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A recent article published by the New York Times (Jill Colvin, "You’ve Got Voice Mail, but Do You Care?", April 1st, 2009) announced the demise of Voice Mail and the rise of new technology and services such as Google Voice's Voice to Text and the iPhone's Visual Voice Mail.
According to the article, most people don't bother to listen to their voice mail messages and that the technology is obsolete.
Interesting article but Colvin's article misses the point: most of the new services she presents as examples of technology that is replacing voice mail are actually an evolution of voice mail technology.
Voice to Text, for example, which is included in Google Voice, is a voice mail message delivery mechanism that allows text transcription of voice mail messages. This means that you have to have a voice mail message to begin with. It is new technology that provides a better user interface to recover voice mail messages, precisely what Colvin points out is missing from voice mail.
Other examples in the article include caller id, which lets subscribers know who called them without having to listen to their voice mail messages. Most people are familiar with this service as provided by their mobile phones, but the voice mail platform provides an enhanced version of this service that covers additional scenarios that the device cannot: out of coverage, phone turned off, no voice mail deposit. The service is missed call alert and sits on top of the voice mail platform. Stand alone platforms are also available but they are integrated to the voice mail service.
Finally, visual voice mail is yet another service that sits on top of voice mail. Visual voice mail delivers voice mail messages to the handset through a mobile application that provides an inbox / e mail like user interface that allows the user to browse through the messages and select the message they want to hear.
The interesting question -and Colvin does address this- is how will mobile operators react to these new technologies? Mobile operators have introduced some of these new technologies including visual voice mail and voice to text but the fact is they have been slow to incorporate them.
Companies such as Comverse, Ericsson and Unisys have had services such as Visual Voice Mail, Voice to Text and Voice Mail to MMS for years but few operators showed serious interest until the iPhone was launched.
Voice Mail may be a mature technology but new technologies are breathing new life into this service that has been for many years the biggest VAS revenue generator for operators. Voice Mail has the potential to continue generating revenue for operators as it continues to evolve and adapt to new technologies: MMS delivery, e mail delivery, visual voice mail, converged messaging, web access, voice to text, missed call notification ... this and other variations can offer solutions for specific call scenarios and improved user interface that meet subscribers' needs.
We will continue to discuss and write about these options as well as the opportunities they represent for operators.

"Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some." - Robert Fulghum

The market for mobile applications has changed significantly in the last four years, when I first started working with these applications.

Four years does not sound like a long time but in this industry it means I have lived through several generations of devices and have seen some applications take off and many others fail.

This year, analysts expect mobile applications to really take off; it is very exciting to see the industry reach this point, so I thought I'd share my experience and what I've learned in the process.

Back then, Comverse was working on developing client applications that used new device capabilities to enhance network based services. These services included Call Completion, Mobile Instant Messaging, Address Book Backup, Mobile Email and Visual Voice Mail; each of them had different technical and commercial issues, but there were some challenges that we faced across the board for all mobile based applications.

One of the biggest challenges we had in bringing these services to market was having to develop a client application for different devices and a mechanism to download this application to the handset. We explored different options, including partnerships with SIM vendors and handset manufacturers.

The main challenge we faced, however, was a strong resistance from operators, who found working with mobile based applications too complicated. This was not only because of the issues related to developing client applications for a large number of devices; we also faced a huge challenge when it came to discussing revenue share for content based services.

Comverse has adapted to the market, eliminating some of these products from their portfolio. They have, however, been very successful with two of these services: Visual Voice Mail and Instant Messaging. Interestingly, Visual Voice Mail did not gain any traction with operators until Apple launched the iPhone with Visual Voice Mail as an embedded application.

Last year, Apple announced it was opening up its platform to developers. Apple has been hugely successful; the AppStore now has over 25,000 downloadable applications and is expected to become a $1 billion business by the end of 2009 (ChannelWeb).

This is relevant not only because of the revenue stream it represents but also because this move by Apple redefines the value chain and the power balance in the industry; technology vendors and developers now have access to the mobile market without having to go through an operator.

Like everything else in Appleworld, there are many restrictions in the AppStore that developers have pointed out; many are valid complaints. Apple, however, has managed to define a business model that works for all the parties involved, developers get a 70 percent cut of sales, Apple benefits from selling more iPhones and operators gain traffic.

Apple's model might not be to everyone's liking but after years struggling to define an agreement with operators I am happy to see that someone finally came up with a plan that works and effectively opens up the mobile market for everyone, not just the iPhone and AT&T. Earlier this year, everyone who's anyone announced at the Mobile World Congress week in Barcelona that they too will have an AppStore: BlackBerry Applications Center, Nokia’s Ovi Store, Windows Marketplace, Palm Software Store, Android Market and App Store for Symbian.

All I Really Need To Know About Mobile Applications I Learned from Apple.

Ok, not really. But when the iPhone was introduced at Macworld 2007, Apple changed the rules of the game and operators, technology vendors, content providers and handset vendors had to learn to play by these rules, whether we liked it or not.

So far, I like it.

Inspired by Robert Fulghum's "ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN". See his web site at http://www.robertfulghum.com/