Hate IVR menus? There’s an app for that…
Does your organization have an IVR, running a self-service application that maybe you’re very proud of? Well, it’s time for you to rethink your IVR strategy because IVR hatred has really gone mainstream with the release of Fonolo for iPhone. The app is free. And it has won awards.
According to Fonolo, here’s how the app can help you:
Tired of pressing 1 for this and 2 for that? We’ve mapped out the phone menus for hundreds of companies. Find the spot you need to call, then tap, and we’ll automatically connect you. Fonolo also organizes your history with each company, allowing you to save notes and listen to call recordings.
Do you call the same company and navigate to the same point over and over again? Bookmark that spot with Fonolo and next time you can easily repeat that call with a single tap. Your call history, notes and bookmarks can also be accessed via our website at fonolo.com.
Pretty neat application, especially the web integration. It’s almost like del.icio.us for IVRs.
Cisco beefing up its iPhone apps
Just more evidence that the Apple iPhone is making good headway into enterprise communications . RIM BlackBerry beware! Cisco will commit to enhance its existing iPhone app to feature voice-over-Wi-Fi capabilities:
Cisco sees voice over Wi-Fi for the iPhone as a less expensive way to communicate because it would eliminate the need to use cellular voice minutes when placing a call in a Wi-Fi zone, said Laurent Philonenko, general manager of Cisco’s unified communications business unit.
The upcoming version, to be called Cisco Mobile Voice, will also be free and is expected to be available by April. Among the new features it will offer is “shake to lock,” which allows a user to end a call with a simple shaking gesture of the phone, he said. Another, named “call preservation,” allows a phone call to stay connected, even if a user opens a different application in the iPhone.
The trend is that mobile devices will dominate enterprise communications in the coming years. Vendors such as Cisco and Avaya are leading the way in adapting to this trend with innovative mobile apps. Those who do not embrace the mobile device will be left behind, no matter how good your IP-PBX or IP phone is.
A beautiful thing: new Google Voice web app for iPhone
I was pleasantly surprised this afternoon to find out that Google Voice has a brand new web app for the iPhone, and it is a beautiful thing.
Kudos to Google engineers for making such a great looking and usable web app with HTML5:
Today, we’re excited to introduce the Google Voice web app for the iPhone and Palm WebOS devices. This HTML5 application provides you with a fast and versatile mobile experience for Google Voice because it uses the latest advancements in web technologies. For example, AppCache lets you interact with web apps without a network connection and local databases allow you to store data locally on the device, so you don’t lose data even when you close the browser.
It took a while, but I’m glad I didn’t go the jailbreak route just to get a third party native Google Voice app on my iPhone. This web app is very close to the performance and features of a native app.
Are you also a Google Voice user, be it iPhone or Android? Do you think it’s ready for prime time?
