RebelVox is a voice communications platform that aims to makes your voicemail function more like email. The technology is not yet available for consumers, but it will soon be shopped around to developers who may want to incorporate it in other apps. RebelVox’s technology will allow you to leave a voicemail for someone without actually making a call to the person. RebelVox’s mobile app will let you make a voice recording that is delivered as a message to your contact both through a mobile application and their email account. Your contact will be able to respond via another voicemail message, text message or email. You will be able to pick up a voice message from a friend while they are leaving it and speak to them live as well. RebelVox also has linking software built for the PC and Mac which will allow users to control the messages through their computer as well as their mobile phone. RebelVox’s technology can be woven seamlessly into most email accounts, including Gmail, Yahoo Mail, AOL and Outlook.
Basically, RebelVox wants to let consumers interact with voicemail much like they would an email – something that badly needs to happen, because it its current form, voicemail needs to die. Currently packaged as software, RebelVox is still exploring how it wants to sell the licensed (and patented) software and how much it would like to sell it for. The company’s co-founder, Tom Katis, says that RebelVox is in talks with both mobile phone companies and third party mobile application. The service contains features similar to Google Voice, SpinVox, and PhoneTag, especially the ability to control the interface through your computer. RebelVox is certainly no replacement for Google Voice, but offers some features that could be a nice add-on, such as the ability to send voice messages without making a call.
This video gives a comprehensive explanation of the technology and how it would work on a mobile device:
http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/s4B2SNev-8I&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0
The video shows the application being deployed on the iPhone, and it looks like it could be a really cool tool. It almost seems like it turns your phone into a walkie-talkie in some ways. Katis says that the software is ready to be deployed on any mobile device. The interface seems to work well on the larger screen of the iPhone but I’m not sure how user-friendly it would be on a smaller Blackberry or mobile device. Also, the concept of voice messaging isn’t new. Bubble Motion and Pinger are also allowing users use voice messaging over mobile devices. But Katis insists that RebelVox is different because it is a software, not an application, and it eliminates the wall between live conversations and messaging.
Another company that lets users direct their calls straight to voicemail is SlyDial.