. Katz “Paying for Stuff (Part One): Whip Out Your Mobile Wallet,” M-commercetimes 4 April 2001.***] Companies are integrating new technologies into m-wallet software. For instance, Qpass’ TalkWallet™ enables cell-phone users to make transactions with their voice, using speech recognition and voice-authentication technologies. These abilities eliminate keypad

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data entries. Speech technology is discussed in detail in Chapter 25, Multimedia. [*** “Say. Buy It!: Nuance and Qpass Team to Offer Voice-Driven Commerce Services to Wireless Carriers with the Qpass TalkWallet™,” Qpass Press Release 20 March 2001.***] A physical, flexible leather wallet is actually a PDA-equipped with electronic wallet capabilities (see the WearLogic: Wearable Computing Feature). m-Fact 5.5 According to International Data Corporation (IDC), the market for wearable computing should grow to $600 million by 2003. [*** “Computing from the Hip–IDC Estimates the U.S. Market for Wearable Computers Will Reach $600 Million by 2003,” 21 June 1999.***]

5.1

WearLogic: Wearable Computing WearLogic (www.wearlogic.com) incorporates PDA, cell-phone and m-wallet technologies into a leather wallet. The SmartWear™ Wallet™ and SmartWear™ Clutch™ hold an address book, password vault and perform other common PDA functions, such as the ability to synchronize with a PC. The wallet uses password protection for security and a user can add smart cards for additional security. As with a PDA, consumers can determine what information in their wallet is public and what is private and set up the security accordingly. Three components make up the WearLogic product. The first is the flexible hardware components, providing a nearly unbreakable, no-moving parts system. The system includes a circuit with attached display and keypad that is battery powered. The second component is the interface. The display has a simple design that includes soft buttons (display buttons that prompt a user), such as OK. Using soft buttons minimizes the number of keystrokes a user enters. The third component is eXtensible MarkUp Language (XML) which is fundamental for processing information. XML provides flexibility in describing the data. We discuss XML in detail in Chapter 28, XML, XSL and XSLT.

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WearLogic: Wearable Computing WearLogic expects to use Bluetooth™ technology to communicate wirelessly with devices including PCs, mobile phones, PDAs and point-of-sale terminals. SmartWear also supports conventional serial communications with PCs. Bluetooth is discussed in further detail in Chapter 21, Bluetooth. [***D. Montner, “WearLogic Unveils Smart Wallet Technology,” SCN Daily News 24 October 2000***]

Fig. 5.5

Wearable wallet computer solutions. [***permission requested 4/18/ 01 from mobilelogic.com***]

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Microsoft, Oki Electric, NTT DoCoMo and NTT Communications created an m-payment company called Payment First Corporation to promote SET m-payments. This company’s wallet software is for end users, credit-card companies, financial institutions and others. These companies may be able to use their existing gateways to process the payments when users install the wallets in their cell phones or PDAs. [*** “MeT Threatened by Mobile SET Payments?” ePaynews.com : 7 March 2001.***]

Snaz: Enabling Mobile Commerce Snaz™ (www.snaz.com) offers an m-wallet service that provides m-commerce capabilities to businesses through their own brands if the businesses reside in the Snaz marketplace. Consumers can visit the Snaz Web site and register to shop in the Snaz marketplace. Users can access multiple vendors at the marketplace from a personal computer or wireless device and can include several purchases in a single transaction using previously entered billing and shipping information. When shopping on a wireless device, the Snaz service displays a menu of categories. Categories range from electronics to books to accessories. Users select a category and then a merchant from that category. From the merchant, the users can either choose to buy or e-mail friends with gift ideas. If the users choose to buy products, they are asked to submit their PIN, select a payment method (this is usually a credit-card number previously entered when the account was created) and choose a shipping address. Once a purchase has been made, a confirmation e-mail is sent to that user’s email address. Users have the option to enhance their shopping experiences by entering additional information. For example, users may want to enter more than one credit-card number, or they might want to list a number of shipping addresses. The Snaz service records user data and user consumer history. This information is valuable to participating merchants. It also allows businesses to select lists of featured products, offer real-time price quotes and distribute promotions to consumers. A demo can be viewed at www.snaz.com/corp/demo/demo_index.jsp.

5.7.4 Point-of-Sale Transactions Some companies are equipping mobile devices with point-of-sale capabilities. Point-ofsale transactions are traditional retail store payment systems. Users can enter a store and make purchases using their wireless devices instead of handing a credit card to a clerk. Registry Magic, Inc. has produced a POS solution for businesses in the hospitality industry using Bluetooth technology. Guests can check in, check out, process payments, print to a hotel printer and access the Internet wirelessly using a cell phone or PDA. [*** A. Palmatary, “Registry Magic and Partners Paint the Town ‘Blue’,” Registry Magic press release, 20 February 2001.***] New York’s Holiday Inn Wall Street is imple-

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menting this technology. The hotel will test the Bluetooth-enabled devices for visitors on as many as three floors of the hotel. [*** D. M. Rodriguez. “Holiday Inn Wall Street 1st To Go Wireless with Bluetooth,” Hotel Business 11 January 2001.***] Another company testing POS technology is Finland’s Carrols fast food chain. The customer needs a WAP cell phone and a Mobile Transaction Server account from Aldata, a Finnish software company that designs retail systems. A customer connects to the Carrols WAP service, chooses a restaurant location and selects a meal from a menu presented on the phone screen. After a user selects a meal, the system verifies the order and offers payment options of direct debit, credit card or prepaid account. The customer then selects a pickup time. Carrolls sends the order number to the cell phone, which is used during order pickup. At checkout, the system verifies the mobile PIN number and completes the funds transfer. Carrols provides a special WAP line at their counters for people using this service. [*** “Aldata’s Mobile Transaction Server Makes Mobile Payment a Reality,” ***] Palm, Inc. has created an m-wallet that works with a POS terminal. The Palm handheld uses an infrared beam to send information to a specially-equipped POS terminal as well as receive information such as marketing materials. Hotels, restaurants, car-rental companies and departments stores may be the most likely adopters of this technology. [***L. Enos, “Palm to Offer Wireless POS Shopping,” Wireless NewsFactor 8 January 2001.***] Nokia offers another POS technology. The Nokia 5100-series phones contain a Texas Instruments’ radio frequency identity chip. As a user walks through a store’s door, a store scanner reads the chip. Once the scanner identifies the chip, it communicates over the Internet to a database that authorizes possible purchases according to the user’s account. This first step speeds purchasing. When the user wants to buy something, the phone is swiped at the cash register and the account that has already been checked when the buyer walked into the store, is debited. [***N. Gohring, “Fast-As-Cash Wireless,” Interactive Week 22 January 2001: 57.***] Radio frequency technology is discussed in more detail in Chapter 10, Wireless Communications Technologies.

5.7.5 Bar-Coding Payments Bar coding is a quick and efficient payment-processing method. It is a printed series of bars and spaces found on paper lables, bills or printed on the products themselves that are arranged according to a certain “alphabet” that is readable by a bar-code reader or scanner. This section discusses device vendors that are investing in barcoding technologies for mpayments. [*** “Introduction to Barcoding Technology,” Barcode Direct ***] Wireless device-enabled bar coding may become popular in countries like Japan, where postal service is expensive, personal checks are rarely used, and banks and ATMs have short business hours. To accommodate these factors, the Japanese can pay their barcoded utility bills at a convenience store. If cell phones are used to enable payments, users would not received paper utility bills. Instead, users would log into the utility company with their cell phones, input an ID and password, and have the bar code delivered to the cellphone screen. The phone with the bar code in the display is swiped and customers pay their utility bills at the convenience store, just as it they had paper utility bills. [***H. Ashton, “What if you Could Scan Bar Codes with Your Cell Phone, and Pay Bills Anywhere

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at Any Time?” m-commercetimes 11 January 2001.***] Japan’s Zinza™ has patented the technology that enables a cell phone to read a bar code and pay a bill. Zinza also is researching other applications for a cell phone accepting bar codes in payment processing. [*** “50 Things You Can Do with a Cell Phone (Part 51),” M-Commerce Times 11 January 2001.***] AirClic Inc.'s One-Scan™ technology enables a wireless device to become a portable scanning device by using laser technology. For example, if consumers are browsing clothing catalogs and want to make purchases, they can scan the bar codes of the items with their wireless devices. Their cell-phone displays ask how many of each item the users want to purchase, the users respond and the payments are completed. Motorola, Ericsson and Symbol Technologies invested in AirClic to develop this technology. [***R. Scasny, “Motorola Invests in Wireless Bar Code Scanner,” Chicago.internet.com 11 January 2001.***] Demonstration scenarios can be viewed at www.airclic.com/ demos.

5.7.6 Peer-to-Peer Payments Peer-to-peer transactions allow online monetary transfers between consumers. eCash runs a peer-to-peer payment service that allows the transfer of digital cash via e-mail between two people who have accounts at eCash-enabled banks. PayPal offers a digital payment system. PayPal allows a user to send money to anyone with an e-mail address, regardless of what bank either person uses, and whether or not the recipient is pre-registered with the service. A person wishing to send money to another person can log on to PayPal at www.x.com, open an account and register the amount to be sent. That amount is billed to the sender’s credit card. Payment notification is sent to the recipient, and an account is established in the recipient’s name. When the person to whom the payment is sent receives the e-mail notification, he or she simply registers with PayPal and has access to an account containing the payment. The funds in this account can be transferred to the recipient’s bank account by direct deposit or mailed by check from PayPal. Transactions through PayPal are instantaneous, the service is free for individuals sending money to one another and the payee is not required to enter any credit-card information. Businesses pay a small transaction fee. The Paypal system can also be used to enable credit-card payment for auction items in real time. Credit-card information is checked before a transaction is initiated. This means that the transaction begins processing immediately after it is initiated, reducing the risk of fraud or overdrawn accounts. The buyer or the seller can initiate the service. If a user refers someone to PayPal, the referer receives a small monetary reward. A visual demo of the service can be viewed at www.pay.x.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/auc/workoutside. [******] Wells Fargo and eBay offer another form of peer-to-peer payment called BillPoint, which allows buyers to submit electronic payments to sellers’ checking accounts. [***G. Naders, “EBay, Wells Te am Up On Web Payments,” The Wall Street Journal 1 March 2000.***] Prior to this technology, buyers were required to send checks or money orders. Sellers can choose to include BillPoint as a payment option on their auction pages, so

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anyone can use the service without registering. Sellers pay a flat fee for each transaction and a percentage fee on the sale price above a given amount. In the future, eBay and Wells Fargo plan to sell this technology for use on other sites. To view a tutorial on the Billpoint system, visit www.billpoint.com/help/tutorial.html. This animated demo includes a detailed commentary, as it walks the user through the step-by-step payment process. Screen shots of the forms and services are highlighted. [******]

