[January 11, 2005]

Voiceglo�s Been Busy

BY DAVID R. BUTCHER

Voiceglo, a global communications and networking company headquartered in Florida, has been busy these past few months, and I mean busy -- as busy as the editors of TMC’s publications; as busy as iPod-sellers during the Christmas holidays; as busy as the Mets’ and Yankees’ recruiters and deal-makers; as busy as CBS News’ fact-checkers after “Rathergate”; as busy as Jude Law (whose quantitative equivalent of 2004-released movies was that of your average porn star’s); as busy as Anna Nicole Smith’s nutritionist.

Voiceglo’s been busy --

GloConnect Consolidates IM, Turns IM Into Web-based Phones

To begin, those of you with numerous instant messaging platforms -- any combination of AOL IM, Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger and ICQ -- so that you can conveniently communicate with friends or co-workers who don’t use the same platform as you, there’s good news: It may no longer be necessary to keep track of your different screen names and passwords or to take the time to open each messenger system to see which of these friends/co-workers are online at the time.

Voiceglo has announced the release of a beta version of an application that consolidates the aforementioned four most popular instant messaging platforms available. The application, GloConnect, enables more than 600 million instant messenger users to text message, voice message and phone one another across platforms.

Uniting all instant messenger networks, users are able to continue using the same interface they are most comfortable with. This means that if one person uses AOL Instant Messenger (IM) and his or her friend or co-worker uses Yahoo Messenger, they can message back and forth with one another using each’s preferred platform.

Additionally, Voiceglo added real telephone service to the application, allowing users to make and receive calls to/from any phone worldwide. Free peer-to-peer calls may be placed to other GloConnect users.

Click-to-Call Allows Immediate Dialing of any Number on the Web

The company also debuted a significant feature for its Web- and PC-based applications GloPhone and GloConnect. (GloPhone enables users worldwide to talk globally for free via a broadband or dial-up Internet connection; it comes with an area code and a phone number and the user need not live in the same place that the number originates.) The enhancement, called Click-to-Call, allows users to dial any number they see on a Web site in one step using Voiceglo’s browser-based telephone service.

This feature turns any phone number listed on a Web site into an active link, allowing GloPhone and GloConnect users to place their cursor over the desired phone number, to then click their mouse, immediately making a phone call to the listed party. The application dials the number within seconds, allowing users to participate in a phone conversation directly from the computer.

New National TV Spots

Voiceglo also launched a national television direct response advertising campaign, to expand into this new year, to promote consumers’ use of GloPhone. The company had tapped its co-subsidiary, SendTec, to both develop and execute a major advertising campaign to increase customer awareness and adoption of the Web- and PC-based phone solution service.

The “first-of-its-kind campaign” began airing on Nov. 22, 2004, and features an initial media schedule of cable and broadcast networks, networks that include MTV2, VH1, Comedy Central, Fox News, FX, Fuse, the National Geographic Channel and TV Land. The campaign is comprised of a series of :60 and :120 TV spots to offer a free trial of Voiceglo’s GloPhone VoIP service, as well as a complimentary earbud that can be used with the phone service.

Expanded Reach Throughout the U.S. and Canada

And finally, Voiceglo announced that 31 area codes are newly available for GloPhone customers to obtain in the United States, as well have 14 area codes throughout Canadian territories been added. With this expansion, more than 219 area codes across the United States (in more than 42 states) and 14 in Canada (in six territories, covering 61 percent of the country’s population) are available to users worldwide.

In just over a month, Voiceglo grew its proprietary Web- and PC-based GloPhone network from 1.8 million users to more than 2.7 million users. With few signs of slowing down, the company has hurled itself into this new year with a bevy of enhancements and expansions.

David R. Butcher is assistant editor for Customer Inter@ction Solutions Magazine.

Purchase reprints of this article by calling (800) 290-5460 or buy them directly online at www.reprintbuyer.com.

Respond to this article in our forums!