“Voicemail is a big frustration for many people as it has simply been neglected by mobile carriers for almost two decades! Instead, they have concentrated on delivering innovation elsewhere (3G, mobile internet etc).
This is why I set up my business (HulloMail) as I felt that voicemail needed to catch-up with the times. Today, people expect voicemail to be as flexible as any other form of digital communication, and there’s no reason why this can’t happen.
Voicemail needs to be instant and also accessible where ever you might be, whether you’ve access to the web, email or mobile. Plus, it needs to be free and can be used across all carriers. This is how I believe people prefer to interact in today’s digitally-driven world. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Andy Munarriz
CEO, HulloMail
Friday, 26 March 2010
Monday, 22 March 2010
Goodbye Spinvox, Hullo HulloMail
At the end of last week, Spinvox users received a text message from the provider stating that it is no longer supporting individual users and in 7 days their accounts would expire.
Although the principal concept of the
Spinvox service was strong, the issues the firm faced with its core
technology in correctly transcribing messages were widely publicised.
When I launched HulloMail in 2008,
the key fundamentals were to deliver a new voice messaging service that
is not only instant. Our service delivers voicemail directly to the
mobile app, email or to your HulloMail account online so, with one
click, you can play it. It’s there in an instant.
With this, it’s not only quick but
you have the benefit of hearing the tone of the person’s voice, plus you
can keep the messages or even share them online. I wanted our service
to be flexible (and free).
Transcription is on our agenda and we
do plan to integrate this into our service later this year. However, as
transcription cannot be fully automated with speaker independent speech
recognition engines, 100% accuracy can only be achieved via human
intervention. This means charges would apply to customers, and so it is
not something we want to do right now.
However, for any SpinVox users out
there who are now looking for an alternative method of voicemail, I
would encourage them to download our app for free to see how it suits
their lifestyle.
And don’t just take our word for it.
Ewan MacLeod from Mobile Industry Review is already a convert; “I
swapped from SpinVox back in late July over to HulloMail. And I haven’t
looked back. I thought that I might miss the semi reliable
transcription of SMS from SpinVox. I reckoned that getting the ‘gist’
was good enough — and, for a long time, it was. But I’m not missing it
one bit.”*
Andy Munarriz, founder
HulloMail
Monday, 15 March 2010
Presenting the Hullo Family
We would like to introduce you to the Hullo Family and friends...
This family is very special to us at HulloMail as they have been created by us to help us communicate the great benefits of our service and highlight the new Hullo feature, which allows you to send short, voice messages to your friends for FREE. You can find out some more details about each character, find links to their Facebook page so you can become a fan, watch their videos and view their pictures.
Hugo Hullo
Hugo lives in NY city with his wife Hillary and his son Harry. He works as an accountant in a small company in Astoria. Originally from London, Hugo moved to the US in the 80s to be with Hilary. Hugo loves gadgets, and is always checking out technology blogs online for something new to add to his collection, He wouldn’t be without his BlackBerry Bold.
Hilary Hullo
Originally from Wisconsin, Hillary works as a maths teacher at a college in Brooklyn. She is married to Hugo and they have one son Harry. Hillary is crazy about fashion, and loves to shop in Manhattan, making Hugo crazy with all the shoes she buys. Hilary has an iPhone which Hugo bought for her last year.
Hilda Hullo
Hilda is Hugo’s mother. She lives in a nice residential area in the north of London with her cat Hef. She loves watching EastEnders, and never misses an episode. Hugo brought her a laptop for Christmas and she is never off the internet.
Harry Hullo
Harry is 16 years old and is a rather rebellious teenager, and just wants to party all the time. His favourite band is The Hulligans, and he doesn’t miss a concert. He also loves hanging out with his friends, Hitch and Herbert playing videogames. Harry’s mobile is a Hero, he likes the cool features.
Hero Hullo
Hero is a rather crazy dog, who is always looking forward to his next walk. He constantly plays with his pink ball and loves to bark at Holly, the parrot.