5.7.7 Smart Cards Smart cards, with their embedded processors, are able to hold more information than ordinary credit cards with magnetic strips. Smart-card technology can be used to hold information on health care, transportation, identification, retail, loyalty programs and banking, to name a few. Smart cards enable information for different purposes to be stored in one location. Wireless devices embed smart cards. An example of this is the SIM card, that acts as a smart card embedded in every Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) cell phone. There are contact- and contactless- smart cards. To read the information on a smart card and update information on its computer chip, contact smart cards need to be placed in a smart-card reader. A contactless smart card has both a coiled antenna and a computer chip inside, enabling the card to transmit information. The contactless card enables faster information exchange than is possible using a contact smart card. For example, contactless cards are convenient for transportation services, such as an automatic toll payment. A contactless smart card can be placed in a device in your car to charge your account as you drive through toll booths. [******] Smart cards can require the user to have a password, giving the smart card a security advantage over credit cards. Information can be designated as “read only” or as “no access.” Security measures such as encryption (discussed in Chapter 6, Security) can also be used. To address security concerns, the card can have a picture of its owner on its face. Similar to the smart card, eConnect (www.econnectholdings.com) provides solutions to make Internet transactions more secure through hardware devices. The company allows customers to use ATM cards to make purchases over the Internet. eConnect also has technology for securing credit-card payments. eConnect’s product, eCashPad, is a device that connects to a computer and scrambles financial data, making it secure to send that data over the Internet. ePocketPay is another product developed by eConnect and will allow a consumer to make secure purchases from the ePocketPay portable device. This device acts as a cell phone with a card reader built into it. [******] Financial institutions employ smart cards to provide benefits for their members. Visa has created Visa Cash, a smart card used to store money and make purchases. When you need to make purchases, you can place your Visa Cash card into the smart-card reader and view the balance before and after the purchase on your computer. Visa makes both disposable Visa Cash cards, which can be thrown out after the funds have been depleted, and reloadable cards, to which money can be added. (Additional information can be found at www.visa.com/nt/chip/info.html.) For more information about smart-card technology and smart-card companies, visit the Smart Card Industry Association at www.scia.org.

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e-Fact 5.2 According to Gartner Group, in an ongoing study of online retailers, only a small percentage offered a payment option for items priced under $10. [***M. Solomon, “Micropayments,” Computer World 1 May 2000: 62.***]

5.2

5.7.8 Micropayments Merchants must pay a fee for each credit-card transaction they process. This can become costly when customers purchase inexpensive items. Micropayment-enablers offer a way for nominally priced products and services (music, pictures, text or video) to be sold over the Web. Millicent (see the Millicent feature in this section) is a micropayment technology provider.

Millicent™: Enabling Micropayments [******]

Millicent is a micropayment technology provider (www.millicent.com). Companies that use Millicent payment technology allow their customers to make micropayments using credit or debit cards, prepaid purchasing cards, or by adding purchases to a monthly Internet Service Provider (ISP) bill or phone bill. The customer uses any one of these payment methods to prepay a sum of money that can be used to make micropayments. Millicent handles all of the payment processing needed for the operation of an ebusiness, including customer support and distribution services. Vendors can direct the transactions to Millicent, or the vendors can install the Millicent processing software on their own systems. Millicent’s services are especially useful to companies that offer subscription fees and small pay-per-download fees for digital content. This content may include text, audio, video, software applications or Web-based training products. Millicent payment technology can also be used with affiliate programs; the Millicent system will generate a payment to the affiliate once earnings exceed a predetermined minimum. Millicent is a product of Compaq. The product currently is available in Japan; North American and European service will be available soon.

e-Fact 5.3 According to Gartner Group, in an ongoing study of online retailers, only a small percentage offered a payment option for items priced under $10. [***M. Solomon, “Micropayments,” Computer World 1 May 2000: 62.***]

5.3

Wireless transactions are popular for micropayments already. In Finland, Nokia enables their cell-phone users to purchase sodas, a songs on jukeboxes, shoe shines and other items with their mobile phones. [***R. McGarvey, “Wireless Micropayments: Big Hurdles for Small Change,” m-Business May 2001: 72.***] As in the Finnish case, the first use of m-payments will be for small purchases.

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Some companies have formed strategic partnerships with utility companies to offer micropayments. The eCharge™ system enables companies to offer this option to their customers. eCharge uses ANI (Automatic Number Identification) to verify the identity of the customer and the purchases they make. The eCharge software can only be used with a dialup computer connection. For payments to be charged to a user’s phone bill, a 1-900 number must be called. eCharge temporarily disconnects the user from the Internet to do this. Once the payment is complete, the user is reconnected. This process is completed quickly, with little inconvenience to the user. [******] m-Fact 5.6 According to Forrester Research, the micropayments market will reach $880 million (US dollars). [*** “Europe’s m-Payments Worth E 26 Bn by 2005,” ePaynews.com 16 May 2001***]

5.6

A number of companies outsource payment-management systems. Many of these systems can handle multiple payment methods including micropayments. Qpass is a company that can manage micropayments for pay-per-download, subscription-based and pay-perclick systems. Qpass enables periodicals such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal to offer subscriptions over the Web. Customers who buy products and services through a Qpass-enabled company receive monthly bills that include descriptions of all purchases made during that month. Additional services offered by Qpass include the Qpass PowerWallet, which registers passwords, credit-card information and other preferences

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necessary to make online transactions more efficient (Fig. 5.6). Visit Qpass at www.qpass.com. [******]

1. purchase request

3. payment

CONSUMER

PAYMENT METHOD

CONTENT PARTNER AUTHENTICATION REGISTRATION PURCHASE CONFIRMATION AGGREGATION BILLING

2. billing

COLLECTION REMITTANCE

QPASS

Fig. 5.6

QPass transaction process. [***repermission requested 4/18/01 from QPass***]

Users of ConSyGen’s BizPay™ can use a wireless device to pay any merchant that participates in the network as long as the merchant has an e-mail account. Consumer-to-merchant transactions are conducted via e-mail. BizPay is part of a larger e-commerce software suite, PrecisionCommerce. This suite enables small- to mid-size enterprises (SMEs) to accept credit-card transactions without signing a merchant credit-card contract. An interactive online demo is available at www.dotcom.tv/index_consygen.html. [*** “ConSyGen Develops Mobile Payment Solution,” Internetnews.com 7 March 2000***

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m-Fact 5.7 Celent Communications reports that money transfers using wireless devices will grow from 4.6 million in 2001 to 60 million in 2004. [***M. Trombly “U.S. Brokerages and Banks Push to Close Wireless Cash Gap,”

5.7

5.8 Alternate Payment Options Although credit cards are a popular form of payment for online purchases in the United States, many people resist the appeal and simplicity of credit-card transactions due to security concerns. Customers fear credit-card fraud by merchants and other parties. In other parts of the world, credit cards are seldom used. Instead, people use pre-paid cards and other services.

5.8.1 Pre-Payment Versus Credit Prepaid cards are not as popular in the United States as they are in other parts of the world. Outside the United States, people often opt for prepaid cards instead of carrying cash or using credit cards. Some companies are attempting to introduce prepaid cards in the United States. Visa Buxx, in an earlier feature, is just such a card. FastCardSM, from E2Prepaid Inc. and U.S. South, is another prepaid card. It uses a Mobile Identification Number (MIN) registered at the same time as the account number. Anytime a customer wants to process a payment, the customer go to a dealer’s location with a wireless-payment card. The vendor processes the transaction through a POS device, and the request goes through an electronic funds transfer and automated clearing house to access a vendor’s account. [******] Convenience stores, grocery stores and electronic retailers can add monetary value to some pre-paid accounts. Vodacom uses Vodago autocharge card. A customer enters a password, which bills the user’s credit or prepaid account and the cell-phone account increases. [***M. Bidoli. “Calling the Masses,” Future Company 21 July 2000***]

5.8.2 Payment Options Although electronic payment is more convenient, Internet merchants that do not accept credit cards can accept payments such as checks or money orders through the mail. Cashon-delivery (COD), although rarely used in the United States, is another possible option for those who are hesitant to pay electronically. (Internationally preferred payment options are discussed in Chapter 8, International Wireless Communications). Debit cards offer an alternative for credit-card holders to access their savings, checking and other accounts. These cards can be used in the same manner as credit cards, but instead of the customer paying a monthly bill, the funds are deducted directly from the customer’s checking account. Customers are also able to withdraw cash from their accounts through Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs). Banks and businesses are also creating options for online payment that do not involve credit cards. Companies such as AmeriNet (www.debit-it.com) allow merchants to accept a customer’s checking account number as a valid form of payment. AmeriNet provides authorization and account settlement, handles distribution and shipping (known as

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fulfillment) and manages customer service inquiries (Fig. 5.7)[[******] The customer provides his checking account number to either the call center Internet operator or types it into Customer the appropriate field on the web site’s Telephone “checkout” page. Customer

The merchant’s call center or web site then encrypts and forwards the information to the debit-it! network operations center (NOC).

The fulfillment center is notified at the same time the funds are transferred to the merchant and the order is shipped immediately.

Internet Server Call Center Debit-it! submits a debit authorization to the customer’s bank through the federal reserve and verifies that the customer has Federal sufficient funds. Reserve

Fig. 5.7

Merchant

Payments Reports

Fulfillment Center The funds are transferred from AmeriNet to the merchant’s bank. Debit-it also provides customized reporting data.

Amerinet debit-it process flow. [***repermission requested 4/18/01 from Amerinet***]

Other companies offering alternative methods of payment include RocketCash.com, which redeems different types of online currency (i.e. beenz) and allows the redeemed currency to be spent at participating merchants. [***R. Crockett, “No Plastic? No Problem?” Business Week E.Biz 23 October 2000: 18.***]

5.9 Business-to-Business (B2B) Transactions The fastest growing sector of online e-commerce payments is business-to-business (B2B) transactions. These payments are often much larger than B2C transactions and involve complex business accounting systems. [***J. Vijayan, “Business-to-Business Billing No Easy Task,” Computerworld 13 March 2000: 20.***] In this section, we explore many of the available B2B payment solutions and the services they offer (see the TradeCard Feature).

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TradeCard™ [*******] The TradeCard network (www.tradecard.com) provides a global B2B e-commerce infrastructure, expanding current e-commerce capabilities to the international level. Particular attention is paid to easing the complexity of cross-border data management and payment. TradeCard attempts to provide an inexpensive and comprehensive solution that expedites all phases of global commerce. Before using the TradeCard system, buyers and sellers must become TradeCard members. TradeCard’s system, which includes alliances with Coface Group and Thomas Cook, evaluate potential members to determine a credit score and perform anti-money laundering and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) checks. The Coface Group is a credit insurance company and Thomas Cook is a travel and financial services firm. OFAC is responsible for enforcing international trade sanctions. [******] The buyer creates a preformatted electronic purchase order on the TradeCard system and presents the document to the seller for negotiation and agreement. The purchase order data is stored electronically in the TradeCard database, and electronic invoices and packing slips are produced from this data. All of these documents are available online to the relevant parties involved in the transaction. TradeCard uses a patented “data compliance engine” to check the information in the documents against the original purchase order (Fig. 4.7). If any discrepancies are found, concerned parties are notified immediately and can negotiate to resolve the conflict. TradeCard then awaits delivery confirmation from a third-party logistics services provider (3PL), which is the industry terminology for a shipping company. When such confirmation is received and compliance is met, TradeCard completes the financial transaction by sending a request for payment to the buyer’s financial institution. Thomas Cook performs the actual monetary transfer to the seller’s account. Thus, TradeCard enables large-scale and large-dollar commerce without credit-card payment through direct interaction with existing financial institutions. TradeCard and MasterCard have also developed a method for conducting payment for large business-to-business transactions. Geared for overseas payments, the service will expedite the transaction process by implementing participating businesses’ backend systems. The service will operate on MasterCard’s verification processes and TradeCard’s international integration capabilities. For a demonstration of the TradeCard process, visit the Web site. The demo walks the user through the procurement, fulfillment, compliance and settlement services from both the buyer’s and seller’s point of view. Access to the demo requires the user to submit a limited amount of personal information. As a value-added service, TradeCard provides customers with access to a wide variety of integral trade service providers, such as logistics and international inspection companies.

