Press Release: 3rd August 1994
"InfoTravel is proving to be a new and exciting capability for the mobile traveler, the hotel industry and the emerging interactive TV services industry, " said Graham. "Bell Atlantic is pleased to be in the leadership position, particularly in our region and in the nation's capital."
The announcement was made in conjunction with COMSAT's On Command Video, whose hotel-based video system is used in Marriott and Hilton hotels nationwide, and Cap Disc, a division of Capitol Multimedia Inc., who co-developed with Bell Atlantic the Compact Disc-interactive (CD-i) application software and user interfaces utilized with the On Command system. CD-i is an electronic multimedia system that integrates high quality digital audio and video viewed on the hotel guest room's TV.
InfoTravel will be implemented in six premier Marriott and Hilton hotels in the Washington, D.C. area in 1995. Bell Atlantic Directory Services is soliciting 225 national and local advertisers to participate in the Washington, D.C. rollout.
The first InfoTravel service was implemented in mid-April in 400 rooms of the Santa Clara Marriott in California with more than 150 advertisers. Direct dialing to the advertiser and extensive mapping capabilities are some of the distinguishing features that MarketWyse, a Cleveland, Ohio-based market research firm, found to be popular with the Santa Clara Marriott guest users of InfoTravel. Guests in 40 percent of the rooms with InfoTravel use the service on the average of twice a day.
InfoTravel's directory menu includes "Places To Eat," "Things to See and Do," "Services," (medical, business and personal) and "Getting Around." A "Travelog" feature will be added for the tourist-popular Washington, D.C. traveler. The InfoTravel system operates by keying in numerical codes on the On-Command remote control. Maps which locate the advertiser's establishment are viewed on-screen or printed for pickup at the hotel's front desk. The user can automatically connect to an advertiser via the user's hotel room phone, providing virtually an immediate response for restaurant reservations or more information on an advertiser's services or products.
"In response to market demand, Bell Atlantic Directory Services is adding other major sites in 1994 and early 1995 for InfoTravel implementation," said Tom Pelletreau, director, new business development, Bell Atlantic Directory Services. "Although the first InfoTravel systems are CD-i based, future systems will be configurable to a variety of platforms."
Capitol Multimedia Inc. (Nasdaq: CDIM, CDIMW), located in Bethesda, Md., is a leader in multimedia publishing and high-end development of CD-based interactive software for the consumer and professional markets. In addition to InfoTravel, its professional division has developed and successfully marketed ShowMaster(TM) -- a revolutionary new method for delivering multimedia business presentations. The company is also the largest independent developer of CD-i titles in the world, including top five consumer hits Pinball and Battleship(R). During 1994, Capitol is expanding into development and distribution of SEGA CD and CD-ROM software.
On Command Video, majority owned by COMSAT Video Enterprises, Inc., is a market leader in hotel video-on-demand and interactive information technology, and operates the largest hotel video-on-demand system in the world, with 350,000 rooms installed or under contract. COMSAT Video Enterprises (CVE) is a subsidiary of COMSAT Corporation (NYSE: CQ), an international communications, information and entertainment distribution services company headquartered in Bethesda, Md.
InfoTravel will be offered by Bell Atlantic Electronic Publishing Inc., part of the directory services group of the Bell Atlantic Corporation (NYSE: BEL). Bell Atlantic Corporation publishes over 240 telephone directories in the mid-Atlantic region. Bell Atlantic Corporation, based in Philadelphia, is the parent of companies which provide a full array of local exchange telecommunications services in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C. The corporation is at the forefront of developing a variety of new products, including video, entertainment and information services.
Bell Atlantic also is the parent of one of the nation's largest cellular carriers and has an ownership position in cellular properties internationally. In addition, Bell Atlantic owns an interest in Telecom Corporation of New Zealand and is the parent of companies that provide financial services in the U.S. and business systems services for customer-based information technology throughout the U.S. and internationally.