Microsoft is launching a new campaign to pluck away the disaffected from America Online's 34 million-strong subscriber base.
The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant will use an application called TrueSwitch, developed by New York-based Esaya, as the main weapon in what it considers its most aggressive attempt to date to close ground between AOL and its own MSN service. TrueSwitch automatically transfers all the information from someone's AOL mailbox, address book and calendar services into MSN Internet Access, Microsoft's ISP.
Microsoft's switching campaign specifically targets the many AOL services that people depend on. One of the main reasons people keep their Internet service provider accounts is because they don't want to abandon their e-mail accounts. Other applications such as calendars and address books are meant to keep people on AOL services for longer periods of time and to more consistently lure them back.
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