Indian network Vodafone Essar has launched a Voice SMS service in 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 $0.01) per minute. Listening to the Voice SMS for the first time is free of charge. Subsequent retrieval of a Voice SMS is charged at 75 paise per minute. Replying to and forwarding a Voice SMS will also be charged at 75 paise.
The Voice SMS service is available to both pre-paid and post-paid subscribers. Vodafone Essar has brought the service to market using the Voice SMS solution from Kirusa, a global vendor of Voice SMS and developer of mobile value-added services.
The new service enables Vodafone Essar subscribers to send Voice SMS messages to each other in their own voice, rather than by typing. The service does not require any special handsets, or handset settings. To send a message, the subscriber simply dials * and the mobile number of the person to whom he wishes to send the message to, speaks for 30 seconds and disconnects. If the recipient is a Vodafone subscriber, he will receive a text notification and can dial *0* to hear the message. Old messages can be retrieved by dialing *1*. Users also have the option of replying, forwarding, saving or deleting the messages. Subscribers who are not on the Vodafone network will get a text notification with an embedded DirectListen number which, when dialled, plays back the message. The message recipient can choose to reply after listening to the message.
Vodafone subscribers will pay 75 paise per minute (approximately USD 0.01) to send a Voice SMS.
We are excited to work with Vodafone to bring Voice SMS to its subscribers across India, says Taranjit Singh Batra, VP Sales at Kirusa. I am sure that with Vodafone entering this market, both the usage and subscriber awareness will accelerate, leading to increased ARPU and incremental revenues.