From...

July 19, 1999
Web posted at: 11:53 a.m. EDT (1553 GMT)

by Anne Fischer Lent

(IDG) -- PageTalk is a unique service that puts a button on your Web site that visitors can click to hear your voice. It's free, it's here now, and it's catching on like wildfire.

To get PageTalk, simply go to the Web site and register for the service. You can record a message of up to 20 seconds long by calling a toll-free number, and you can update it as often as you like. The new message is available on your Web site almost instantaneously. PageTalk plays your message through RealAudio, which offers excellent clarity.

PageTalk was launched on May 24 and so far has more than 15,000 users, according to General Manager Alan Berger.

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Talk It Up

Like a picture, a voice can be worth a thousand words. And PageTalk's uses range from personal and family home pages to joke sites to business sites. You can, for example, post an image of a newborn baby, complete with the baby's first sounds. At the other extreme, you can post any information that needs to be updated daily, such as stock quotes, ski conditions, sports scores, or even daily jokes. (Hear one sample in action at Columbia Ski Club--see link at right.) Electronic commerce sites can even use PageTalk to promote specials while also adding a touch of personality.

You can include a PageTalk button with your e-mail signature file so your e-mail recipients not only read your message but hear it as well. And in chat rooms the PageTalk icon would enable a chat participant to hear you yack for 20 seconds rather than just reading your ramblings.

The beauty of PageTalk for the site designer is that it's not necessary to tweak HTML in order to post quick and up-to-the-minute information. Just call the toll-free number and talk.

There's one downside: Soon PageTalk will be tagging advertising to the end of the message. But for those who need to add regular updates to their site, there's nothing cheaper or simpler. And I thought I was getting blasé about all the talk about the Internet!