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The Flight From
Paper
Pundits have been talking about it for some time, but the major paper manufacturers are operating at record production levels. Starting with this issue, we are doing something about paper use - or the lack of it. We're going paperless. The entire production process, from beginning to end, will be done electronically. Web edition readers will be able peruse the newsletter more conveniently, with smaller, faster-loading files for each page. And of course, the e-mail and fax broadcast editions will continue. Locating information contained in past articles will also be easier. In addition to a web archiving system that lets you view each edition, and 'information icons' that arrange the articles by subject type, we now support a search engine that allows the user to enter a word or phrase and receive a listing of all documents containing such information.
(If you could use some assistance in searching your own text based documents, Windows Users News suggests trying Super Text Search at
www.galcott.com for a 30-day free trial.
They find the application superior to the capabilities available in Windows Explorer.) Will this 'paperless' trend accelerate fast enough to benefit the telecommunications industry? "Currently, telecom bills have more detail and generate more customer problem calls than any other industry."
(www.interactive-week.com, 4/3/00, p.103) James Gaskin, author of the article, goes on to opine "This market promises the best returns on investments in new technologies and reducing errors and complaints." But the electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP) market is currently at $32 Million -
less than the size of pay-per-call annual refunds. The market is not expected to reach $1 Billion until 2004. That may be too late to save the pay-per-call industry from current efforts by local exchange carriers (LECs) to kill it by squeezing the industry off the phone bill. In fact, the electronic phone bill may not be a panacea at all. It currently takes only a moment to discard an ad insert. Can you imagine the downloading time for an 'insert' with graphics, video, audio and a full motion celebrity endorsement?
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