ThinkLink

ThinkLink is a Web-based service that will allow subscribers to send and retrieve voicemail, E-Mail, faxes, and pages from either a phone or the Internet. States ThinkLink founder Steve O'Neal, "Our web-based product will allow people the freedom to retrieve all of their messages using whatever is convenient at the time, their phone or computer."

With ThinkLink, users can listen to their E-Mail over the phone, or manage their voicemail messages via the Internet in much the same way they would manage their E-Mail, including saving and archiving. Says ThinkLink CEO David Ward, "You can use email software at work, your web browser at home and the telephone while on the road."

Included with the service are many common telephony features such as call forwarding, speed-dialing, and conferencing. In addition, the "follow me/find me" feature allows users to specify that calls placed to their ThinkLink number will be automatically routed to any phone number the user chooses; and ThinkLink subscribers are able to make long distance phone calls within the continental US for 5 cents a minute.

Local phone number service is available only in selected areas of California and Tucson Arizona; for these areas, the service is provided for $4.95/month - which can be deducted from ThinkLink long distance charges. For all other areas of the US, a 1-800 number is now available for a flat monthly fee of $4.95 that includes 100 free minutes of inbound calls at sign up. Additional time used beyond the 100 minutes is billed at 5 cents/minute.