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TradeCard™ [*******]

Fig. 5.8

TradeCard contract. [***Repermission requested 4/18/01 from TradeCard Inc.***]

PaymentechTM (www.paymentech.com) is one of the largest payment solutions providers for point-of-sale transactions on the Internet. Its systems are used by companies such as CyberSource® and AT&T SecureBuy. Brick-and-mortar and electronic merchants can choose from many transaction-processing options, including debit cards, credit cards, bank cards, checks and EBT authorization and settlement. EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer) is defined by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as the electronic transfer of government funds to merchant accounts to pay for products purchased by a needy person. [******] The service also provides reporting and processing tools and services to help manage merchant accounts and electronic check processing. Paymentech supports all types of credit and debit cards and conducts all transactions in a secure environment. Paymentech’s online authorization systems, available on a 24-by-7 basis, enable merchants to initiate, transmit and receive authorizations in one phone call. Address verification can also be performed online.

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Merchants using Paymentech can customize their payment-processing plans. Its features include custom reporting, e-billing and cross-compatibility with other third-party expense reporting tools. For corporate use, Paymentech offers a MasterCard/Visa credit card, which enables electronic checking and billing and access to its PaymentNet online reporting service. [******] ViaPay (www.viapay.com) offers debit-card and credit-card transactions with eCredit (www.ecredit.com) provides real-time, credit-transaction capabilities of B2B size. Using its Global Financing Network TM, eCredit customers can have access to automated credit approval and financing. eCredit’s linked system of financing agencies and information networks makes large-scale commercial transactions convenient. eCredit establishes a relationship with a business and integrates automated systems at all levels of business transactions. eCredit services such as InstantDecision™ and BusinessVerify™ allow businesses to access databases that check the credit and validity of new customers. More comprehensive ecredit.com services, such as DecisionDesktop, integrate financial information with the customer’s credit policy to approve or deny transactions. eCredit also provides services that integrate the company’s existing financial systems and automate the collections process. [*** and conversation with customer service representative***] Clareon also facilitates B2B transactions by providing digital payment and settlement services (Fig. 5.9). Payment is digitally signed, secured and authenticated via digital payment authentication (DPA). Unlike traditional EDI, Clareon is compatible with all enterprise resource planning (ERP) (i.e. a software system that integrates and automates manufacturing, distribution, management issues, projects and employees) systems and can adapt electronic records for companies, banks and each member of a given transaction. Clareon software downloads the DPA and remittance data and converts it into an XML format. (We examine XML in Chapter 26, XML, XSL and XSLT.) From there, the information is again converted; the remittance data is sent to the seller and the DPA is forwarded to the bank. Both the buyer and the seller have access to the payment status. [******]

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Clareon online transaction service. [***Repermission requested 4/18/01 from Clareon Corporation.***]

Aside from enabling electronic payment, many business-oriented services are aimed at electronic consolidation and reconciliation of the business transaction process. By consolidating information from all entities involved in a business transaction and by accessing this information from a central portal, companies can track an entire transaction from “orderto-cash”—ordering, invoicing and settlement—while reducing administrative costs, errors, waste and complexity in the supply chain. eTime Capital (www.etimecapital.com) offers software applications with a simple Web-based interface to track payment and delivery systems. By supplying all parties with details of both the financial and logistical aspects of the transaction, eTime Capital facilitates smooth coordination of shipping and payments. The service also provides a forum for all parties to settle disputes that may arise over obligation fulfillment, thereby shortening delivery time and reducing costs. [******] Other firms are order-fulfillment providers. It is easy to open electronic storefronts, so many companies find themselves dealing with logistics, or management details, and distribution. SubmitOrder.com™ attempts to bring its supply chain expertise and logistical services to small Internet businesses, providing a distribution network for smaller merchants. SubmitOrder.com can receive shipments at its warehouses directly from the merchant’s manufacturers; the service then keeps track of the inventory and communicates

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electronically with the merchant. Orders are received directly at its shipping centers, where products are then packaged and shipped. [******] Overall, many see Internet-based electronic B2B transactions as a convenience that will augment, but not replace, traditional Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) systems. EDI remains a useful technology for standard orders and business transactions between firms with established business relationships. Internet-based B2B seems to be gaining popularity in auction-type marketplaces and for sharing transaction documents over the Internet.

5.10 e-Billing B2C market transactions are less complicated than B2B transactions. Using Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP) a company can display a bill on multiple platforms online and offer payment processes. Payments are generally made as electronic transfers from consumer checking accounts. This is conducted through the ACH (Automated Clearing House), the current method for processing electronic monetary transfers (see the CheckFree feature).

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e-Fact 5.4 Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP) was estimated to be a $30 million market in 1999, with 5% of high-volume billers offering such services, and an additional 25% planning to do so within a year. [******]

5.4

CheckFree™[*** and conversation with customer representative***]

CheckFree is a consolidation service that can service any biller and present consumers with all their bills in one interactive online environment. Many financial institutions that offer EBPP use Checkfree technology, including Yahoo! and most major U.S. banks. If a biller has a partnership with CheckFree, the bill will arrive electronically in the recipient’s CheckFree inbox. If the company or person that a consumer wishes to pay does not offer electronic billing, the consumer can still set up payment to them from any bank account using the Pay Everyone service. All that is necessary is the recipient’s address. CheckFree will print out a hardcopy check against your account and send it to anyone you wish to pay. For billers, the e-billing option can add convenience and lower costs. While it costs anywhere between 50 cents and $2 to process a paper bill, e-bills typically cost 35 to 50 cents each. [***C. Le Beau, “The Big Payoff,” TheStandard.com 8 May 2000.***] For financial institutions, CheckFree offers its technology and services to enable a bank’s site to become a comprehensive bill-payment portal. All payments and outstanding bills can be tracked online and consumers have interactive access to their entire payment histories. Users can postdate payments as with paper checks and set up automatic recurring payments for mortgage payments and insurance premiums. CheckFree will alert the user if there is a problem with any payments. Records of transactions can be exported to financial software such as Intuit’s Quicken and Microsoft Money. A demo of the user experience can be found at www.checkfree.com. The animated demo walks the user through check writing, bill payment and payment tracking services.

Paytrust (www.paytrust.com), which has consolidated services with PayMyBills.com, has a consumer-focused approach to e-billing. First, customers indicate to Paytrust which bills they would like to pay through the service. Those billers are contacted and the bills are redirected to Paytrust. If the biller has the capability, Paytrust then receives the bills electronically from the biller. Otherwise, billers send the paper bill to one of Paytrust's biller distribution centers where the bills are scanned electronically. Paytrust e-mails the customer announcements of newly arrived bills (paper or electronic) and impending payment due dates. The subscriber then logs on to the secure, password-protected, Paytrust Web site where the user can review and pay bills from pre-existing checking account(s). A subscriber can set up automatic payments and recurring payments. An automatic payment is one that can be set up to be made on a recurring basis without requiring approval each time. Subscribers can indicate to pay the full bill, pay the minimum due or pay a fixed

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amount. A recurring payment can be issued regularly for a fixed amount, without the subscriber receiving a bill. An e-mail notice will be generated each time a recurring bill is about to be paid. Paytrust offers users the option to pay their bills anywhere using the Palm VII™ hand-held computer. Paytrust also offers SmartBalance™, which enables secure integration of users' Paytrust activity with their online bank account balances (Fig. 5.10). For a demo visit, www.paytrust.com/htmlu/tryitout.htm. The demo walks the user through screen captures of bill-payment status, payment information and balance sheets.

Fig. 5.10

PAYTRU$T SmartBalance™ screen shot. [***Repermission requested 4/18/ 01 from Paytrust, Inc.***]

The U.S. Postal Service offers online payment capabilities. The service is available for a free 6-month trial. After six months, users are charged a small monthly fee for the first 20 transactions then a fee for each additional transaction. Registered users can pay anyone in the United States from any location. Payments are protected through a username and password. As an additional security measure, a Payment Activation Code is issued by the Postal Service and delivered to the user via postal mail. The user is required to enter this information before transaction capabilities are enabled. An online demonstration (www.usps.com/ebpp/ebpp_demo/welcome.htm) walks the user through registration and payment processes.

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e-Fact 5.5 According to the International Data Group, online payment processing is estimated to be a $1 billion market by 2004. [***L. Rosencrance, “IDC: More People Paying Bills Online,” Computer World 17 April 2000: 26.***] 5.2

Yahoo! offers a similar service called Bill Pay. A free 3-month trial of the service is available. Users can then choose to continue the service for a nominal fee. An online demo is available at help.yahoo.com/help/fin/bills/tour/tour-01.html. It walks the user through the bill payment process, illustrating the screens that would appear to the user. An upcoming payments page reminds the user of scheduled payments and a message center allows the user to contact customer service representatives directly from the payment service. Yahoo! also offers online bill presentment, reducing the number of paper bills received by the consumer.[******] Other companies sell services that enable billers to offer EBPP. DerivionSM (www.derivion.com), entered a partnership with Paytrust to accelerate consumer adoption of EBPP. Derivion provides billers with electronic capabilities in conjunction with Paytrust’s service. Derivion enables billing companies to transfer from paper to electronic billing inetBillerSM and to maintain their e-bills. Billers can continue using customized bills including their logo and style to maintain their corporate identities. This increases cross-marketing possibilities and access to consumers. For example, a credit-card bill could include a link to upgrade the card level if the bill exceeds a predetermined threshold. Another example is a phone bill including a link to wireless services offered by the same provider. A demo can be found at www.derivion.com. [******] Encirq (www.encirq.com) partners with banks that issue credit cards, presenting the consumer with an illuminated statement. The illuminated statement is interactive, placing special offers from retail merchants related to itemized charges on a credit-card statement. Encirq’s product enables both the financial institution and the merchant to target customers with promotions. Encirq does this by building and updating a customer profile each time a new set of charges is received. Then the customer is categorized and matched with advertisers and specific advertisements. All of this is done in a secure environment where neither the merchant nor Encirq itself is privy to the customer’s statement. The Encirq program is loaded onto the customer’s desktop and advertisements are matched to the customer’s purchasing profile. [******] Encirq receives revenue from merchant ads and splits the profits with the financial institutions that host the illuminated statements. [***M. Charski, “Extending CreditCard Bills,” Inter@ctive Week 22 May 2000: 63.***] This allows financial institutions to use the valuable marketing information they have about their customers without violating their privacy. This service is optional. If customers are happy with the service and take advantage of the merchant’s offers, the result is greater use of the financial institution’s credit cards, increasing profits and customer loyalty. [******] Gerling, an international insurance company, offers debt protection to e-businesses participating in business-to-business transactions. Tradecover helps to ensure that payment will be received when international business is conducted. The service works with the database containing a list of high-risk companies.

