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Verizon
Information Services Partners with Digital:Convergence to Offer
Internet-Enhanced Phone Directories
Verizon Directories to Instantly Link Consumers to Valuable Content
within the Deep Web via Digital:Convergence 'Cues'
Dallas,
TX, November 6, 2000 — Verizon Information Services,
the world's largest directory publisher, announced today that
it will Internet-enhance its directories with :CRQ technology
from Digital:Convergence Corporation. The technology will link
Verizon directories to the Internet, providing consumers instant
access to online content. Verizon will launch the technology in
the Greater-Dallas area directory available February 2001, with
additional directories and markets to follow. Verizon is the first
directory publisher to license the Digital:Convergence technology
and will be distributing approximately 112 million interactive
directories next year nationwide.
The
:CRQ ("See Our Cue") technology uses embedded cues to empower
manufacturers, broadcasters, and publishers like Verizon Information
Services, to enhance content for consumers. Any product with a
UPC or ISBN code, including printed and broadcast material containing
one of Digital:Convergence's proprietary 'cues', is instantly
interactive with the Internet.
"Digital:Convergence's
technology is the de facto standard in information convergence,
enhancing the value of our print directory for both consumers
and advertisers," says Lester Chu, group vice president - strategic
planning for Verizon Information Services. "Not only does it drive
interested consumers to advertisers' websites quickly, but it
sends subscribers instantly to the specific information they need
without requiring them to type in lengthy URLs or wade through
dozens of irrelevant web pages."
Verizon
will include the cues in several sections of their new directories,
including Yellow Pages advertisements and specialty directories,
such as Dining Your Way and the Community Pages, taking consumers
to related features within SuperPages.com. For example, the Yellow
Pages ad for an auto dealer could contain a printed cue that sends
the customer directly to the dealer's service department Web page.
And the same ad could contain a different cue that directs consumers
to the "Special of the Week" - a dynamic Web page with a coupon
that the buyer prints and takes to the dealer to close the deal.
"With
the Digital:Convergence technology, every phone book becomes an
interactive tool for the consumer," said Jovan Philyaw, CEO of
Digital:Convergence. "Our technology fits perfectly with Verizon's
mission to provide customers with easy access to relevant information.
From online shopping to finding a doctor, our technology enables
companies to close the gap between the online and offline worlds."
Verizon
customers can pick up the :CueCat technology, a free-to-consumer
handheld device, along with the :CRQ software, at any RadioShack
store nationwide. Verizon Information Services will provide advertisers
who purchase the cue with free :CueCat devices and software.
About
Verizon Information Services
Verizon Information Services is the world's leading print and
online directory publisher and a content provider for communications
products and services. As the largest directory company in the
world, Verizon Information Services earns annual revenues of more
than $4.1 billion and has more than 11,000 employees.
The
company provides sales, publishing and other related services
for nearly 2,500 directory titles in 47 states and the District
of Columbia and 18 countries outside the U.S. This includes more
than 1,600 Verizon directory titles with a total circulation of
approximately 112 million copies in the U.S. and 41 million internationally.
Verizon
Information Services also produces and markets SuperPages.com,
the Internet's #1 online yellow pages directory and a leading
shopping resource. SuperPages.com has received up to 4.2 million
visits and up to 1.8 million unique visitors per month.
Based
in the Dallas area, Verizon Information Services is a unit of
Verizon Communications, headquartered in New York, N.Y. Verizon
Communications (NYSE:VZ), formed by the merges of Bell Atlantic
and GTE, is one of the world's leading providers of communications
services. For more information on Verizon, visit www.verizon.com.
About Digital:Convergence
Digital:Convergence is a privately held Internet technology company headquartered in Dallas with offices in New York and London. The company's proprietary technology can link almost all media or products instantly and easily with the Internet, allowing users to obtain relevant information or conduct e-commerce activities. The company's management team includes a roster of industry veterans from Time Warner, AT&T, GE, ING Barings and Disney.
| Press
Contacts: |
Heidi
Jaquish
972-453-6473 heidi.jaquish@verizon.com |
Peter
Eschbach
214.292.6200
peschbach@digitalconvergence.com |
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Stacey
Lammot
310-288-5523 slammot@painepr.com |
Christine Voliva
202-530-4511
christine_voliva@was.bm.com |
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