VoxLib, Skype Partner on Mobile Voice IM

VoxLib this week launches what it said is the first-ever voice IM mobile application for the mass market. Users of the application will be able to use their mobile phones to make long-distance calls to PC users that subscribe to IP voice services such as Skype.

CEO Stephane Marceau explains that users can visit the VoxLib site to download the application software to their PCs. Then, when those same users call in to their SkypeIn number from a mobile phone, they automatically are recognized, and the application launches to enable them to call friends on their VoIP-enabled PCs. “It works with any of the 2.2 billion cell phones on the planet,” said Marceau, adding that a couple thousand Skype users have already preregistered for the application software.

Subscribers save money by being able to make international long-distance calls at a fraction of what they would cost over standard cellular connections, said Marceau. “It doesn’t cost you a dime of mobile long-distance,” he said, “so now the savings is humongous.”

Skype, the first to support this VoxLib application, benefits by driving more traffic on its network, and thus more user demand, Marceau added. And although the application will initially be offered for free, VoxLib will eventually benefit by offering specialized IM features for which it expects to charge, he continued.

Marceau said he believes IM will become the hub of user communications across all devices, so it’s important to make users’ experiences seamless across PC and mobile phones. “Voice IM is definitely where the voice action is taking place,” he said. While the cablecos and Vonage are getting a lot of ink for the VoIP services they offer, all of them together reach just 20 million residential subscribers using hard IP phones, he said. That’s dwarfed by Skype’s 125 million – and growing by 2 million per week – VoIP and IM subscribers, he said, adding that AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo! and various others offer IM as well.

In case you’re not familiar with voice IM, it’s basically IM with the ability to escalate the IM to a voice conversation via the PC.

VoxLib Inc. www.voxlib.com
Skype Ltd. www.skype.com

Share this article: Email, Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Yahoo!MyWeb, Windows Live Favorites, Furl
Add this article feed to: RSS, My Yahoo, Newsgator, Bloglines

Read Comments [0]