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COMPUSERVE SETS ITS SIGHTS ON CORPORATE INTERNET USERS
InfoWorld 25-OCT-97 By Rebecca Sykes
CompuServe last week announced an online product targeted at business Internet users.
The offering, called C from CompuServe, will combine CompuServe's features, such as its forums, in new ways to appeal to Internet-savvy business users who require different functions from the Web than consumers, according to Bob Kington, executive producer of CSi, the company's online service.
The Internet "is great for surfers; it's not good for busy business people," Kington said. Business people "want to get on, get their information, and get off [of the Internet]."
C for CompuServe will assist them in doing so by packaging CompuServe's assets in new ways. Instead of following the model of CSi, the company's current online offering that gives paying subscribers full access to all forums and other CompuServe resources, C will offer access on three levels.
* The Guest level will provide free, read-only access to CompuServe's 500 forums to all Web users. Guest-level users also will have access to forums' reciprocal links to thousands of Web sites selected for their relevance to the forums' topics.
* The Member level will operate on a pay-per-transaction basis to provide access to hundreds of research databases. Users enter their credit-card information online once and then are charged small amounts for functions they perform.
* The Subscriber level will offer three options. One will feature full interactive access to forums, including posting and receiving messages, and will cost less than $10 per month. The other two options, which will each be priced quite a bit lower, are a subscription to integrated e-mail, voice mail, fax, and pager services and a subscription to Computing Pro, a value-added service for computing professionals.
The service, free to current CSi users, will be available by year's end.
Asked whether CompuServe was acting prematurely given the impending acquisition by America Online of its online assets, Steve Conway, CompuServe vice president of corporate communications, said it was just moving ahead with plans it had before AOL made its bid.
CompuServe Inc., in Columbus, Ohio, can be reached at (614) 457-8600. America Online Inc., in Dulles, Va., can be reached at (703) 448-8700.
Rebecca Sykes is a Boston correspondent for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate.
Article Dated 24-OCT-97
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