Description

Whogle is a universal description standard and technology which can be applied to describe any entity (people, documents, products, etc.). It works in any environment, real or virtual, in which matching has to be performed according to very precise criteria or descriptors in a flexible, natural, intuitive but nevertheless standardized way. Because these descriptions are made voluntarily with a specific need in mind, they are a lot more accurate and precise than any other types of preformated questionnaires filled to gather customer or personal information.

With Whogle applied to peer-to-peer telephony, people will just have to "dial" a description of what they are looking for, and they are connected to people that match.

The Next Relational Tool

Most directories do not provide and manage information concerning the added value that we all need to share in looking for persons and other entities, since doing so would constitute an overly-complex process due heterogeneous data. Consider...

• Company directories, which usually do not include employees' competencies, and certainly not those that are unrelated to their current role;

• The White Pages, which contain only names and addresses but no indications of personal interests;

• The Yellow Pages, which indicate professions and areas of practice but nothing else. (How can one find a doctor who speaks English or an automobile repair service open on Sundays?)

Case Scenarios

Case 1: Yellow Pages

Yellow Pages from most countries are stuck into old centralized databases processes of collecting and organizing information. From the end user perspective, most searches are limited to 2 criteria: a place and a professional activity.

This approach is not because of technical limitations but because of two cultural ones:

• The Yellow Pages come from a world of printed information (is keeping the name Yellow Pages only a brand strategy?)
• The current business model is based on a centralized industrial approach?: information is put online after the customer has filled in a pre-structured form. The more visible he needs to be, the more he pays.

If Yellow Pages worked on a peer-to-peer approach this would be a complete new business opportunity that would show up. (Let's bet that if they don't react quickly enough they are dead in a near future because replaced by more performant players.)

With the Whogle technology, any professional or company would be able to create rich profiles because it would be their interest and it would be simple. Examples: A vegetarian restaurant opened all night where they speak Spanish, A pediatrician specialized in respiratory disease, An independent mechanic specialized in Honda motorbikes, A supermarket that sales Miele washing machines, etc.

It is a peer to peer approach. Each registrar creates and manages his own profile and adds as many items as needed to show more added value and specific attributes.

Potential players

Yellow Pages, telcos, ISPs

Business model

Based on profile complexity. The more complex the profile, the higher the cost (there could be a free incentive basic registration). Mobile services will also generate subsequent revenues when providing realtime mobile matching. The decentralized approach cuts down information collecting costs as well.

Case 2: Don’t Travel Alone

For x% more of the ticket price from the airline or train company, you can create your profile online and be seated with the people who match the most with it in the airplane. This service is interesting on long distance trips: you rather want to be seated near an interesting person.

Potential players

Airline companies, train companies, travel agencies, reservation companies

Business model

A % of the ticket price or a flat price.

Case 3 – Mobile real time matching services

Sarah is a single. She has created a profile – or Digital Self – to exist as a person on the internet. Her profile mentions the following things:

Her Nickname is “Calypso”

• She is a single looking for a man
• She wants a serious relationship
• She wants to create a family in the future
• She likes Classical music, one of her favorite composer is Scriabine
• She also like modern jazz but not free jazz
• She loves going outside
• She practices golf as a beginner
• She loves the animals, she has a cat
• She doesn’t smoke and doesn’t want to be with a smoker
• She loves Lebanese cuisine and she is an expert at it
• She has a master degree in Political Science in Vassar College (NY)
• She speaks French fluently
• She hates spiders and football
• She is from Missouri
• She looks for a man between 25-35
• He must have a good sense of humor
• Etc…

Tonight Sarah is available and would like to be open to some dating/meeting opportunities. She takes her mobile phone and sends an SMS that says: “Available 8-12pm tonight – downtown NYC”.

At 8:54pm, she receives a voice message. Here is the dialogue:

– Someone matching most of your need has been found. His nickname is Martinigin. Say “One” if you would you like to review his profile, “Two” to be directly put in touch with him, “Three” to leave him a voice message, “Four” to reject this match, “Nine” to listen to this message again.
– “One”
– Martinigin is 32, he is available now, he likes classical music, he is a single, he doesn’t smoke, (a list of details are given, Sarah can ask for more details if available ; some detail don’t match with Sarah’s needs but most of them are ok). Say “One” to be directly put in touch with him, “Two” to review his profile again, (etc)
- “One”

Then Calypso and Martinigin are put in touch together directly by phone. Martinigin receives a similar interactive message from the voice server asking if he accepts to be put in touch with Calypso. If both of them are okay for a direct voice contact, the system connects them. The next part of the story belongs to Calypso and Martinigin in real life. They may decide to meet or not to meet physically, depending on their phone conversation.

Similar real time mobile matches can be reproduced with thousands and thousands of different situations in everyday or corporate life: looking for a baby-sitter, a chess partner with the same ELO level who also likes classical music, a spiritual relationship with someone who practices the same religion in the neighborhood, a math teacher, a consultant in change conduct specialized in textile market, etc. Temporary situations can be also included in the scenarios: search for all the people who go to the Super Ball in your city, search for people who want to participate in a public event, etc.

Potential players

Telcos, mobile handset manufacturers, ISPs

Business model

Service subscriptions and usage charge for mobile services (both “Calypso” and “MartiniGin” will accept to pay 50 cents to review the contact profile and be put in touch directly).

Case 4: a PDA Application

Mr Smith (a management consultant) and Mr Perez (CEO of a software firm) meet for the first time. Mr Perez needs Mr Smith for building a new business unit. This is a professional meeting. Both of them have a PDA. They decide to beam not only their visit card, but also their professional profile. What is in their professional profile? Everything they want and need to share with their professional contacts. As an example:

Mr Smith	Mr Perez
Specialized in conflict situations, Former head hunter, Worked for Ernst & Young in management strategies, Masters in H.R. and psychology from Yale (1989), Speaks Spanish and German, Has worked in Spain, Plays golf with a handicap of 5, Married, 2 children, Loves sailing, Born in Poughkeepsie (NY)	PhD in Artificial Intelligence from Stanford (1994), Plays golf, handicap of 4, Black Belt Ju Jitsu, Was born in Alicante (Spain – Andalousia), Speaks Spanish, Former CTO of Contextus, California

When Mister Smith and Mr Perez beam their profile, relevant information is extracted and displayed on their PDAs. They can directly notice that:

• They both have a passion for golf with a similar level. It can be good for business relationship.
• One of them is from Spain, the other has worked in Spain, this can lead to an interesting conversation where they may discover other affinities.
• M. Perez discovers that Mr Smith has an expertise about conflict situations. He has a difficult situation to solve in his company but didn’t think of asking advice to Mr Smith until he read his profile.

This situation shows that when we all meet, there are many hidden attributes that we would like to share, it would be useful if the others knew about them. Having his Digital Self on his PDA and being able to beam it just like a visit card opens a lot of new possibilities. The system can automatically display the affinities, complementarities and any other complex rule-based extractions.

Potential players

PDA manufacturers, mobile phone manufacturers

Business model

This feature should be part of the operating systems. This new powerful service will attract new users and customers. The more users there are, the more CRM can be done by using the profiles (based on permission marketing).