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m-Fact 5.8 Celent forecasts that 60 million people will use mobile payments by 2004. [*** “Wireless Payments-Money into Thin Air,” 8 January 2001***]

5.8

In this chapter, we introduced the payment processes available on the Web and through wireless devices. We discussed the advantages of offering payment options, and considered the issues of standardizing technologies related to wireless payments. In Chapter 6, Security, we discuss how to secure transactions over insecure media such as the Internet and wireless devices. This is crucial to enabling the kinds of reliable payment systems we presented in Chapter 5.

5.11 Internet and World Wide Web Resources General www.thestandard.net This site is an online magazine devoted to the Internet economy. E-commerce is among the topics and it provides a listw or electronic payment links. ganges.cs.tcd.ie/ A list of links to various electronic payment systems is provided at this site. www.internetindicators.com This site provides Internet economic data. It is intended for people interested in learning about the Internet economy. www.ofx.net/ofx/ab_main.asp This is the site for the Open Financial Exchange (OFX), an Internet organizations that enables businesses and financial institutions to electronically exchange financial information. www.epaynews.com This is ePayment’s news resource center. This site keeps the reader updated on wireless and ecommerce payment news. epso.jrc.es Electronic Payments Systems Observatory offers free newsletters available online. This site has a European focus. www.allnetdevices.com/wireless/ A comprehensive site that offers a developer’s page, white papers, device specifications and wireless payments information. www.silicon.com This technology news site has a European point-of-view and covers e-commerce and m-commerce. www.telecomresearch.com/tutorials.html This site offers an extensive list of links to technology educational sites. Topics on the site include wireless and other telecommunications technologies. www.wirelessfinancialservices.net/ This site offers an extensive guide for companies interested in creating mobile banking and financial services. Offers free sample case studies and a short but focussed Web resources list.

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www.mobic.com/mainframe.htm Mobic offers an extensive collection of current m-payment news articles and has links to WAP and Bluetooth information. www.mobileum.com/smartWallet.html This Web site covers Mobileum’s comprehensive suite of mobile commerce offerings. www.pcia.com/wirelesscenter/index.htm This is an educational Web site from the Personal Communications Industry Association. It offers a reference and glossary of wireless terms.

Credit–Card Payment www.trintech.com Trintech offers a secure credit-card payment system that enables the shopper to purchase items from several stores at the same time. This is used in virtual shopping malls. shopping.altavista.com/home.sdc This is the site of AltaVista’s shopping mall. It uses Payware eIssuer technology. www.onlineorders.net Onlineorders provides links and factual information about online payments and the methods of implementing payment systems. It also offers online shoppers easy access to online shopping carts.

E-Wallets www.visa.com/pd/ewallet/main.html Visa offers various e-wallets for use with Visa credit cards. These wallets are backed by a specific financial institution that issues the Visa card. www.entrypoint.com Entrypoint’s product is a personalized desktop toolbar that offers easy access to news, sports, finance, travel and shopping. It includes an e-wallet feature for use at affiliate Internet stores. www.MBNAwallet.com MBNA wallet allows you to make all of your online purchases quickly and easily. www.brodia.com Brodia promises e-wallet services that enable users to store their credit-card numbers and other purchasing information for shopping online.

Checking-Account Payments www.debit-it.com This site allows merchants to draw against the balance in their checking account as a valid form of payment over the Internet. www.netchex.com Netchex allows customers to set up an online debit-card system, where all purchases are deducted from a single Netchex account. This enables people to shop without using a credit card.

Digital Cash www.ecash.net eCash offers digital cash service for both online purchase and peer-to-peer payments.

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www.flooz.com Flooz is a form of digital cash that is used as a gift currency. Customers buy Flooz currency with their credit cards and then establish gift accounts. The recipient can then spend the Flooz account at participating stores. www.beenz.com beenz is an international, points-based currency system. The beenz system allows vendors to offer promotional systems on the vendors’ Web sites. www.giftcertificates.com This site allows Internet users to purchase gift certificates online. www.internetcash.com Internetcash is a digital currency that is aimed at teenagers. The currency is purchased through prepaid cards at convenience stores. Affiliated merchants are targeted to a young demographic. abracad.users.netlink.co.uk/ This is a link to a general resource page on digital-cash technology. www.rocketcash.com This service is designed for individuals under the age of 18. It provides them with online spending accounts that individuals fund with either personal checks, cashiers’ checks, money orders or credit cards.

Peer-To-Peer Payments www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=index PayPal offers a peer-to-peer payment system that enables anyone to receive payments from anyone else via e-mail. Payments can be made by credit card or checking account. www.billpoint.com This site offers a peer-to-peer credit-card payment system designed by eBay and Wells Fargo and used on the eBay auction site. www.moneyzap.com MoneyZap is an online money-sending service offered by Western Union.

Smart Cards www.scia.com The Smart Card Industry Association Web site provides information on smart-card technology and services. www.visa.com/nt/chip/info.html This page contains information on the forthcoming smart card being offered by Visa, which will contain a digital-cash application and e-wallet services. www.smart-card.com A monthly e-magazine with information on smart-card technology, and links to other sites. www.nextcard.com Nextcard has developed a credit card specifically designed for the Web. Online payments can be made with a built-in digital wallet. www.americanexpress.com American Express offers the Blue smart card (personal and corporate) and related services through its Web site.

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Micropayments www.hut.fi/~jkytojok/micropayments This is a paper on electronic-payment systems with a focus on micropayments. www.ipin.com iPin allows charges from micropayment purchases to appear on the customer’s ISP bill. www.trivnet.com Trivnet’s technology bills micropayment purchases to the customer’s ISP bill. www.qpass.com Qpass is an e-commerce enabler. It allows companies to sell products via secure Web transactions. www.millicent.digital.com Millicent allows customers and e-businesses to conduct transactions using micropayments.

B2B Payments www.ecredit.com eCredit offers services to help companies streamline and automate business financial processes, from origination to settlement. www.clareon.com Clareon provides end-to-end e-commerce solutions with secure payments. www.etimecapital.com eTimeCapital provides accounts receivable and cash-flow management on the Web. www.tradecard.com TradeCard handles international trade and e-commerce over the Web. TradeCard provides secure online payments. www.swift.com Swift’s site offers secure, online, international credit-card transactions.

Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP) www.checkfree.com Checkfree allows you to receive and pay your bills online. www.paytrust.com Paytrust allows you to access and pay your bills with the Palm VII organizer. www.derivion.com Dervion provides bill-payment capabilities. www.encirq.com Encirq allows bill payment sites to add targeted advertising to online customer statements. www.usps.gov The U.S. Postal service offers bill-paying services. bills.yahoo.com Yahoo! offers bill payment and presentment services through its Web site. The service includes message delivery and payment updates. www.c2it.com This online service offered through Citibank enables peer-to-peer payments.

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www.snaz.com Snaz offers Web and wireless payment solutions to merchants and allows users to store their purchasing information to be used when shopping in the Snaz marketplace.

Standards Organizations www.gmcig.org This is the Global Mobile Commerce Interoperability Group’s Web site that contains news and all their specifications. www.mobiletransaction.org MeT has all its white papers and specifications posted. Contains membership information, www.mobeyforum.com The Mobey Forum’s Web site covers its open group information and membership information.

SUMMARY • Secure electronic funds transfer and consistent and successful user transaction experiences are crucial to e-commerce and m-commerce. • Standardizing payment mechanisms on the Internet and through wireless devices is essential to the success of e-commerce and m-commerce. • Standards are guidelines for technologies, formats or processes. These guidelines have been either approved by standards organizations or have been widely adopted by an industry without a formal process. • Businesses offering domestic and international online payment services are concerned that payments will be received, that they are secure and that the transactions are valid. Online payment processes have become popular. M-payments are working toward consistent user experiences to gain popularity. • Banks and credit-card companies actively facilitate secure e-commerce by using digital certificates to authenticate each party in an e-commerce transaction. • The online payment organization Open Financial Exchange (OFX) was founded by Intuit, Microsoft and Checkfree in 1997 to serve as a standard mechanism for the exchange of financial information. Small businesses, large corporations and consumers can all use this technology to transmit financial information securely over the Inte • To accept credit-card payments online, a merchant must have a merchant account with a bank. • The variety of wireless devices, the lack of m-payment interoperability and the immaturity of the m-payment industry are factors that have created a fractured industry and inconsistent user experiences. • Interoperability, the ability for transactions to be performed no matter which software or device is supporting the transaction, is a major hurdle for the m-payment industry. M-payments suffer from a lack of accepted transaction standards enabling interoperability. These factors have limited consumer adoption of m-payment technology. • Security issues are crucial for e-commerce and m-commerce. consumers and merchants must be able to trust that their information remains intact and secure during transmission. • The Global Mobile Commerce Interoperability Group (GMCIG) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to develop secure and interoperable wireless payment standards. Its efforts are presented to wireless standards organizations, such as the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and the WAP Forum, to gain consensus in the industry.

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• Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia, Panasonic, Siemens and Sony sponsor the Mobile Electronic Transactions (MeT) Group, an organization developing open. MeT is calling the cell phone a Personal Trusted Device (PTD) because the group expects it to evolve into a device that holds important personal and payment information. • MeT has published specifications that include guidelines for a consistent user interface, security requirements and documents that outline scenarios including account-based payments, event ticketing, retail shopping, SET wallets and WAP banking. • The Mobey Forum works to encourage use of wireless payments, wireless banking and wireless brokerage access by financial institutions. • Organizations are also developing standards for security and micropayments. One group is Radicchio, which supports the use of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and digital certificates. PKI encrypts the information and the certificates authenticate the user, identifying who or what is at each end of the transaction. These components are programmable into a chip card residing in a phone, and the user needs to enter a Personal Identification Number (PIN) to initiate a transaction. • Ericsson-Hewlett Packard joint venture produced Ericsson Hewlett Packard Telecom AB (EHPT), a for-profit company, and Jalda™ technology. Jalda is an open standard for mobile payments connects content providers (anyone selling goods or services on the Internet) with Internet Payment Providers (IPPs) (network operators, ISPs, payment-card companies, banks, utility companies) and is attempting to become a standard for micropayments (transactions under $10). • Mobile-phone operators are suited to process micropayments because the phone bills they produce are composed almost exclusively of small charges. However, mobile operators are not accustomed to the financial risk associated with payment processing for services other than theirs and consumers may not trust a mobile operator acting as a financial institution. • One solution appears to be for banks and wireless operators to partner to accommodate the wireless consumer. Wireless operators can use their billing system while banks provide their experience in payment processing and managing financial risk. • Telecommunications and banking industries are crossing over into each other’s business territories because of the open-payment-processing market. Some banks are becoming Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO). MVNOs purchase bandwidth capacity from mobile carriers and resell it under their brand name. They couple the mobile service with their branded value-added services to sell the service to customers. • Non-traditional payment processors, such as content creators and technology providers, are also beginning to offer services as MVNOs. Bertelsmann, a large European media company, is considering becoming an MVNO. Sony and Bertlesmann reportedly are considering a joint venture to sell content over mobile networks. • Credit cards are a popular form of payment for online purchases, although security concerns still prevent some people from using credit cards. Customers fear credit-card fraud by merchants and other parties. • .Credit-card fraud is a significant problem for many e-businesses. When a credit-card holder claims a purchase was made by an unauthorized individual, or when a purchase was not received, it results in a chargeback. When this occurs, the charges in question are not the responsibility of the credit-card holder. • Visa has also developed a list of “best practices” to be used by merchants when conducting creditcard transactions. The list includes implementing a firewall, using encryption (see Chapter 6, Security) and anti-virus software, and incorporating inter-company security practice. • Electronic payments, either online or wireless, offer numerous payment options, including digital currency, m-wallets, point-of-sale (POS) technologies and others.

