Creating Connections

Creating Connections: Making Your Business Truly Multimedia

By Mary Wheeler

Remember when "multimedia" was the hottest term in the

computer world? Everyone wanted a system that was

multimedia-ready -- some were even called "multimedia"

systems, which usually meant that they had decent sound and

video cards.

Today, we are on the verge of having TRULY multimedia

systems -- systems that integrate and connect various ways

of communicating and sharing information. Businesses that

want to prosper (or perhaps even survive) in the future need

to be aware of these changes and should try to capitalize on

them as soon as they can.

What kind of changes am I talking about? Mainly the ways

that the Internet is combining with other communication

media to create products and services that hadn't been

thought of before. Here are just a few examples:

* You can now use the Internet to make local and long

distance telephone calls, as well as video conferencing. The

combination of these two media allows customers to transmit

more information than either could do by themselves.

* More and more merchants are integrating their physical

store locations and their Websites, so that the two aren't

separate selling points for the company, but rather work

together to make profits. These kinds of systems lead to

more sales and greater customer satisfaction.

* Innovative businesses are combining the power of the

Internet with the ease and popularity of television to

create new interactive media. With these systems, a person

who is watching TV can use a wireless mouse to find out more

about a product that he or she sees, including how much it

costs and the closest place to buy it, all based upon the

viewer's individual information and location.

These examples help show that the future of the Internet is

going to be based upon the innovative ways that it is

combined with media with which we are already familiar. As

business "entrepreneurs," we should keep a close eye on

these kinds of developments, so that we don't get left

behind.

Mary Wheeler takes the time to help her clients

understand the nuances of new Internet services and

technologies. To find out more about an exciting new

opportunity involving the first dot-tv company, please visit

her Website at http://www.121.tv/marywheeler or email her at

mailto:MaryWheeler@121.tv