Email you just can't miss
Israel-based MailPush is banking on the fact that consumers don't have enough ways to reach out and touch someone.
MailPush recently introduced a new service, MailPush Express, that checks a user's ISP for email and pings his or her modem--even when it is not connected--to send a message to the computer screen indicating that there is new mail.
The company joins several other software companies in offering solutions that combine various communications services to ensure that someone is never out of reach.
The service works with any ISP offering POP3 protocol email. A similar service for non-POP3 email also is in the works.
MailPush and others already have introduced technology that allows users to be notified of their email by phone or pager. That technology actually is quite simple, and networking geeks have been getting paged by their email for years.
Zvika Eadan, CEO of MailPush, a BellSouth subsidiary, said the company's new product will appeal to more mainstream consumers, who increasingly want access to their email and want that access without having to go through a cumbersome login process on their computers.
"The service is to overcome the basic disadvantage of email today," Eadan said. "It's for a lot of customers that don't know when email arrives because email does not arrive to them. Our service is actively notifying them whenever they have a new email."
MailPush, which started up its international effort two months ago after having established itself in Israel last year, charges a monthly subscription fee for its services, based on which of the two services the user chooses.
"Email is such a beautiful vehicle for messages," Eadan said. "It's a pity when someone sends you an email you don't know about."