SpinVox goes free in the UK

[...] is now a free service in the UK: The SpinVox website was updated earlier today to confirm that SpinVox Voicemail to [...]

[QUOTE]According to SpinVox; “if you are an existing paying voicemail to SMS customer - we will continue to deliver the service but will not charge you“[/QUOTE]

Interesting then that just today I was billed two premium texts for my voice to SMS service. One last charging blast before they make it free? Or breakdown in communication (ironic) between management and systems?

[QUOTE]According to SpinVox; “if you are an existing paying voicemail to SMS customer - we will continue to deliver the service but will not charge you“[/QUOTE]

Interesting then that just today I was billed two premium texts for my voice to SMS service. One last charging blast before they make it free? Or breakdown in communication (ironic) between management and systems?

“It’s worth noting that this promotion is for Voicemail to E-Mail transcription and not for the traditional Voicemail to SMS service that SpinVox usually offers.”

Pretty much useless then.

“It’s worth noting that this promotion is for Voicemail to E-Mail transcription and not for the traditional Voicemail to SMS service that SpinVox usually offers.”

Pretty much useless then.

Useful for anyone with e-mail on their phone!

Useful for anyone with e-mail on their phone!

It might be worth contacting their customer service dept to find out why this is!

It might be worth contacting their customer service dept to find out why this is!

Hi. Our apologies, we are currently in the process of moving all of our existing UK platform users over to being free and we hope to have that completed in the next few days. If you have any questions or queries please contact me and I will do what I can do to help.

Hi. Our apologies, we are currently in the process of moving all of our existing UK platform users over to being free and we hope to have that completed in the next few days. If you have any questions or queries please contact me and I will do what I can do to help.

Thanks for the clarification Matt

Thanks for the clarification Matt

Felt like the least I could do.

Felt like the least I could do.

“SpinVox have certainly pulled their act together in recent weeks”

Very funny.

Or, wait… are you really serious? I’d like some of that stuff you’re smokin.

So seriously, what has SpinVox done lately? What’s the business model for giving away service that “may be aided in the conversion process by those [expensive] QC agents”? What is the upside for SpinVox?

The upside must involve mobile operators, right? Maybe a flood of users will sign up for SpinVox and demand that operators make the service available! But Christina Domecq seemed to write off the U.S. and the U.K. markets (and kindly blamed her sales team in both regions) in Part 1 and 2 of her infamous interview with Robert Andrews, back in July:

>> Are carriers biting in the UK?: “I can’t figure that out either - maybe I need a new sales team in the UK, too!” [more SpinVox humour!] http://moconews.net/article/419-interview-christina-domecq-ceo-spinvox-pt-2-cashflow-positive-in-90-day/

You asked whether UK users will flood to SpinVox now that it’s service is free, despite the bad press. The more important big picture question for SpinVox is whether this will lead to UK mobile operators offering the service. Seemed doubtful to Andrews and Domecq during the interview a month ago. Seems much more doubtful now (despite your humourous claims that “”SpinVox have certainly pulled their act together in recent weeks”). Oh you guys are so funny!!!

“SpinVox have certainly pulled their act together in recent weeks”

Very funny.

Or, wait… are you really serious? I’d like some of that stuff you’re smokin.

So seriously, what has SpinVox done lately? What’s the business model for giving away service that “may be aided in the conversion process by those [expensive] QC agents”? What is the upside for SpinVox?

The upside must involve mobile operators, right? Maybe a flood of users will sign up for SpinVox and demand that operators make the service available! But Christina Domecq seemed to write off the U.S. and the U.K. markets (and kindly blamed her sales team in both regions) in Part 1 and 2 of her infamous interview with Robert Andrews, back in July:

>> Are carriers biting in the UK?: “I can’t figure that out either - maybe I need a new sales team in the UK, too!” [more SpinVox humour!] http://moconews.net/article/419-interview-christina-domecq-ceo-spinvox-pt-2-cashflow-positive-in-90-day/

You asked whether UK users will flood to SpinVox now that it’s service is free, despite the bad press. The more important big picture question for SpinVox is whether this will lead to UK mobile operators offering the service. Seemed doubtful to Andrews and Domecq during the interview a month ago. Seems much more doubtful now (despite your humourous claims that “”SpinVox have certainly pulled their act together in recent weeks”). Oh you guys are so funny!!!

Don’t be such a cock, you are perfectly capable of reading the rest of that line in which I say “SpinVox have certainly pulled their act together in recent weeks and seem to be following a strict company message…”. I was simply saying that they have pulled their act together with regards to their company message (which had previously been all over the shop) in that they now mention human QC agents regularly.

UK operators aren’t interested in SpinVox and I doubt giving accounts away for free will change that in any way.

