Mobile Phone Users Favour Visual Voicemail over 'dial-up' Variety

The message from consumers in North America is loud and clear: When it comes to retrieving voicemail on mobile phones, it's sometimes inconvenient to dial in. Instead, voicemail should arrive in an email-like inbox on a handset's screen, where users can see who called and then click and listen to messages.

According to a survey of 1700 mobile phone users in the United States and Canada 81 percent are interested in visual voicemail. In fact, 68 percent would consider purchasing visual voicemail if their mobile provider offered it and nearly 40 percent would use voicemail more often. In both cases, carriers would have the opportunity to generate more revenues.

"The survey confirms a strong consumer preference for visual voicemail and suggests that it significantly enhances the entire mobile phone experience," said Gonzalo Zavala, associate director at Synovate, an independent market research firm that conducted the survey for Comverse, a leading supplier of software and systems enabling value-added messaging and content services, converged billing and active customer management, and IP communications.

According to the research, the popularity of visual voicemail, which millions of people already are using around the globe, stems from various features:

• Dialling in to retrieve messages is not necessary (60 percent);
• See all messages at a glance, together with such key message details as the caller's identity, time of call and length of message (54 percent);
• The simplicity of the service and the fact that it requires one click to retrieve messages (50 percent); and
• Review and handle messages in any order (45 percent).

"Visual voicemail is well on its way to becoming the standard for next-generation voicemail around the globe and this research shows how its mass market appeal would benefit both users and carriers," said John Bunyan, Comverse's Chief Marketing Officer.

"Comverse has more visual voicemail deployments around the world than any other provider," Bunyan said, "and we are working with carriers and the leading handset manufacturers to bring visual voicemail to even more markets."

Posted to the site on 1st April 2009