In TouchTone with Greenport
By Julie Lane

GREENPORT--If you're visiting Greenport, grab your cell phone and, for a $5 investment, take a TouchToneTour of the village. The tour is the brainchild of entrepreneur and village summer resident Steve Bull. Beginning Saturday, the new technology will enable visitors to purchase a password, good for 24 hours, that allows them to dial a toll-free number for site-specific information as they tour the village. Various downtown sites will display a number that users enter into their cell phones to hear about that location.

The tour includes about 45 minutes of information, but it will take the average tourist at least four hours to move from site to site and hear about each stop. The package includes a village map, an index of sites, responses to frequently asked questions and, of course, the password.

The idea came to Mr. Bull last year when he began his own visit to sites around the village, equipped with a copy of the Architectural Tour Guide. It struck him that the tour guide wasn't easily available and, given the technological advances in interactive wireless systems, that he could make the information accessible to a wider circle of visitors.

Mr. Bull's company, Cutlass Inc., developed the technology over a six-month period. The Greenport Business Improvement District (BID) encouraged the project, which makes the village the test site for what could become a series of TouchToneTour programs for various areas around the country.

The $5 price is intended to attract users so Mr. Bull can get feedback on how the system is working. "At the beginning, we need to really discover what works," he said. By encouraging user feedback, he hopes to perfect the system and assure that it's totally user-friendly.

Visitors can dial in to learn about history, architecture and local folklore as they roam the village.

The architectural section will help them understand the physical development of the village and its buildings, said Mr. Bull. The history section will bring Greenport's rich heritage to life with stories including George Washington's afternoon at Booth's Inn, Walt Whitman's summers with his sister and slave Kedar's revenge.

Mayor David Kapell has provided statements about Greenport's future and the development of Mitchell Park. Other tour attractions include the historic Mary E; Long Island's only Coast Guard-approved electric water vessel, Glory; the East End Seaport Museum; the Railroad Museum; the skatepark; and Greenport Village Cinema, where movies were first shown in 1915.

"TouchToneTours will provide yet another innovative means for visitors to enjoy the Village of Greenport," said the mayor. "Steve Bull's use of modern cell phone technology is in perfect harmony with our efforts to enhance Greenport's reputation as a progressive community."

Tour kits will be available at S.T. Preston & Son. Mr. Bull is currently working to secure commitments from other downtown merchants to carry the kits. And he's depending on fliers placed at local motels, inns and information centers to spread the word.