Vodafone Launches Voice SMS for Subscribers

Launch on Kirusa Voice SMS Platform Enables Vodafone Subscribers to Send Voice SMS Messages Across India.

Vodafone Essar, one of India’s leading cellular service providers, launched Voice SMS service in 16 circles across India. With the launch of this service, any Vodafone customer can send a Voice SMS message to a mobile subscriber, anywhere in India, for a fixed price of 75 paise (approximately USD 0.01) per minute. The Voice SMS service is available to both prepaid and postpaid subscribers.

Vodafone has brought the service to market using the Voice SMS solution from Kirusa, the world’s leading vendor of Voice SMS and a leading developer of mobile value-added services.

It is easy to use; this new service enables Vodafone subscribers to send Voice SMS messages to each other in their own voice, rather than by typing. Voice SMS is an enhanced mode of communication enriched with the sender’s voice, language and emotions, and offers complete flexibility in retrievals.

Vodafone’s Voice SMS service does not require any special handsets, or handset settings. To send a message, a Vodafone subscriber simply dials “*” and the mobile number of the person to whom he wishes to send the message, speaks for 30 seconds and disconnects. If the recipient is a Vodafone subscriber, he will receive a text SMS notification and can dial *0* to hear the Voice SMS. Old Voice SMS can be retrieved by dialing *1*. He also has the option of replying, forwarding, saving or deleting the Voice SMS messages. Subscribers who are not on Vodafone network will get a text SMS notification with an embedded DirectListen(TM) number which, when dialed, takes them to the message directly. The message recipient can select to reply after listening to the Voice SMS.

Commenting on the launch, Harit Nagpal, Director Marketing and New Business at Vodafone Essar says, “We are delighted that our subscribers will now have another option of reaching out to their friends, family and business associates.” Kirusa has deployed its Voice SMS application, integrated with HP Opencall Media Platform, in the Vodafone network across India.

Erwan Menard, Vice President and General Manager of Communications and Media Solutions at HP, said “Vodafone Essar is building customer loyalty with this highly innovative service enabled by Kirusa and HP. The HP OpenCall Media Platform and Kirusa’s Voice SMS solution create a powerful combination that will help Vodafone deliver a rich communications experience for its millions of wireless customers.”

Taranjit Singh Batra, VP Sales of Kirusa said “We are excited to work with Vodafone to bring Voice SMS to its subscribers across India. I am sure that with Vodafone entering this market, both the usage and subscriber awareness will accelerate, leading to increased ARPU and incremental revenues”.