It’s Friday night, you’ve got a blind date in an hour, and the last thing you want to do is make small talk with a stranger. You’d like nothing more to cancel, but there’s no easy way to do it. Text messages and emails are out of the question – they’re too cold and impersonal, especially with so little notice. So you call, hoping with every ounce of your soul that the message will go to voicemail. Of course they pick up after one ring, and a hopelessly clumsy conversation ensues.

Slydial, a new service from MobileSphere, is looking to offer users a way to avoid this situation. The service allows users to call any mobile line and go directly to voicemail, without the awkward conversation. Their phone will actually display a missed call from your original number, but they won’t have a chance to answer it.

To use the service, dial 267-SLYDIAL (267-759-3425), and enter your contact’s number (note: this isn’t a toll-free call). Slydial works with all US wireless carriers, and users can make the initial call from either landlines or mobile phones. And, if you really hate talking to people, you can make an account on the company’s website and use a contact list to leave voice messages from your computer.

Slydial seems like a service that is ripe for abuse, but it’s still great to have (I just saved it to my contacts list). Sure, it’s devious and impersonal, but at least it isn’t a text message. And voicemail is dead anyway, isn’t it?