subject: Google To Introduce Google Voice Service To Travelers [print this page] According to various sources, Google will be experimenting with a new kind of service at the Orlando International Airport. According to the proposal given to the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (or GOAA), there would be faux-British telephone booths labeled "Google Voice" in the airport terminals. Travelers around the world would be able to make unpaid overseas phone calls after a certain number of minutes. Google would be splitting the ad revenue with the GOAA of approximately $125,000 for the first year.
With free WiFi hotspots in the airport, users will be able to see a home page that would let them interact with a Google Earth-style blueprint of the entire airport to find stores, restaurants, and services. Like Google Earth, users will be able to zoom in close enough to see 360-degree photo images. Flight information will also be available through this service. Flight schedule updates and latest tracks of flights would allow people to watch their incoming plane's progress.
The company also proposed new applications for mobile phones for airport-related information such as ticketing, flight schedules, maps and parking, as well as airport concessions deals.
The Internet search engine giant will be selling advertisements, likely to national and international businesses in addition to stores inside the airport.
If everything goes smoothly, the features could start rolling out this Fall, said Jim Rose, GOAA senior director of business services.
"It goes beyond just the link to the Internet," Rose said. "This really provides an opportunity for a test bed. We can try different approaches."
The is pursuing the two-year deal as a pilot project. That lets the deal to go forward without any requirement to seek competitive insight from other Internet companies.
Google wishes to roll out similar packages at other airports, said spokesman Andrew Pederson. But negotiation is still in progress, including in Orlando, he said.
For Google, it's an opportunity to show its brand and sell ads to a captive group of presumably rich travelers, some of whom may be waiting for hours.
"It's in the spirit of experimentation," Pederson said. "The high-level concept of this project: there are a lot of people [who have been] accessing [the Internet] in airports for a long time. How can we make that experience better?"
For most people, the Google connection would be found at the airport's Wi-Fi home page, and the Web pages that follow. Those pages would be branded with Orlando International Airport's logo.
Advertisements would be displayed, including Google ads. But there would be no pop-ups, and advertising would be "tasteful, non-offensive and family safe," according to Google's proposal.
"We'll be experimenting with a variety of things," Pederson said. "I expect we'll be tweaking and seeing what works best.
by: Steven Cassani.
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