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• Digital cash is one example of digital currency. It is stored electronically and can be used to make online electronic payments. Digital-cash accounts are similar to traditional bank accounts: consumers deposit money into their digital-cash accounts to be used in their digital transactions. • Gift cash, often sold as “points,” is another form of digital currency that can be redeemed at leading shopping sites. It is an effective way of giving teen shoppers or those without credit cards the ability to make purchases on the Web. • Some companies offer points-based rewards for completing specified tasks. These tasks may include visiting Web sites (which exposes the visitor to advertising), registering or buying products. • To facilitate the credit-card order process, many companies have introduced electronic wallets (ewallets). E-wallets allow a user to keep track of billing and shipping information so that this information can be entered easily while a user is online with one click at participating merchants’ sites. E-wallets also store e-checks, e-cash and credit-card information for multiple cards. In this section, we explore the technologies, companies that produce e-wallets and m-wallets. • Many digital wallets on the market are not accepted by all vendors. Visa, MasterCard and a group of e-wallet vendors have standardized the payment presentation by adopting the Electronic Commerce Modeling Language (ECML). Since ECML specifications were released in June 1999, many leading online vendors have adopted it. • M-wallets are the most offered transaction software in the immature m-payments market. M-wallets allow a user to store billing and shipping information that the user can recall with one click while shopping from a mobile device. Wireless devices have a small keypad, and multiple keys have to be pressed to display a correct letter. M-wallets address this issue and facilitate the ordering process. • Companies are integrating new technologies into m-wallet software. For instance, Qpass’ TalkWallet™ enables cell-phone users to make transactions with their voice, using speech recognition and voice-authentication technologies. These abilities eliminate keypad data entries. • Some companies are equipping mobile devices with point-of-sale capabilities. Point-of-sale transactions are traditional retail store payment systems. Users can enter a store and make purchases using their wireless devices instead of handing a credit card to a clerk. • Palm, Inc. has created an m-wallet that works with a POS terminal. The Palm handheld uses an infrared beam to send information to a specially-equipped POS terminal as well as receive information such as marketing materials. Hotels, restaurants, car-rental companies and departments stores may be the most likely adopters of this technology. • Peer-to-peer transactions allow online monetary transfers between consumers. • Smart cards, equipped with embedded processors, are able to hold more information than ordinary credit cards with magnetic strips. Smart-card technology can be used to hold information on health care, transportation, identification, retail, loyalty programs and banking, to name a few. Smart cards enable information for different purposes to be stored in one location. Wireless devices embed smart cards. An example of this is the SIM card, that acts as a smart card embedded in every Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) cell phone. • Wireless transactions are popular for micropayments already. In Finland, Nokia enables their cellphone users to purchase sodas, a songs on jukeboxes, shoe shines and other items with their mobile phones. • Prepaid cards are not as popular in the United States as they are in other parts of the world. Outside the United States, people often opt for prepaid cards instead of carrying cash or using credit cards. • Although electronic payment is more convenient, Internet merchants that do not accept credit cards can accept payments such as checks or money orders through the mail. Cash-on-delivery

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(COD), although rarely used in the United States, is another possible option for those who are hesitant to pay electronically. • The fastest growing sector of online e-commerce payments is business-to-business (B2B) transactions. These payments are often much larger than B2C transactions and involve complex business accounting systems. • The TradeCard network provides a global B2B e-commerce infrastructure, expanding current ecommerce capabilities to the international level. Particular attention is paid to easing the complexity of cross-border data management and payment. TradeCard attempts to provide an inexpensive and comprehensive solution that expedites all phases of global commerce. • Aside from enabling electronic payment, many business-oriented services are aimed at electronic consolidation and reconciliation of the business transaction process. By consolidating information from all entities involved in a business transaction and by accessing this information from a central portal, companies can track an entire transaction from “order-to-cash”—ordering, invoicing and settlement—while reducing administrative costs, errors, waste and complexity in the supply chain.

TERMINOLOGY account settlement ACH (Automated Clearing House) acquiring bank authentication authorization bill-payment portal business-to-business (B2B) business-to-consumer (B2C) business transaction process card authorization card-not-present (CNP) transaction chargeback consolidation service contact smart card contactless smart card content provider credit-card fraud credit-card transactions debit card digital cash digital currency digital payment digital payment authentication (DPA) digital payment system digital transaction digital wallet e-billing e-check Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP) Electronic Commerce Modeling Language (ECML) Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) electronic transaction electronic transfer

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e-wallets financial risk fulfillment gift cash illuminated statement issuing bank Jalda merchant account micropayments mobile operators mobile payment Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) m-payment model m-payment transaction m-payments industry m-wallet online payment online purchase open standard order-fulfillment provider peer-to-peer payment person-to-person payment point-of-sale (POS) prepaid card remote wallet server Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) settlement service smart card Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) user authorization utility companies wallet server WAP Forum WAP gateway wire transfer wireless operator wireless payment wireless payment solution provider wireless wallet (m-wallet) transaction model

SELF-REVIEW EXERCISES 5.1

State whether each of the following is true or false; if false, explain why. a) Although credit cards are a popular form of payment for online purchases, many people resist the appeal and simplicity of credit-card transactions due to security concerns. b) Currently, no company offers peer-to-peer payment services. c) Standards organizations for mobile payments include the Global Mobal Commerce Interoperability Group and the Mobile Electronic Transaction Group. d) M-wallet software does not address mobile device issues and will never gain the popularity of e-wallets. e) Point-of-sale transactions are the most common brick-and-mortar payment transaction.

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Fill in the blanks in each of the following statements. a) To accept credit-card payments, a merchant must have a with a bank. b) Verifying that the person conducting the transaction is, in fact, who they say they are is called ________. c) Verifying that the money is available to complete a transaction is an issue of ________. d) __________ _________ are similar to credit cards, but hold more information than a magnetic-strip card. e) Companies that purchase cell-phone bandwidth from mobile operators and repackage the service with branded value-added services are called ___________________.

ANSWERS TO SELF-REVIEW EXERCISES 5.1 a) True. b) False. Companies such as PayPal offer peer-to-peer payment services. c) True. d) False. M-wallets are well-suited for mobile transactions because the user does not have to enter information on a small keypad, and will be more popular than e-wallets. e) True. a) To accept credit-card payments, a merchant must have a with a bank. ANS: merchant account. b) Verifying that the person conducting the transaction is, in fact, who they say they are is called ________. ANS: authentication. c) Verifying that the money is available to complete a transaction is an issue of ________. ANS: authorization. d) __________ _________ are similar to credit cards, but hold more information than a magnetic-strip card. ANS: Smart cards. e) Companies that purchase cell-phone bandwidth from mobile operators and repackage the service with branded value-added services are called ___________________. ANS: MVNOs.

EXERCISES 5.3

State whether each of the following is true or false; if false, explain why. a) Standards are important because, among other things, they encourage enable interoperability across platforms. b) Banks specialize in processing micropayments. c) The fastest growing sector of online e-commerce payments is business-to-business transactions. d) Proprietary software is turn key software that a company can buy, install and configure to suit the business processes. e) EBPP stands for electronic bill presentment and payment.

5.4

Fill in the blanks in each of the following statements. is the bank with which the merchant holds an account. a) The b) The is the bank from which the buyer obtained the credit card. c) The ________ _________ _________ model is the GMCIG model that enables secure wireless transactions. d) Jalda offers a system of collecting small sums of money over the Internet. These small sums are called e) Many cell phones have a ________ card embedded in them. Information embedded in these cards help enable wireless transactions.

5.5

Define the following.

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m-payment GMCIG micropayments peer-to-peer payment

5.6 (Class Discussion). In this chapter, we discuss online and wireless payment processes and some of the concerns related to making purchases over a wireless device. Security, privacy and accuracy are among the greatest concerns. Poll your friends, family and professors. What percentage of people you talked to had made a online purchases. Did they have any problems? Using the information provided and additional research, decide which mechanisms are best suited for protecting credit-card information. Consider both Visa and MasterCard’s approach. How do they compare? Would these online buyers purchase something through a wireless device? What would be their greatest concerns? Be prepared to discuss your answers. 5.7 In this chapter we discuss peer-to-peer payments. Visit the BillPoint demonstration at www.billpoint.com/help/tutorial.html and answer the following questions. a) According to the tutorial, which two links are necessary to use BillPoint Online Payments? b) What is the action taken by the seller at the close of the auction? c) Name three of the items required in the BillPoint invoice. d) What are the two methods that can be chosen by the bidder for initiating payment? 5.8 In this chapter, we discuss e-billing. Visit the CheckFree demo at www.checkfree.com and answer the following questions. a) What are the four fields that must be filled out in the check payment process? b) What feature allows you to make several payments at once? c) What feature allows you to make repeated payments? d) In the Payment Histories feature, what are the three status indicators? e) What are the two programs that payment histories can be exported into? 5.9 In this chapter, we introduced the EBPP service offered through the U.S. Postal Service. Visit the online demonstration and answer the following questions. a) Name the four ways you can add a new payee to your payee list. b) How is the Payment Activation Code distributed to the user? c) A list of your paid, cancelled and failed checks can be viewed at what location?

WORKS CITED The notation indicates that the citation is for information found at the Web site. 1. ViaPay advertisement. Worth Nov. 2000. 2.

.

3.

.

4. M. Trombly, “Amex Unveils Disposable Credit Numbers,” Computerworld 11 September 2000: 4. 5.

.

6.

“Specifications,” GMCIG .

7.

“About Us,” GMCIG .

8. “Wireless Payments-Money into Thin Air,” 8 January 2001. 9.

.

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10. “Introduction to Digital Mobile Payments Over Open Networks,” . 11. R. Clarke, “Introduction to Chip-Cards and Smart Cards,” . 12. “Introduction to Digital Mobile Payments Over Open Networks,” . 13. “Introduction to Digital Mobile Payments Over Open Networks” . 14. P. Rysavy. “M-Wallets: Not Ready Yet,” m-Business April 2001: 85. 15. “Motorola and MasterCard Form Alliance to Promote M-Commerce,” 18 July 2000. 16. . 17. “MeT Core Specifications,” 21 February 2001 : 3. 18. “MeT Core Specifications,” 21 February 2001 : 7. 19. “MeT Core Specifications,” 21 February 2001 : 14. 20. R. Crocket, “No Plastic? No Problem,” Business Week E.Biz 23 October 2000: 18. 21. “M-Commerce Dressing,” Global Technology Business June 2000: 29. 22. R. McGarvey, “Big Hurdles for Small Change,” m-business May 2001: 65. 23. “How Jalda Works,” jalda.html> January 2000.