Hef Hullo
You can't get a more chilled out customer than Hef. His main highlight of the day is being fed and he loves to take a lovely long nap on the couch until he continues his sleeping on Grandma’s bed. Hef is a cat of peace (secretly he’s a fan of U2's Bono).
Holly Hullo
Holly the parrot is never silent and is always getting Harry into trouble by mimicking Hilary, Hugo and even Hero. She just won't stop talking and trying to be part of conversations.
Herbert and Hitch
Harry's best friends, they are completely obsessed with video games, and usually like to spend Saturday nights playing Call of Duty round at Harry's.
Heather
Heather is Hugo's PA. She is really lazy and takes every opportunity to slack off at work and read cheesy romantic novels. She is desperately looking for her ‘prince charming’.
The Hulligans
They are the coolest band in NY and have finally made it in Europe and Japan. Their latest song, Send a Hullo to my Heart, is a worldwide number one hit. They love to get closer to their fans and have a million+ fans on Facebook.
Become a fan on facebook
Watch episode one: the Parrot
Watch episode two: the Hulligans
Check out the family album
Hugo Hullo
Hugo lives in NY city with his wife Hillary and his son Harry. He works as an accountant in a small company in Astoria. Originally from London, Hugo moved to the US in the 80s to be with Hilary. Hugo loves gadgets, and is always checking out technology blogs online for something new to add to his collection, He wouldn’t be without his BlackBerry Bold.
Hilary Hullo
Originally from Wisconsin, Hillary works as a maths teacher at a college in Brooklyn. She is married to Hugo and they have one son Harry. Hillary is crazy about fashion, and loves to shop in Manhattan, making Hugo crazy with all the shoes she buys. Hilary has an iPhone which Hugo bought for her last year.
Hilda Hullo
Hilda is Hugo’s mother. She lives in a nice residential area in the north of London with her cat Hef. She loves watching EastEnders, and never misses an episode. Hugo brought her a laptop for Christmas and she is never off the internet.
Harry Hullo
Harry is 16 years old and is a rather rebellious teenager, and just wants to party all the time. His favourite band is The Hulligans, and he doesn’t miss a concert. He also loves hanging out with his friends, Hitch and Herbert playing videogames. Harry’s mobile is a Hero, he likes the cool features.
Hero Hullo
Hero is a rather crazy dog, who is always looking forward to his next walk. He constantly plays with his pink ball and loves to bark at Holly, the parrot.
Hef Hullo
You can't get a more chilled out customer than Hef. His main highlight of the day is being fed and he loves to take a lovely long nap on the couch until he continues his sleeping on Grandma’s bed. Hef is a cat of peace (secretly he’s a fan of U2's Bono).
Holly Hullo
Holly the parrot is never silent and is always getting Harry into trouble by mimicking Hilary, Hugo and even Hero. She just won't stop talking and trying to be part of conversations.
Herbert and Hitch
Harry's best friends, they are completely obsessed with video games, and usually like to spend Saturday nights playing Call of Duty round at Harry's.
Heather
Heather is Hugo's PA. She is really lazy and takes every opportunity to slack off at work and read cheesy romantic novels. She is desperately looking for her ‘prince charming’.
The Hulligans
They are the coolest band in NY and have finally made it in Europe and Japan. Their latest song, Send a Hullo to my Heart, is a worldwide number one hit. They love to get closer to their fans and have a million+ fans on Facebook.
Become a fan on facebook
Watch episode one: the Parrot
Watch episode two: the Hulligans
Check out the family album
Monday, 1 March 2010
HulloMail joins BlackBerry Alliance Program and releases latest version of BlackBerry App V1.1.2
London, UK – HulloMail™ (www.hullomail.com), voice communications innovator, today announced it has become a member of the BlackBerry ISV (Independent Software Vendor) Alliance Program. Participation in the alliance program deepens the product development and marketing relationship between HulloMail, which develops and markets a free, advanced voice messaging application optimized for BlackBerryรข smartphone users, and BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion (RIM).
