I’m delighted to bring you the third part of the Future of Voicemail video series featuring Shawn Barber, Director of Product for Voice Messaging at global messaging provider, Acision.

To say Shawn is Mr Voicemail is to put it mildly. He lives and breathes the medium, although he was clear to point out that its no longer referred to as simply voicemail but instead, voice messaging. Which is good news. Because thats where Id like the medium to as well. Id like us to get away from the mail aspect (i.e. having to dial in to retrieve messages in sequence) and move to some kind of messaging-based facility. But what does the future look like? Well, Shawn set out some rather stimulating points in todays video including discussing the possibility of simply providing operators with the building blocks to create their own voice messaging systems to fit any consumer scenario. So if you want the mobile operator to recognise that youre driving and thus it should pipe the voice messages down to your car stereo, no problem. Or if you want to be called with my voice messages as a matter of priority, no problem.

Id dearly like to see mobile operators offering something like this something better than just the same-old-thing.

Shawn did a super job of answering my questions and Im sure youll enjoy his perspective on the future.

Thank you very much for taking the time, Shawn!

Here’s the video:

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Just a reminder, view the preceding episodes in the series here:

- Part 1, Olivier Sichel of Sofinnova Ventures
- Part 2, Tim Rea of ePlanet Ventures

Related posts:

1. Episode two of the Future of Voicemail Series is in the can!
2. The Future of Voicemail Video Series – first episode in the can!
3. The Future of Voicemail Video Series: Introduction

Welcome to the first in the series of videos exploring the Future of Voicemail, supported by visual voicemail experts HulloMail.

I’m delighted with the feedback we’ve had from part 1 of the Future of Voicemail Series featuring Olivier Sichel of Sofinnova Partners so I’m delighted to bring you part 2.

Today’s episode features Tim Rea of ePlanet Ventures discussing his pain points with voicemail as it stands and the future of the medium. I hope you enjoy…

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Welcome to the first in the series of videos exploring the Future of Voicemail, supported by visual voicemail experts HulloMail.

I got my first mobile phone in September 1996. I purchased it from a hovel opposite the Virgin Megastore on Oxford Street, London. After I got the handset home, the first thing I did with it was set my voicemail. I’m willing to bet it’s one of the first things you do too, whenever you’ve activated a new phone connection or joined a new company and been assigned a phone. Voicemail is an entirely ubiquitous service, provided free or inclusive for many.

Voicemail sits in the background. The vast majority of users don’t think twice about it. We use the word daily. We receive and send voicemails daily. Yet its one of the most overlooked essential requirements of today’s mobile (and landline) telephone functionality. Ever been annoyed when you’ve tried to leave a voicemail and got a ‘mailbox full’ error? Yeah. Or when you call someone and the line just rings-and-rings because, for whatever reason, voicemail isn’t active? Have you ever been abroad and phoned your friend/partner only to get their voicemail and realise that even though the call didn’t complete, you’ve been charged a pretty penny for the privilege?

And from a commercial viewpoint, what does it take to deliver voicemail services to 20 million customers on a daily basis? Why do we still need voicemail? Is a voicemail box with 10 slots simply ridiculous or a necessary restriction ? And what’s coming next? What innovation should we expect to see in the near term and beyond?

It’s these issues, questions — and more — that I intend exploring with this series.

Our first thought leader is Olivier Sichel, Partner at well-known European Venture Capital firm, Sofinnova Partners. I was particularly interested to see what he’d have to say, given his tremendous fixed and mobile experience. Prior to joining Sofinnova, Olivier was Chariman of Wanadoo, the 6.5 billion internet and directory giant. So he knows a thing or two.

Over to Olivier — here’s the video:

Thank you for taking the time, Olivier!

I hope you enjoyed the first episode! I aim to bring you the next video in the series — Tim Rea of ePlanet Ventures — next week.

HulloMail’s support has enabled me to produce this series and to help toward keeping the lights on here at Mobile Industry Review. Therefore I would very much appreciate it if you’d take the time to familiarise yourself with the company’s services and perhaps download their app and check out their services. Their app available on iPhone, Android and BlackBerry — but it’ll also work on any handset at all.

The Future of Voicemail Video Series is coming shortly to Mobile Industry Review.

For a long time I’ve been pondering the possibilities of the medium of voicemail. For years it’s been overlooked. We all rely on it daily, yet I’m sure hardly any of us give it more than a cursory glance once every few years. For such a critical service, I’ve found it really strange that, on the face of it, the innovation — aside from a few outstanding players — appears to have ground to a halt back in 1995.

I do remember that various operators here in the UK used ‘free voicemail’ as service feature. Long ago, though, I stopped worrying about the cost of voicemail. I just… well at some point, as far as I can remember, it just became free. Or it was added into my ‘minutes bundle’. I confess that I can’t actually tell you if Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile or anyone actually charges for voicemail service anymore.

Whilst it’s a ubiquitous service that (prior to getting her iPhone), even my mother understood, it’s time we saw some innovation. Surely the infrastructure now exists to allow mobile subscribers to go beyond the now-standard 10 voicemail limit? Why did Vodafone and Orange duck out of the visual voicemail issue with iPhone and decide to lumber their iPhone customers with an analog version? Whither transcription and how much of a benefit is that beyond the specific requirements of certain business users? Why don’t mobile operators offer subscribers the ability to get emailed copies of their voicemails? How many people actually use voicemail on a daily basis here in the UK and beyond? Is voicemail still a killer app? Was it ever? What’s next in the field of voicemail? Who’s doing good work, who’s really innovating, who are the companies to watch?

It’s these questions and more that I hope to answer through the upcoming Future of Voicemail Video Series.

The format is this: I will be interviewing 5 leading minds in the mobile and technology field on camera over the next few weeks. I’ll be asking them to comment on the history, the background to the industry, the technology in use today and to speculate on what they see as the next steps for the medium. I aim to bring you one video each week, starting in the next few weeks.

Bringing these kinds of features to the site is something I’ve always wanted to do — but it’s quite a logistical challenge to do so, both from an organisational and filming standpoint. I approached a few companies to help me produce this series — and I’m delighted to thank Andy, Jane and the team at HulloMail for agreeing to help cover the production costs for the series. Thank you HulloMail.

If you haven’t tried out the service, by the way, do check it out — free — at www.hullomail.com.

Right then, standby for the first video interview. If you’ve any questions, drop me a note: ewan@mobileindustryreview.com.