.

Barcode

Direct

.

CWTA

Web

site

***].

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Description

Software Type

Average Price ($)

Froggy

Version of the game Frogger which takes users through a series of obstacles and levels.

Shareware or freeware

$0-$15.00

Checkers Solitare, Blackjack and other card games

Board game. Card games.

Freeware Freeware/shareware

$0 $0-10

Bubblet

Users try to match different shape bubbles and score points.

Freeware

$0

Crosswords

Crossword puzzles similar to those found in daily newspapers.

Freeware

$0

Tiger Woods PGA Golf

Professional golf video game.

Commercial registration

$29.95

Pocket Pool

Pool video game.

$7.50

Donkey Kung

Version of the original arcade game.

Shareware/shareware registration Shareware

$5.00

Fig. 11.17 Ten of the most popular downloaded games available for Palm devices. [***I. Carvalho and D. Lanning, “The Whole Wide World in Your Palm,” March 2000.***] [*** , , www.palmblvd.com, mobile.yahoo.com & www.palm.net>***].

11.5.2 Hot Sync® We mentioned earlier that Palm’s mission was to create a device that acted as an extension of the desktop computer—not a replacement for it. We discussed conduit programs, the actual programming instructions for the operating system of the desktop computer that places identical information on both the desktop and PDA device. We also examined synchronization, a term used to describe the linking process between the two devices. Now we easily explain how Palm devices actually perform this function on a handheld device. Palm developers have designed an application called Hot Sync® which combines all the items previously mentioned into one, user-friendly piece of software available for all Palm devices. Hot Sync allows the users to download applications to their computer then copy them onto a handheld device. The Hot Sync function also allows the user to update personal information such as a to-do list, address book and memo pad so that identical information is stored on both the PDA and the PC. One device backs up another—in case of system failure or loss of information, data can be retrieved and restored to both devices. If a user cannot access updated information while on the go, then a mobile device would be useless to the user. ©Copyright 2001. Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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To perform a Hot Sync, first the user must download an application or applications from Web sites onto a desktop computer or PC. Hundreds of Web sites are available that offer thousands of downloadable software to users. Some of the most popular sites and their available applications are listed in Fig. 11.13. Users download their choices and save them in a PQA file on the desktop (PQA files are discussed in Section 11.5.1). The users then connects the USB cradle or Sync Port (the synchronization hardware device that is included with Palm devices or as an accessory) to the PC on which the downloaded information is stored. Once this is completed, the Hot Sync application can be done in one step. Users can either double click on the Hot Sync icon that appears on the desktop or press the Hot Sync button which appears on the Sync Port. The Palm device will display the Hot Sync screen and automatically run two operations. The first compares the applications and information stored on the PC with those on the PDA. Any information that is not identical on one or the other device will be added or deleted from both machines during the second operation. Once the Hot Sync is complete, users will have complete and updated information on both devices. The Palm OS enables developers and manufacturers to design new and unique software applications for Palm devices. An emulator has all the same features of the actual handheld device but it runs off of a PC. It is used solely for development purposes. This access allows numerous applications to be generated from not only the developers at Palm but people anywhere in the world. In addition, companies and manufacturers such as Handspring, Kyocera, Sony, IBM and others must obtain licenses directly from Palm before including the Palm operating system in their devices or developing applications for it. There are variety of for-sale tools and kits that help developers design new applications for Palm devices. One of the most popular is CodeWarrior® from Metroworks, a Motorola Company. This product supports the programming languages C, C++ and Java and is one of many for application developers targeting Palm OS. AppForge provides a Visual Basic interpreter that will let any Palm OS device run Visual Basic applications built using this product. Sun Microsystems released Java APIs and services for Palm OS so that Java developers can build applications for the Palm device as well. Sun is also the developer of Java 2 Micro Edition—a new platform for mobile computing devices (see Chapter 26, J2ME). Citrix Systems Inc.’s tool kit Vertigo™ allows developers to design applications for mobile devices using Extensible Markup Language (XML) [***E. Koblentz & C Nobel, “Vertigo Tool Aimed at Palm OS Developers,” E -Week 12 February 2001: 18.***]. XML is discussed in Chapter ***. Other manufacturers of development kits include NS Basic, Quartus Forth and Pendragon Software. For a detailed list of development products visit www.palmos.com/dev/tech/tools.

11.6 Future of Palm The handheld devices market is growing rapidly. As wireless capabilities are added to these devices, new applications are proliferating. The look and functionality of today’s handhelds are expected to change dramatically over the next five years. Palm OS devices will support CDMA, GSM and CDPD technologies which are links to the 3G wireless standard of the future. These technologies are discussed in Chapter 10, Wireless Communications Technologies. Voice telephony (telephone capabilities) and Bluetooth technology will also be incorporated into the Palm platform [***J. Cox, “Palm to Bolster Handheld Wireless ©Copyright 2001. Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Ties,” Network World 18 December 2000: 12.***]. Chapter 21, Bluetooth and Chapter 25, Multimedia discuss these items in more detail. These applications and developments present new opportunities for Palm and its competitors. A recent press release stated that Palm’s share of the handheld market has dropped to 59% while Handspring’s rose to 28%. Handspring’s devices still use the Palm OS which allows Palm to profit somewhat from Handspring’s growth. However, new devices operating under different operating systems (e.g,. Windows CE and Java OS) are challenging Palm’s dominance in the market. Pocket PCs which use Windows CE operating system, achieved a market share of 13% after only one year on the market. Manufacturers of Pocket PCs include Compaq, Hewlett-Packard and Casio. Some analysts believe that by 2004, Pocket PCs will have a 40% market share as compared to 60% for Palm. [***C. Gaither, “Palm Urges Solidarity as Competitors Gain,” New York Times 14 December 2000: C4***]. Pocket PCs are explored in Chapter 12. The key to Palm’s future may lie in its ability to meet rapidly changing market demands. Palm originally meant to “extend” the desktop PC, but can it survive amidst the demand for devices with wireless capabilities and other new emerging developments? Palm executives and employees believe that one day Palm devices will outsell PCs but others are skeptical of this statement [***T. Spangler, “Palm’s Plan for World Domination,” Interactive Week 18 December 2000: 22.***]. Palm and other handheld devices are seen as high-end products for only small segments of the consumer and business markets. Their average price ranges from $200-$800 depending on the model and the capabilities. The race to dominate the handheld devices market may not necessarily be won by the manufacturer that can produce a device with wireless technology and numerous new features. The company that can produce a product with all of these capabilities and still make it affordable to the mass market may be the one that ends up on top.

SUMMARY • Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) offer users increased organization and act as a convenient communication tool. • Palm Inc. is a market leader in development and promotion of handheld devices. • Palm’s mission was to create a handheld device, which acted as an extension of the desktop computer and allowed users to enter small but important bits of information while away from their desk. • Synchronization is the ability to have the same user information linked on two different devices (i.e. a PDA and PC). • Palm Incorporated went public in March 2000 and independent operation has allowed Palm to accelerate its time to market and expedite the development process without regulations and guidelines set forth by a controlling parent company. • Over a year after Palm’s initial public offering, Palm and its products have become leaders in manufacturing handheld devices, capturing over 75% of the market. • Palm devices are used in 35 countries worldwide and more than 130,000 independent licensees are developing applications and products for the Palm operating system. To date there are over 7,000 software developers and 100 add-on devices available for Palm machines. • Hardware design determines customer satisfaction and use of the product. Customers want a device that is portable and easy to use while on the go.

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• Each control button or hardware device present on the Palm platform can be found performing the same or a similar function in each of the Sony, IBM, TRG and Handspring supported devices. • The brain of a PDA is the central processing unit (CPU) . • The CPU, also known as the microprocessor, has the same function as a PC’s CPU. It provides instructions regarding how processes are run on the device for the first time a system is booted up (or started). The CPU then passes this information to the operating system. The operating system controls the CPU from that point. • The Palm series all use a form of the Motorola DragonBall™ processor. This family of microprocessors is used in 11 million products worldwide including PDAs and is the best-selling CPU available on the market. • The DragonBall family supports a liquid crystal display (LCD), real-time clock (RTC), universal receiver and transmitter capabilities as well as the infrared standard (IrDA) for beaming information between users. • An operating system (OS) acts as a device’s controls or foundation software. The OS allocates storage, schedules tasks, controls how applications are programmed and run on the device and presents a common interface for these applications. • The Palm operating system (Palm OS) controls many different features including modes of operation, memory types, applications, performance and other features which we discuss in this section. • There are many different versions of the Palm OS, including PalmOS 2.0, PalmOS 3.0, Palm OS 3.5 and the newest beta version released of Palm OS 4.0. Each new version builds off of and supports the previously released version of the operating system. • The Palm OS is also used for devices such as smart phones, a handheld devices that acts as both a cell phone and a PDA. • Palm-powered devices as well as other PDAs have three modes of operation modes of operation are terms used to describe the current state of the device and power usage. These modes are defined as sleep, doze and active. • The sleep mode can be viewed as the device’s “off” state. Palm devices are never completely powered off and some low level of electricity must constantly run through the device to keep memory stores and other applications from being deleted. • PDAs withdraw into sleep mode after one to three minutes of idle time, an extended period of time in which the user is not entering information or running applications. • Doze mode refers to the state in which all displays and systems options are available to the user but no input or active use occurs during this time. The screen display and options menu are visible to the user but no commands or system demands are made. • Doze mode also refers to the time after an application has run and the user is viewing or modifying the information. • The doze mode requires more power than the sleep mode but less power than running applications. • The third state of operation is active mode. This time is allocated for running applications, data entry and processing of instructions. This mode requires the most power usage from the device. Examples include downloading applications, sychronization and beaming information from one user to another. • Memory generally refers to the storage area of information, applications, processes and instructions in an operating system. • Palm devices are unique in that they useRandom Access Memory (RAM) for permanent memory. RAM memory in PCs is used to store and record information only while the device is in use.