“Membership in the BlackBerry Alliance Program demonstrates HulloMail’s continued commitment to growing the technical feature set specifically for BlackBerry smartphone users,” said Andy Munarriz, founder and CEO of HulloMail. “HulloMail’s recently enhanced app delivers everything that a smartphone user wants from a visual voicemail service, plus the added bonus of our powerful new two-way digital audio messaging capability, Hullos. We are receiving great feedback from our UK and US users and we’re excited to be working closely with RIM through the alliance program to make our advanced voice messaging service key to BlackBerry smartphone users.”
As a BlackBerry Alliance Select member, HulloMail can gain access to additional marketing, sales and technical resources on the BlackBerry platform.
For further information, visit www.hullomail.com or to download the latest release of HulloMail via BlackBerry App World™ go to: http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/search/hullomail.
-ends-
About HulloMail’s App for BlackBerry Smartphones:
HulloMail offers BlackBerry smartphone users a free visual voicemail application. Features include a centralised view and management of messages with push notifications, automatic downloading and Bluetooth® support, plus unique message syncing capabilities with email compliant accounts such as Gmail, MobileMe and Microsoft® Exchange that provides an enhanced level of integration, especially with Google contacts.
The free app also incorporates the new Hullo technology, enabling subscribers to send short digital voice messages to friends, family and colleagues without having to make a call. HulloMail believes that Hullos will dramatically change the future of voice communication as they allow users to converse back and forth with other smartphone users, domestically or overseas, if desired, for free.*
* Your mobile operator may charge for sending a Hullo if you exceed your monthly data allowance or you are roaming.
About HulloMail™
HulloMail™ develops and delivers smart voice messaging services for the consumer and enterprise markets. The technology is the fastest, easiest and most flexible way for mobile users to manage their voicemail from virtually any mobile device – and the only cross platform, carrier agnostic offering to deliver the power of free two-way digital audio voice messaging, Hullos. For more information, visit http://www.hullomail.com.
Follow HulloMail on the Web:
The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited.
###
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
Swine Flu? No, Feature-itis!
Last week I attended a planning meeting, where I heard the term Feature-itis! Not something you hear every day however it sparked a thought, could feature-itis indeed be the disease that culls numerous technology start-ups every year?
What's Feature-itis?
Feature-itis is a disease that's rife in technology start-ups, symptoms begin at an early stage and can be difficult to diagnose until it's too late. Many start-ups, in my experience, seem to begin around the idea/vision/capability of one person, this in itself is not a bad thing. We only need to think about the multi-million dollar empires built around Richard Branson's and Sir Alan Sugar's ideas and vision, for example. However the problem starts when this vision does not follow the basic marketing principle of creating and delivering goods and services that meet and exceed the needs and wants of the consumer. Creating a particularly acute case of Feature-itis as it means you are creating, building and deploying features, and in some cases products, that no clear demand has been established for.
One of the first symptoms is when you hear phrases like 'we can create/build/deliver that feature, so we should someone will want it, I would!" These words are enough to strike fear straight to the heart of any crusader against this pandemic as it means the occurrence of a nasty symptom, that of 'direction infection', where the suffers lose direction in what they are building and who their target audience is. Recovery is possible although rare.
Is there a cure?
The good news is feature-itis is treatable with the right marketing intervention, although the path to recovery can be a rough one. It's critical that the marketing influence in these start-up organisations realises the symptoms of Feature-itis and intervenes quickly to avoid further infection.
Is there a cure?
The good news is feature-itis is treatable with the right marketing intervention, although the path to recovery can be a rough one. It's critical that the marketing influence in these start-up organisations realises the symptoms of Feature-itis and intervenes quickly to avoid further infection.
The development of new products/services/features needs to be assessed not only in terms of internal capability but also, and in some cases more importantly, in terms of end-user demand and established behaviours.
