Ibm Targets Small Business Pc Users With Speech Recognition, Productivity Software Bundle

EDP Weekly's IT Monitor, Feb 1, 1999

IBM last week announced what it calls "the computer industry's first desktop PC equipped with speech recognition technology for small and growing businesses." The IBM PC 300GL Small Business Series PCs come equipped with IBM's ViaVoice speech recognition software for dictation and voice control via the PC.

"With the incorporation of ViaVoice technology in the IBM PC 300GL Small Business Series, IBM is demonstrating the company's unique ability to research, develop and quickly implement advanced technologies in practical, leading-edge products," says Phil Hester, vice president of Technology, IBM Personal Systems Group. "As more and more small and growing businesses embrace the Internet as a way to do business, IBM is uniquely positioned to offer the tailored products and services these customers will need to make e-business work for them."

The new PC is customized for office productivity and Internet optimization for conducting e-business, and also has Ring Central, a telephony feature placed on all models to help companies manage incoming and outgoing faxes. The feature is particularly important for small businesses who operate both their fax and telephone on the same phone line.

Software bundled with the PC includes Microsoft Office Small Business Edition, Lotus SmartSuite Millennium, IBM's ViaVoice, Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer, and Artisoft i.Share software, which allows multiple users to connect to the Internet or send-receive e-mail through one external Internet connection, reducing Internet access costs.

The PC also features the same data protection tools, such as SMART Reaction, ConfigSafe, and Norton AntiVirus software, that IBM markets to its corporate customers. All the tools fall under the umbrella of IBM's Universal Management Agent, a management application designed in conjunction with Tivoli to keep the system running smoothly.

Estimated reseller prices for the IBM PC 300GL Small Business Series start at $1,149 without a monitor.