Don’t be such a cock, you are perfectly capable of reading the rest of that line in which I say “SpinVox have certainly pulled their act together in recent weeks and seem to be following a strict company message…”. I was simply saying that they have pulled their act together with regards to their company message (which had previously been all over the shop) in that they now mention human QC agents regularly.

UK operators aren’t interested in SpinVox and I doubt giving accounts away for free will change that in any way.

Thanks for clearing that up, Matt. In which case, good news and I certainly don’t mind that I’ve been charged for this month - it all becomes a bit of a bargain from here on in! (and now feeling like a bit of a cock for my slightly acerbic comment above)

No, it’s fine Mark - entirely understand.

OK, I accept that the “SpinVox have certainly pulled their act together” reference was to the fact that SpinVox is disclosing that the privacy of messages might be compromised (although they say it in a pretty oblique way: “may wish to record a personal greeting and remind your callers that their voicemail to you may be aided in the conversion process by those QC agents”) and they leave it up to the message recipient to tell message creators that their privacy may be violated).

This is a step forward, but hardly evidence of a company that has “certainly pulled their act together.”

No, the company has made little progress stemming the tide of negative reports about its technology, finances, business model, privacy policy, leadership, public relations, etc.

But if you want to look at the narrow topic of its new program of offering free service to UK customers, do you really think this program is an indication that the company has “certainly pulled its act together”?

A commentator on this blog post (the one who called himself a cock, just before you called me one) seems to provide evidence that the SpinVox billing systems didn’t fully have their act together with this new program. And according to the second and third paragraphs of your article above, it seems like the customer service department and the marketing and PR and website departments did not have their acts together in coordinating the roll out of this program.

It’s pretty clear that Dan was only referring to the consistency of SpinVox’s external communications - not whether the approach was successful or if this policy is good business sense… and definitely not that this addressed the valid concerns that customers and investors have.

There certainly has been some confusion over the announcement and yes, add this to the list of PR problems SpinVox have had recently, but Dan’s just doing a (good) job of reporting this new development - don’t try and spin his words just to repeat the previous criticisms which have been well covered, not least by us.

These long and aggressive attacks are actually unhelpful - they dilute the valid and useful criticism others are making of the firm and add nothing new to the discussion. If you have something to say please come out from behind the anonymity and keep it on topic… otherwise it just looks like vitriolic ranting and allows the firm to dismiss all its critics under that banner.

[QUOTE]According to SpinVox; “if you are an existing paying voicemail to SMS customer - we will continue to deliver the service but will not charge you“[/QUOTE]Interesting then that just today I was billed two premium texts for my voice to SMS service. One last charging blast before they make it free? Or breakdown in communication (ironic) between management and systems?

[QUOTE]According to SpinVox; “if you are an existing paying voicemail to SMS customer - we will continue to deliver the service but will not charge you“[/QUOTE]

Interesting then that just today I was billed two premium texts for my voice to SMS service. One last charging blast before they make it free? Or breakdown in communication (ironic) between management and systems?

“It’s worth noting that this promotion is for Voicemail to E-Mail transcription and not for the traditional Voicemail to SMS service that SpinVox usually offers.”Pretty much useless then.

“It’s worth noting that this promotion is for Voicemail to E-Mail transcription and not for the traditional Voicemail to SMS service that SpinVox usually offers.”

Pretty much useless then.

Useful for anyone with e-mail on their phone!

Useful for anyone with e-mail on their phone!

It might be worth contacting their customer service dept to find out why this is!

It might be worth contacting their customer service dept to find out why this is!

Hi. Our apologies, we are currently in the process of moving all of our existing UK platform users over to being free and we hope to have that completed in the next few days. If you have any questions or queries please contact me and I will do what I can do to help.

Hi. Our apologies, we are currently in the process of moving all of our existing UK platform users over to being free and we hope to have that completed in the next few days. If you have any questions or queries please contact me and I will do what I can do to help.

Thanks for the clarification Matt

Thanks for the clarification Matt

Felt like the least I could do.

Felt like the least I could do.

“SpinVox have certainly pulled their act together in recent weeks”Very funny. Or, wait… are you really serious? I'd like some of that stuff you're smokin.So seriously, what has SpinVox done lately? What's the business model for giving away service that “may be aided in the conversion process by those [expensive] QC agents”? What is the upside for SpinVox? The upside must involve mobile operators, right? Maybe a flood of users will sign up for SpinVox and demand that operators make the service available! But Christina Domecq seemed to write off the U.S. and the U.K. markets (and kindly blamed her sales team in both regions) in Part 1 and 2 of her infamous interview with Robert Andrews, back in July:>> Are carriers biting in the UK?: “I can’t figure that out either - maybe I need a new sales team in the UK, too!” [more SpinVox humour!] http://moconews.net/article/419-interview-chris... You asked whether UK users will flood to SpinVox now that it's service is free, despite the bad press. The more important big picture question for SpinVox is whether this will lead to UK mobile operators offering the service. Seemed doubtful to Andrews and Domecq during the interview a month ago. Seems much more doubtful now (despite your humourous claims that “”SpinVox have certainly pulled their act together in recent weeks”). Oh you guys are so funny!!!