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• If power is completely lost to a PDA for an extended period of time, then all information would be lost because it is in RAM form. • RAM is divided into two main components for the Palm operating system, dynamic RAM and storage RAM. • Dynamic RAM (DRAM) is used to manage smaller units of memory. DRAM is also referred to as the dynamic heap. An operating system cannot process or store all information all at one time, so the DRAM divides the memory units into little segments or pieces call chunks. • Chunks are tiny units of data that allow information to be stored on the Palm OS. DRAM chunks are responsible for storing programming and application variables as well as information regarding specific protocols relevant to the device such as the Internet protocol commonly known as TCP/IP and infrared protocol (IrDA). • Storage RAM, also referred to as storage heap, is the second RAM component. Storage RAM is the memory section that acts like a file or folder found on a PC. • PCs can multitask, which is the ability to run more than one application on the desktop at a time. Palms do not have this ability, so a system for processing applications is present. • Management and prioritization of applications sent to the Palm OS is controlled by the user interface application shell (UIAS). The UIAS determines which application will be run and when. • Prioritization on a programming scale comes in the form of a launch code. • Launch codes are the specific commands which tell the OS whether or not to start and display an application to the user. Only one launch code can be processed by the OS at a time. • Applications can be broken down into bits of code and data called resources. • Palm devices have the ability to connect to a PC or desktop computer. Synchronization is achieved through a USB cradle or sync port . • Conduit programs are the programs designed to sync data from one device to another, call code from the desktop and cross-check both the PC and the Palm for differences in applications running on each. If there are differences then either device can be updated so that identical information is present on both machines. • Most Palm devices operate under the PalmOS version 3.0 or higher. • PalmOS beta version 4.0 is expected to take the next step toward 3G technology by supporting live multimedia capabilities, streaming audio and video and the transformation from a Palm device into a cell phone. • One main security feature for handheld devices is password protection. Password protection allows an individual to enter a password stored on the device that prohibits anyone from accessing that particular handheld of the current password. • Viruses and program bugs, which are commonly found on desktop computers and PCs, are now being developed for handheld devices as well. • Wireless communications will present an even bigger challenge for virus protection and anti-virus software development. • Palm technology has one of the broadest development networks constructing applications for handhelds. • There are two types of applications available for PDA devices, handheld and wireless. • Handheld applications are downloaded to a PC and then synchronized onto a Palm device or transmitted from another source and stored for later use. • Wireless applications allow users to download information from the wireless Web without any connection to a PC or wired Internet devices.

©Copyright 2001. Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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• Palm offers its own wireless service available for certain Palm series devices called Palm.net. • Palm wireless applications are designed using Palm’s patented Web clipping technology. • Web clipping allows programmers to take relevant pieces of a Web site and deliver it to a wireless device, eliminating excess content and graphics. • Palm Web clipping uses a proxy server to respond to queries for Web pages. A proxy server lies between the client (such as a Web browser) and the Web server. It stores all queries or requests for a given period of time and then either passes them on to the PDA or deletes them from storage. • The queries for information are built by a Query Application Builder (QAB), a device specifically used to generate query requests. • Web designers build Palm Query Applications (PQAs) to be installed on Palm PDAs. A user can view the tailored content for that Web site by using a PQA for that specific Web site downloaded to a Palm VII handheld. • Wireless applications are available for the financial, banking, travel, shopping and entertainment industries. Businesses can also use applications for enterprise purposes. • Freeware is any type of software that is developed and then can be downloaded and used in a device for free. • Shareware is software that can be initially used without payment but sometimes donations or voluntary payments are requested. • Shareware registration is where users can download a demonstration and then either use the demo registration code to purchase the full version or keep the demo. • Commercial software is registered and demos can be downloaded for free but the full versions must be purchased to obtain the entire software. • An emulator has all the same features of the actual handheld device but it runs off of a PC. • There are variety of tools and kits which can be purchased to assist a developer when designing new applications for Palm devices. • The handheld devices market continues to expand and with the addition of wireless capabilities, manufacturers and developers are open to a new realm of possibilities.

TERMINOLOGY active mode address book/phone book backlight calendar Central Processing Unit (CPU) chunks commercial registration conduit programs digital key pad digital number pad doze mode dynamic heap Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) emulator freeware Graffiti® handheld application idle time

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infrared standard (IrDA) Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) launch code liquid crystal display (LCD) megabyte (MB) memo pad mode of operation multitask operating screen operating system Palm Operating System (Palm OS) Palm Query Application (PQA) Password protection Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) proxy server query Query Application Builder (QAB) Random Access Memory (RAM) real-time clock (RTC) record resource shareware shareware registration sleep mode storage heap Storage Random Access Memory (Storage RAM) stylus synchronization synchronization port (sync port) to-do list up/down scroll bar USB cradle User Interface Application Shell (UIAS) Web Clipping wireless telephony

INTERNET AND WORLD WIDE WEB RESOURCES www.palm.com Palm home site for all product information, new releases, software downloads, customer support and product development. www.palm.net Palm’s Web site for users of their wireless Internet service. It allows users to access their palm.net accounts, download applications and receive customer support. www.palmOS.com This is Palm’s Web site specifically dedicated to the Palm operating system. Information for developers and application builders available regarding licenses and new releases of Palm OS.

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www.palmos.com/dev Palm developers site that includes link to development tools, application design suggestions and other useful aids to assist the development process. www.trgpro.com TRG is a manufacturer of Palm OS based devices. This site allows users to view products and services available from this manufacturer. www.yadayada.com YadaYada is a wireless Internet service exclusively centered around palm devices. This site provides information on device support, coverage capabilities and other additional information regard services plans and costs. www.sun.com Sun Microsystem’s home page that provides information on all of Sun’s products and services. Sun is one of the leading Java development companies in the world and has developed applications for mobile devices. Sun Microsystems and Java developments are also discussed in Chapter 26, J2ME. www.citrix.com Citrix is a general purpose software development company which released an XML based toolkit called Vertigo™. This kit is designed to assist Palm developers in developing XML based applications. XML is discussed further in Chapter 25, Multimedia. www.appforge.com AppForge is another general purpose software company which works primarily with the programming language Visual Basic (VB). AppForge provides a VB interpreter that allows developers to design applications in VB for Palm devices. www.sonystyle.com/vaio/clie This site allows users to access product information and services regarding the Sony Clie™ handheld device. Sony offers users customer support, product specs, information on where to buy products and accessories as well as news on upcoming product releases. www.OmniSky.com OmniSky is a wireless access service provider for PDAs and other handheld devices. This site provides users with information regarding what devices the service supports, coverage area, prices and service plans. www.GoAmerica.com GoAmerica is another wireless access service provider for PDAs and wireless devices. GoAmerica provides service to Palm devices as well as select Pocket PC devices. Information regarding services plans, costs and coverage areas are included on this site. www.kodak.com/productInfo Kodak produces the PalmPix™ camera for Palm devices. PalmPix is a digital camera that takes photographs and then can display them on Palm devices which support color graphics. Users can then share this information with other PDA and PC users. www.handspring.com Handspring manufactures PDAs using the Palm operating system. This site provides users with information regarding Handspring’s products, services and accessories. www.pcbuyersguide.com/hardware/portables/Pocket_PC_vs_Palm PCBuyers Guide provides consumers with a detailed look at portable devices available on the market. Articles compare product specifications, technological advances, accessories and features of numerous handheld devices.

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www.ibm.com/products IBM manufactures a Palm-compatible handheld. www.symbol.com Symbol produces a variety of handheld devices designed for Palm OS. www.kyocera.com Kyocera is a manufacturer that uses Palm devices and Palm OS in their development of smart-phones. www.metroworks.com Metroworks produces CodeWarrior®- a Palm OS developer’s tool kit. CodeWarrior is a general purpose programming languages environment. www.handango.com Handango has more than 10,000 applications for handheld devices available for download. www.palmgear.com PalmGear has over 7,700 applications available for Palm devices and on-line support for these downloads. www.download.com 2,000 applications are available for use on this site. www.zdnet.com/downloads/pilotsoftware This site offers over 3,900 downloads as well as reviews of favorite Palm applications. www.avantgo.com Avantgo provides users a service for viewing Web clipping web pages for Palm users. www.vindigo.com Vindigo is a free download for Palm users that includes city guides, restaurants, bars, stores and movie listings. mobile.yahoo.com Yahoo search engine site that also has applications available fo download on mobile devices. www.jetware.com Jetware is another PDA applications download site. www.standalone.com Standalone offers users a variety of numerous games and downloads for Palm OS devices. www.palmpower.com PalmPower is a magazine that deals exclusively with Palm devices. This site has news articles, product information and other useful links to consumers in regards to Palm products. www.nsbasic.com/palm NS Basic provides tools and support for Palm OS developers. www.quartus.net Quartus Forth assists developers in designing and implementing applications for the Palm OS platform. www.pendragon-software.com/forms Pendragon Software provides forms and tools for Palm OS application development. www.caslsoft.com Casl provides a development environment for application designers and developers for the Palm OS platform including examples of code that can be re-used and referenced in application development.

SELF-REVIEW EXERCISES ©Copyright 2001. Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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11.1

State whether each of the following is true or false; if false, explain why a) Palm Inc. is the only manufacturer of Palm OS based devices. b) The central processing unit (CPU) provides the instructions regarding how processes are run on the device the first time a system is booted up or started. c) Synchronization is the ability to have information stored on a PDA. d) The Serial Cradle or USB Port is the physical link between a PC and a PDA. e) The doze mode of operation allows users to actively input information and run applications on a handheld device.

11.2

Fill in the blanks for each of the following statements. a) The 3 modes of operation for a PDA device are , and . b) The controls many different features of the Palm system including modes of operation, memory types, applications and performance. b) There are 2 types of RAM memory and . b) is the infrared protocol regarding the sharing of information between devices such as PDAs. c) There are two types of applications available for handheld devices which are and .

ANSWERS TO SELF-REVIEW EXERCISES 11.1 a) False. Other manufacturers include TGR, IBM, Handspring and Sony. b) True. c) False. Synchronization is the ability to have the same information linked between a PDA, PC or other device. d) True. e) False. The doze mode only allows viewers to see data and make adjustments to it. Active mode allows users to run applications and input data. 11.2 a) Sleep, Doze and Active. b) Palm OS. c) Dynamic RAM and storage RAM. d) IrDA. e) handheld and wireless.

EXERCISES 11.3

State whether each of the following is true or false; if false, explain why. a) The sleep mode requires the least amount of energy. b) Chunks are large data stores on PDA devices. c) Security is not a major threat to handheld and wireless devices. d) Palm does not allow developers to use the Palm OS when designing new applications for handheld devices, only Palm employees have access to it. e) The Palm OS is used in other devices such as smart phones.

11.4

Fill in the blanks in each of the following statements. a) are specific commands which tell the OS whether or not to start and display an application to the user. b) There are 4 main types of downloadable software available to users including , , and . c) allows programmers to take relevant pieces of a Web site and deliver it to a wireless devices eliminating excess content and graphics. d) An is a development tool that looks exactly like a Palm device and can be used in the development and design of handheld and wireless applications. e) is the newest version of the Palm OS which supports multimedia and voice telephony capabilities.

11.5

Define the following. a) conduit program

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b) c) d) e) f) g)

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DRAM microprocessor handheld application Palm Query Application proxy server wireless telephony

11.6 Group Project: Divide the group into teams of 3-4 people. Assign each team to develop an application for a handheld device. When finished, compare all the ideas of the various teams. Ask members to discuss what is different and/or the same about the ideas presented. Is there an application similar to what is presented that already exists? What purposes would these applications serve? What segment of the market would they interest the most business, general consumers, students etc.? 11.7 Class discussion: Are handheld and wireless devices really the wave of the future? Do you think that wireless devices and applications will ever be available to all consumers and what will it take for this to be accomplished. Do you think mobile devices will ever completely replace PC or desktop computers? Explain why or why not? 11.8 Class discussion: Companies like Palm license their technology for use by other companies. Do you think that there are ever situations in which patent infringements or copyright laws are broken. What other legal issues do you think might be present with open sharing of technology and developement. Explain your position on the issues. 11.9 Go to one of the application sites mentioned in this chapter (i.e. www.handango.com, palmgear.com, etc.) or another site you know of on the Internet. Look at the available list of downloads and randomly pick 25 applications. Categorize these 25 applications into lists according to application type and software types. 11.10 Research various Palm-powered devices from different manufacturers such as Palm, Handspring, Sony, IBM and TRG. Make a list of the handheld products that each offers, the features they include such as MB of memory, color display, wireless capabilities etc. Compare and contrast these items as well as note any physical differences you see in the actual design of the device. Pick which one you think would be the best for businesses? for students? for general consumers? Explain your decision. 11.11 Semester Project: Divide into groups of 3-4. Design the “ultimate” PDA device centered around your knowledge of the Palm OS. Include any and all features that you would like regardless of whether or not they actually exist. Make the design as complete as possible. Include a drawing of the physical layout or look of the device as well as technical specifications such as OS version, memory capacity, control buttons etc. Include a list of applications that would be provided with your device. Provide a 3-5 page summary describing the primary purpose of your device, why you feel the design is unique and why you chose to include certain items and exclude others. In addition, describe the target audience for your device, who would be most likely to buy it and why.

