FUTURE MAIL, Part II
Universal Mail Box:
From "User Friendly" to Inseparable Companion
by Billye Lemon

If international electronic connections are not accessed with an ease akin to direct-dial telephoning, an ease to which we have quickly become accustomed, then it will not be meeting its potential: It will not be *accepted* by the users. The envisioned result is a multi-faceted workstation, a one-stop message center, which is already being developed. The "universal mail box" concept aims to make it possible to send and receive from *one* workstation a telex, a facsimile, a voice message, or an electronic message--or a *combination* of these.

By sitting down at one terminal and dialing in with one access code, a person should receive notice of what incoming mail he has from all different sources and systems at once!

After logging on, a couple of short lines will notify the user that he has messages waiting from several different sources. It will be up to the electronic mail industry--the carrier--to provide access and routing from one system to another--without
loss and without delay. Wow!

But there's more! Because when the user sits down to send an electronic message, he will also have the choice, remember, of *how* he wants to send it. For example, suppose John, by pushing one button, accesses the communications system and places a "call" to Mary by using the hand-receiver attached to
his computer. If Mary isn't in, he can then type in a quick message such as, "Call Me". Then, if he wants to relay more at that time and is much more comfortable talking than typing the message, he can switch to *voice* transmission (like an
answering machine). When Mary comes back and sits down to retrieve her messages, she will see the note on the screen and then also a notice that she has a voice message waiting.

This multi-faceted communications workstation is what the users will see. What the industry foresees now is the multi-media terminal which answers a need, and will make these new technologies an *integral* partner in the daily activities of
the corporation; a corporate "work horse." And, as much as possible, the life of existing equipment should be extended.

By the 1990's the key word will be CONVERSION. If Mary's company is still using older equipment and she does not yet have voice-receiver capabilities, then conversion is necessary. The carriers will need to be able to convert transmission from one mode to another, so that Mary can receive that voice message as a written message.

Does it sound like dreaming? Panelists were VPs, managers, or directors, of sales, marketing, applications, etc. from GTE, ITT, Northern Telecom, MCI, IBM, Digital, Citibank (which has 7 internal e-mail systems!), speaking for an industry which seeks to establish fast, reliable "message handling systems".

Out to make a dollar? Yes, of course, and they say e-mail is increasing anywhere from 50% to almost 100% a year. With 7 million personal computers in place now, within the next decade every other professional (half) will have a terminal available. Not only will the equipment be in place, but asynchronous communication will not be *that* expensive; just an add-on which occupies only 10% of the work space of a computer. And the potential can carry over into developing countries. Now "saddled with the need to catch up with a technology which is 30 - 40 years old--the telephone", or overloaded telex systems, these countries have the option of choosing to bypass the "catch-up" game and instead take advantage of the newest communications systems being developed--at a level of sophistication and cost adapted to their particular situation.

The challenge for electronic mail carriers, as it is for computer conferencing systems, is to educate the public.

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Author's Note: Billye Lemon is a manager at The Meta Network where she works on public relations, training, and user support.