Keeping up with the Joneses (01 May 2004)

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Keeping up with the Joneses (01 May 2004)
Senior technologist Mark Shackleton explained to sphere the thought behind SWORD, the small world directory: "Running concurrently with BT's internal online phone directory, where everyone's address, telephone number and organisational affiliation is stored, SWORD puts the user at the centre of his or her own universe, tracking down the people that are organisationally closest to them by learning about their social network. BT's online directory allows users to place calls automatically by clicking on a button beside a person's name, so we can tell who's been contacted each time a user completes a search. This allows us to update the user profiles according to the frequency and number of calls they make to them. So, to begin with, it's more or less the same as a standard online directory but, as you contact people, it builds up information that increases the chance of providing the right number at the top of the list next time."

Article URL: http://www.btexact.com/publications/features?doc=42989

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