Critically, the question needs to be asked 'does this development fit/compliment the organisation's core proposition?' if the answer to this question is No or at best maybe then market analysis should be conducted immediately and processes need to be developed to make sure a consumer/market need is identified before the product/feature is completed and presented to marketing to do something with.
Prognosis
Even though the future for a start-up with Feature-itis is not always bright and can lead, at worst, 'direction infection', this is not always the case. There are some instances were innovation has been disruptive enough to change behaviour, we only have to look at cases such as the iPhone, Twitter, MySpace etc. Twitter and MySpace are especially good examples as they did not have the large brand backing that the iPhone did. There is no doubt that there are exceptions to the rule, as with everything, however in order to avoid a Feature-itis outbreak in your start-up business you need to stock up on marketing expertise and vitamin C!
Monday, 8 February 2010
HulloMail™ takes its BlackBerry smartphone application to a new level with enhanced features and improved usability
New HulloMail application delivers push notifications, auto-message download and introduces ‘Hullos’ - HulloMail’s new two-way digital audio messaging technology
London, UK – HulloMail™ (www.hullomail.com), a developer of smart voice messaging services, today announced a significant enhancement to its popular voice messaging application for BlackBerry® smartphones. The application (version 1.1.1) is available in both the U.S. and U.K and offers BlackBerry smartphone users a streamlined, highly advanced voice messaging experience, which now includes push notifications and the automatic downloading of messages. The application is available free of charge on BlackBerry App World™.
“HulloMail is delivering an exceptional voice messaging product to the mobile marketplace with the release of our latest application for BlackBerry smartphone users,” said Andy Munarriz, Founder and CEO of HulloMail. “Now with the inclusion of push notifications and auto downloading of messages, BlackBerry smartphone users will experience significant enhancements to the HulloMail service – both from a performance and feature set perspective. This new version incorporates our innovative, new digital messaging capability. We invite BlackBerry smartphone users in the U.S. and U.K. to download HulloMail from BlackBerry App World for free to discover how our smart voice messaging technology can improve and streamline their digital communications.”
‘Hullos’ are short, audio messages that enable users to send and receive voice messages without ever having to make a phone call. They are free* to send, both domestically and overseas. Hullo technology is compatible across different mobile platforms allowing subscribers to easily talk back and forth for hours, never incurring a single voice call charge, even when exchanging Hullos between continents.
HulloMail subscribers are also able to quickly play a received Hullo as soon as it appears within their mobile app and will only need to know an intended recipient’s email address to send a Hullo.
In addition to the Hullo feature, push notifications and automatic message downloads, the enhanced application offers support for headsets and Bluetooth®. The service continues to provide subscribers with unique message syncing capabilities with email compliant accounts such as Gmail, MobileMe and Microsoft® Exchange.
*Your mobile operator may charge for sending a Hullo if you exceed your monthly data allowance or you’re roaming.
About HulloMail™
HulloMail™ develops and delivers smart voice messaging services. The technology is the fastest, easiest and most flexible way for mobile consumers to manage their voicemail from virtually any mobile device – and the only cross platform, carrier agnostic offering to deliver the power of free two-way digital audio voice messaging, Hullos.
Follow HulloMail on the Web:
The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited.
Thursday, 4 February 2010
Comments from around the Web
We are really pleased, as people seem to be getting as excited about our service as we are, with this is mind we thought we would put together some of the great comments and reviews we have had about the service over recent months, enjoy!