WORKS CITED The notation indicates that the citation is for information found at the Web sites. M.Hall, “Microsoft’s Stinger Adds to Wireless Buzz,” Computer World 14 August 2000: 6.

R. Scherwin, “Sneak Peek: Palm Computing Pilot 1000,” . A. Tiosejo, “Three’s Company” ASAP Forbes 27 November 2000: 212. ©Copyright 2001. Deitel & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Fig. 13.1

Simple WML document.

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Welcome to wireless programming!

Fig. 13.1

Simple WML document.

We see our first comments (i.e., text that documents or describes the WML markup) on lines 5–6. Comments in WML always begin with . The browser ignores any text or tags inside a comment. We place comments near the top of each WML document to provide the figure number, the file name and a description of each example. Later, we also include comments in the markup, especially when we introduce new features. Good Programming Practice 13.1 Place comments throughout the markup. Comments in WML are placed inside the tags. Comments help other programmers who read the code to understand the markup, assist in debugging and allow you to list other useful information that you do not want the browser to render. 13.1

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The WML document in Fig. 13.1 begins with the opening tag (line 8) and ends with the closing tag (line 16). WML documents are arranged much like a deck of cards. Each document consists of one or more cards organized in a deck. One card is equivalent to one HTML page. Every WML document requires a card element (line 9), which contains information about the document. Line 9

shows the opening card element. Good Programming Practice 13.2 Use a consistent title-naming convention for all pages on a site. For example, if the page displayed shows a list of popular links, the title of the page might be “Popular Links.”

13.2

Common Programming Error 13.3 When assigning a title to a WML page, remember that the size of the display window is often limited, so keep card titles concise.

13.3

The card element has two important attributes. Attributes allow developers to provide additional information about an element to the browser. Attributes are placed inside an element’s start tag and consist of a name and a value. The id attribute assigns a name to the card and is used in deck navigation. This will be covered in more detail in Section 13.7, Linking. The title attribute names each card of a WAP application. The title usually appears at the top of the browser window. Portability Tip 13.1 Some browsers do not display the value of the title attribute. When designing a WML card, make sure to account for this inconsistency and not to rely on it. 13.1

We see a paragraph element in lines 12–14

Welcome to wireless programming!

All text to be displayed in a WML document must be placed between the

…

tags. The screenshot in Fig. 13.1 shows the text being displayed on two lines even though it occupies only one line in the code. The Openwave browser automatically wraps the text onto the next line. Portability Tip 13.2 Not all browsers automatically wrap text onto the next line of the display window. In some cases, long lines of text will run off the right side of the screen. Many devices do not support horizontal scrolling, therefore, the text cannot be read. 13.2

The document ends on lines 16 and 17

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These two tags close the card and wml sections of the document, respectively. According to the rules of WML and other XML-based languages, all tags must nest. That is, an element that is opened must be closed before its parent element is closed. In this case, the card element is closed before closing its parent—the wml element. As discussed earlier, the last tag in any WML document must be , which tells the browser that all WML coding is complete.

13.6 Formatting Text Web technologies such as Extensible HyperText Markup Language (XHTML), Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and Macromedia Flash are used to create visually appealing Web pages. Unfortunately, similar technologies are not yet available for most wireless devices. Most devices that render WAP applications have limited graphics capabilities such as black-andwhite display screens. WML, nevertheless, includes elements used to format text (bold, italic, etc.) which we discuss in this section. Figure 13.2 demonstrates WML-formatting elements. It is important to note that the formatting elements in this example are not supported by all browsers. Some browsers may fail to render the elements while others may render them incorrectly. It is important to test all WML documents with different device simulators to ensure that they render properly on each. In fact, the Openwave browser that we have used up to this point does not fully support the formatting elements. To be able to demonstrate all of the formatting elements, we switch to Numeric Algorithm Laboratories’ M3Gate browser. The M3Gate browser can be downloaded from www.m3gate.com/m3gate/downloads/. Testing and Debugging Tip 13.1 Always test WAP applications by rendering them on as many different browsers as possible.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

A bold statement A big deal A small problem I mean it This is fancy <strong>Strongman Not a link

Fig. 13.2

Formatting text in WML.

13.1

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Formatting text in WML.

Lines 11–17 of Fig. 13.2 use WML elements to format text. Notice that we insert a space after the text being formatted rather than placing a space after the tag. Most browsers require formatting to be done this way. A space placed immediately after a closing formatting element is ignored by the browser. We could have achieved the same result by following each element with a non-breaking space using its escape sequence ( ) as shown in: A bold statement A big deal A small problem I mean it This is fancy <strong>Strong man Not a link

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A space is displayed at each occurrence of the   escape sequence. The use of special characters, such as  , is explained in section 13.9. Figure 13.3 lists the WML formatting elements and provides a brief description of each. WML Tag

Description



Specifies bold font.

<strong>

Specifies emphasized text.



Specifies that the text should be one font size larger than the default.



Specifies that the text should be one font size smaller than the default.



Specifies italic font.



Underlines text.



Specifies emphasized text.

Fig. 13.3

Description of WML formatting tags.

13.7 Linking One of the most important capabilities of WML is the ability to create hyperlinks to other documents on the Web, making possible a worldwide network of linked documents and information. WML allows both text and images to be used as links to other decks. When a user selects a linked image or text by pressing the soft key labeled Link, the user’s device displays that target page specified in the markup. Links are introduced in lines 14–15 of Fig. 13.4. The following example provides links to popular search engines. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Search Engines: Wapaw Fast

Fig. 13.4

Linking to other Web documents.

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Linking to other Web documents.

Links are inserted using the a (anchor) element. The most important attribute for the a element is the location to which you are linking. To specify the link address, add the href attribute to the anchor element as follows: . In line 14, for example, the address is wapaw.com. Placing the text Wapaw between anchor elements () turns the text into a link to the address specified in the href attribute. When the text is displayed, it is different from other text in that it is underlined or, as seen in Fig. 13.4, wrapped in brackets. Portability Tip 13.3 Different browsers display links differently. As you can see from the screenshots in this chapter, the Openwave browser denotes links by placing brackets around the text. Other browsers may denote a link by underlining the text

13.3

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13.8 Images Thus far we have dealt exclusively with text. Next, we show how to incorporate images into WML documents (Fig. 13.5). 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

-->

Images

Fig. 13.5

Placing an image in a WML document.

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Fig. 13.5

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Placing an image in a WML document.

The image in this example is incorporated into our document via the code in lines 16– 17

The img element has many attributes. The src attribute (for "source") specifies the location and file name of the image to be displayed. The height and width of an image are also specified, measured in pixels. The term pixel stands for “picture element.” All digital images are comprised of a series of gray-scale or color pixels. This image is 84 pixels wide and 82 pixels high. Look-and-Feel Observation 13.1 Always include the height and the width of an image inside the img tag. When the browser loads the WML document, it will know immediately how much screen space to give the image and will therefore lay out the page properly. Not specifying the hight and width of an image may cause the card to be displayed other than intended.

13.1

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The alt attribute is required for every img element. In Fig. 13.5, the value of this attribute is alt="Logo image"

In some cases, the image is too large for the display area. If this is the case, the image will not display and the value of the alt attribute, Logo image, appears in place of the image. The text displayed should provide a short description of the intended image. The next example demonstrates how to create a link using an image instead of text. There are two types of images that can be converted to links, imported and local images. The Openwave browser provides access to icons, called local icons, that are stored on the device. These icons can be used as links and do not have to be downloaded with the card. The list of local icons includes such graphics as a cloud for a weather link or a football for a sports link. Performance Tip 13.1 Large images can take a long time to download. Some wireless Internet billing plans charge by the amount of data that the user downloads, while others charge based on the amount of time a user spends using the service. Requiring the download of large images may deter visitors with such plans.

13.1

Many browsers offer an alternative to downloaded images that allow developers to use images as links–without having to worry about download times. A WAP application can make use of local icons, which are icons, or graphics, stored on the wireless device itself. Such images do not need to be downloaded with a WML document. These icons are called using the img tag and the localsrc="name" attribute. Some wireless browsers do not support local icons. When this is the case, the browser follows an order of precedence when displaying the contents of an img element. If the localsrc attribute is used and is not supported by the user’s browser, the image specified by the src attribute will be used. If neither is available, the value of the alt attribute displays. Figure 13.6 demonstrates local icons. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

Local Icons

Fig. 13.6

Using local icons as link anchors.

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18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39

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Link Wrench Football Boat

The link worked!

Fig. 13.6

Using local icons as link anchors.

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Using local icons as link anchors.

We see an image hyperlink in lines 14–18 Link

Here the a element and the img element are used. The anchor is used in the same manner for both text and images. Wrapping the image in the a element causes it to become an active hyperlink to another location, either on the Internet or in the deck. The src attribute of the img element on line 18, src=""

is empty. This is because the image used in this example is specified using the localsrc attribute. The icon named link is located in the memory of the device. In line 11

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Local Icons

we introduce the br element which causes a line break to be rendered. The break element is an example of an empty element. Empty elements do not require separate closing tags. Placing a forward slash (/) before the right angle bracket (>) makes the br element both an opening and closing tag.

13.9 Special Characters and More Line Breaks WML requires specialized markup to render certain characters. Some of these characters, such are not found on the key pad. Others are reserved for special use by WML, such as the angle brackets < and >. WML 1.2 has a provision for inserting special characters and symbols (Fig. 13.7). 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Special Characters: Experts suggest ­ " A person's daily diet should consist of < 2000 calories and not > 20 grams of fat."

Fig. 13.7

Inserting special characters in WML.

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Inserting special characters in WML.

Examples of special characters are inserted into the text in lines 15–17. Experts suggest ­ " A person's daily diet should consist of < 2000 calories and not > 20 grams of fat."

The format of the code is always &code;. Figure 13.7 demonstrates the use of several of the WML special characters. A list of special characters supported by WML are described in Fig. 13.8. One example of this is &, which inserts an ampersand (&). Codes are often abbreviated forms of the character (like amp for ampersand and lt for less than) and can also be in the form of hexidecimal (hex) codes. For example, the hex code for an ampersand is 38, so another method of inserting an ampersand is &.

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Named Entity

Numbered Entity

Description

>

>

greater than (>)

<

<

less than (