Net Net: Dial Tone 2.0: The Phone Talks Back

The companies that are creating phone VOICE PORTALS say their technology will make the Net the ultimate answering machine. Or is it just more tech trash talk?

For all those true believers who are still certain that the Web is the greatest thing ever to come along, Mike McCue wants to set the record straight. "The Internet is man's second most important communications invention," explains the wiry, effusive former Netscape-browser team member. "The first is the phone."

Hello? Well, McCue, CEO of the pioneering Silicon Valley voice portal Tellme, which he co-founded with a few old foes from Microsoft, has a big stake in Alexander Graham Bell's 19th century wonder. Although McCue previously helped devise a cool Web-surfing experience, he's now betting that people want an easier...

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