"I just got done setting up Hullomail and surprisingly I like this app A LOT. Very easy to set up, very good graphics and shows a picture next to whoever left you a voice mail or a missed call and very fast at receiving voice mails unlike VVM from Verizon which sometimes took an Hour to come through!" - mjbesen310, CrackBerry Forums
"Hullomail is really good...even sends you an email with a link to listen to your voicemail as an mp3. Definitely recommend to anyone [...]"- luckster28, Vodafone Forums
"The service is called Hullomail and it has been invaluable. It is a free of charge mobile service which enables recordings of voice mails to be emailed to my gmail or mobileme account. One of the best features is the ability to send a Hullo (voice mail) directly back to a person without having to phone them (Great just to reply to a question that needs more explaining than a txt). If you [...] want visual voice mail download the app and register for the service." - Kristian Toms
Some app store reviews:
"Just wanted to say thanks for making a brilliant app - I wasn't getting any voicemail alerts through Vodafone and unbeknown to me I had 4 voicemail - one of them very important. HulloMail! works just great and I left a post on the Vodafone eForum to advise people how good it is." - Chris, HulloMail user
"I just used your website steps to install hullomail onto my iphone 3gs. Simple, accurate, quick, easy - free. Well structured and thought out, pretty and it works superbly, quickly, no fuss. Great app and service thank you" - Neil, HulloMail user
"I have a BBTour and was disappointed it did not have visual voicemail.....Until I found this app. Its fabulous! It was a piece of cake to install and set up - I love it. A definite must have." - BlackBerry user
"Miffed you don't have visual voicemail on your iPhone? Get this. The email sync feature is great too - you receive an email with the voicemail message attached as a quicktime MP3 and, when you have read it, the corresponding message in the voicemail app is marked as read too. Don't know what it's like when roaming although they seem to have made provision for this." jtorange, iPhone user
"Allows me to manage my voicemails with ease, brillant!" yppirtos, iPhone user
"Brilliant! I went from PhoneFusion to this as this one has push voicemail and displays them in my notification bar. This certainly rivals the iPhone." Glenn, Android user
why not see if you agree with these reviews and try the service for yourself?
Download HulloMail for BlackBerry
Download HulloMail for iPhone
also available for the Android
"I just got done setting up Hullomail and surprisingly I like this app A LOT. Very easy to set up, very good graphics and shows a picture next to whoever left you a voice mail or a missed call and very fast at receiving voice mails unlike VVM from Verizon which sometimes took an Hour to come through!" - mjbesen310, CrackBerry Forums
"Hullomail is really good...even sends you an email with a link to listen to your voicemail as an mp3. Definitely recommend to anyone [...]"- luckster28, Vodafone Forums
"The service is called Hullomail and it has been invaluable. It is a free of charge mobile service which enables recordings of voice mails to be emailed to my gmail or mobileme account. One of the best features is the ability to send a Hullo (voice mail) directly back to a person without having to phone them (Great just to reply to a question that needs more explaining than a txt). If you [...] want visual voice mail download the app and register for the service." - Kristian Toms
Some app store reviews:
"Just wanted to say thanks for making a brilliant app - I wasn't getting any voicemail alerts through Vodafone and unbeknown to me I had 4 voicemail - one of them very important. HulloMail! works just great and I left a post on the Vodafone eForum to advise people how good it is." - Chris, HulloMail user
"I just used your website steps to install hullomail onto my iphone 3gs. Simple, accurate, quick, easy - free. Well structured and thought out, pretty and it works superbly, quickly, no fuss. Great app and service thank you" - Neil, HulloMail user
"I have a BBTour and was disappointed it did not have visual voicemail.....Until I found this app. Its fabulous! It was a piece of cake to install and set up - I love it. A definite must have." - BlackBerry user
"Miffed you don't have visual voicemail on your iPhone? Get this. The email sync feature is great too - you receive an email with the voicemail message attached as a quicktime MP3 and, when you have read it, the corresponding message in the voicemail app is marked as read too. Don't know what it's like when roaming although they seem to have made provision for this." jtorange, iPhone user
"Allows me to manage my voicemails with ease, brillant!" yppirtos, iPhone user
"Brilliant! I went from PhoneFusion to this as this one has push voicemail and displays them in my notification bar. This certainly rivals the iPhone." Glenn, Android user
why not see if you agree with these reviews and try the service for yourself?
Download HulloMail for BlackBerry
Download HulloMail for iPhone
also available for the Android
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