AT&T EO Expands Retail Availability
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — December 30, 1993 — EO Inc., developers of the AT&T EO Personal Communicator, and Office Depot Inc., the largest office products superstore chain in North America, have signed a national sales agreement enabling Office Depot to sell AT&T EO Personal Communicator products at all of its 351 locations in the United States and Canada.
''Office Depot is proud to offer our customers a product as exciting and cutting edge as the AT&T EO Personal Communicator,'' said Gary Schweikhart, public relations manager of Office Depot Inc. ''We believe that the AT&T EO Personal Communicators give our customers the enhanced productivity and communication capabilities they've been asking for. They are now available in one incredible handheld device at Office Depot's every day low prices.''
To prepare Office Depot's new Business Market Sales Specialists to sell the AT&T EO Personal Communicators, EO trained more than 500 Office Depot sales personnel over a two-week period in early December. Office Depot staff members went through a full eight-hour day of product and sales training.
To further support the personal communicator category, Office Depot is carrying a full suite of third-party software applications, including PenMagic Letter Express, aha! InkWriter, Notable Technologies Mobile Access and Pensoft Perspective Business Edition.
All Office Depots have been outfitted with a fully functioning demo model of the AT&T EO Personal Communicator, as well as with a newly designed EO point of purchase display. The retail display features interactive demonstration software that affords shoppers hands-on demos of the machine. Office Depot is also supporting the roll-out with an ad campaign that will reach an estimated 30 million readers.
''EO is very pleased to be working with Office Depot,'' said Bob Silver, EO's director of channel sales. ''Office Depot takes a long-term view of the future of mobile communications and has begun taking the right steps to be a leader in the sale of these products. They've hired great sales people and have developed the infrastructure necessary to support them, including the ability to activate cellular accounts on a national basis. We view Office Depot as a long-term partner in EO's future.''
AT&T EO Personal Communicators are devices that put fax, electronic mail, cellular phone and personal computing capabilities into the hands of mobile users.
In June 1993, AT&T purchased a majority in EO Inc. On Aug. 13, 1993, AT&T announced the intention to merge EO Inc. and GO Corp. into a single company with the technologies to deliver the platform of choice for Personal Communicators. This represents a major step toward creating a new standard for this emerging market, offering customers compelling communications-oriented products.
EO Inc., headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., was founded in 1991 by AT&T; Palo Alto, Calif-based venture capital firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers; Matsushita; and Marubeni. The partners contribute technical and marketing expertise and funding. In addition, EO has a strategic partnership with Olivetti, Europe's leading computer manufacturer.
NOTE TO EDITORS: EO and the EO logo are trademarks of EO Inc. All other products or brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
CONTACT:
Office Depot
Gary Schweikhart, 407/265-4399
Access Public Relations
Sharon Miller or Nicol Davis, 415/904-7070, X 272-281