Just like email addresses, mobile phone numbers have become an essential part of a person’s identity. They stay with people over a period of many years, shifting across carriers and phones. As part of their identity, people like to communicate via their mobile phone number on their terms. For email, there are rules and filters that help to highlight important items. There are multiple clients across the web and other devices to allow people access to their email wherever they are. Many services exist that users can employ to enable smarter filtering and more access for their email address, but we have just started to see these types of improvements applied to mobile phone numbers.
Ribbit recently announced Ribbit Mobile, a service that enables users to have their phone calls be managed by Ribbit. Ribbit Mobile can ring multiple phones and record and transcribe voicemail. Google Voice enables many of the same features for its users. Both of these services use Conditional Call Forwarding to support existing phone numbers.
Conditional Call Forwarding is a feature of most telephone providers that enables users to have calls sent to another number if the original destination is unavailable, the call is declined, or is not answered. This would be useful for people who live or work in areas with weak or nonexistent cell coverage so that they could conditionally forward calls from their cell phone to their landline. The cell phone would ring several times, and if unanswered, then the forwarded phone would ring. Some carriers provide the conditional call forwarding service for free, while others still charge per call fees. Sprint has recently removed its per usage charge.
To set it up, users enter a carrier specific code into their phone to enable forwarding. Unanswered calls to the phone go to Ribbit Mobile, who then can ring any other phones the user has specified, including Skype numbers. Unanswered calls are sent to Ribbit’s voicemail, where they are transcribed and stored for future listening. Although currently in beta, it will eventually charge $30/month for the service.
Conditional Call Forwarding enables new functionality, but it has some drawbacks. The first is that the service doesn’t work on the first ring, but only after the phone isn’t answered. This can mean 6 or 9 rings before going to the service, which may be too many before for some callers hang up. The second is that users have to find and enter these codes into their phone to set it up, which is very unlikely for the majority of the population.
What users really want is something that just works with their phone as it is now. MediaFriends TXT enables users to send and receive SMS on their phone, PC and other devices, but doesn’t change the way they currently use their phone. Setting it up is as simple as signing up for the service with their carrier. Everything continues to work as it did on their phone and they now have access to SMS on any PC with a web browser. Better communication without the hassle.
We expect services like these, that enhance access or add intelligence, to grow in popularity as people incorporate more digital devices into their lifestyles. People will want to communicate from where they are and want help to manage the increasing volume.
Do you use conditional call forwarding or another service to give you better access to your mobile phone number? Do you think we will see the same shifts that occurred with email?