“SpinVox have certainly pulled their act together in recent weeks”

Very funny.

Or, wait… are you really serious? I'd like some of that stuff you're smokin.

So seriously, what has SpinVox done lately? What's the business model for giving away service that “may be aided in the conversion process by those [expensive] QC agents”? What is the upside for SpinVox?

The upside must involve mobile operators, right? Maybe a flood of users will sign up for SpinVox and demand that operators make the service available! But Christina Domecq seemed to write off the U.S. and the U.K. markets (and kindly blamed her sales team in both regions) in Part 1 and 2 of her infamous interview with Robert Andrews, back in July:

>> Are carriers biting in the UK?: “I can’t figure that out either - maybe I need a new sales team in the UK, too!” [more SpinVox humour!] http://moconews.net/article/419-interview-chris...

You asked whether UK users will flood to SpinVox now that it's service is free, despite the bad press. The more important big picture question for SpinVox is whether this will lead to UK mobile operators offering the service. Seemed doubtful to Andrews and Domecq during the interview a month ago. Seems much more doubtful now (despite your humourous claims that “”SpinVox have certainly pulled their act together in recent weeks”). Oh you guys are so funny!!!

Don't be such a cock, you are perfectly capable of reading the rest of that line in which I say “SpinVox have certainly pulled their act together in recent weeks and seem to be following a strict company message…”. I was simply saying that they have pulled their act together with regards to their company message (which had previously been all over the shop) in that they now mention human QC agents regularly.UK operators aren't interested in SpinVox and I doubt giving accounts away for free will change that in any way.

Don't be such a cock, you are perfectly capable of reading the rest of that line in which I say “SpinVox have certainly pulled their act together in recent weeks and seem to be following a strict company message…”. I was simply saying that they have pulled their act together with regards to their company message (which had previously been all over the shop) in that they now mention human QC agents regularly.

UK operators aren't interested in SpinVox and I doubt giving accounts away for free will change that in any way.

Thanks for clearing that up, Matt. In which case, good news and I certainly don't mind that I've been charged for this month - it all becomes a bit of a bargain from here on in! (and now feeling like a bit of a cock for my slightly acerbic comment above)

Thanks for clearing that up, Matt. In which case, good news and I certainly don't mind that I've been charged for this month - it all becomes a bit of a bargain from here on in! (and now feeling like a bit of a cock for my slightly acerbic comment above)

No, it's fine Mark - entirely understand.

No, it's fine Mark - entirely understand.

OK, I accept that the “SpinVox have certainly pulled their act together” reference was to the fact that SpinVox is disclosing that the privacy of messages might be compromised (although they say it in a pretty oblique way: “may wish to record a personal greeting and remind your callers that their voicemail to you may be aided in the conversion process by those QC agents”) and they leave it up to the message recipient to tell message creators that their privacy may be violated).This is a step forward, but hardly evidence of a company that has “certainly pulled their act together.” No, the company has made little progress stemming the tide of negative reports about its technology, finances, business model, privacy policy, leadership, public relations, etc.But if you want to look at the narrow topic of its new program of offering free service to UK customers, do you really think this program is an indication that the company has “certainly pulled its act together”?A commentator on this blog post (the one who called himself a cock, just before you called me one) seems to provide evidence that the SpinVox billing systems didn't fully have their act together with this new program. And according to the second and third paragraphs of your article above, it seems like the customer service department and the marketing and PR and website departments did not have their acts together in coordinating the roll out of this program.

OK, I accept that the “SpinVox have certainly pulled their act together” reference was to the fact that SpinVox is disclosing that the privacy of messages might be compromised (although they say it in a pretty oblique way: “may wish to record a personal greeting and remind your callers that their voicemail to you may be aided in the conversion process by those QC agents”) and they leave it up to the message recipient to tell message creators that their privacy may be violated).

This is a step forward, but hardly evidence of a company that has “certainly pulled their act together.”

No, the company has made little progress stemming the tide of negative reports about its technology, finances, business model, privacy policy, leadership, public relations, etc.

But if you want to look at the narrow topic of its new program of offering free service to UK customers, do you really think this program is an indication that the company has “certainly pulled its act together”?

A commentator on this blog post (the one who called himself a cock, just before you called me one) seems to provide evidence that the SpinVox billing systems didn't fully have their act together with this new program. And according to the second and third paragraphs of your article above, it seems like the customer service department and the marketing and PR and website departments did not have their acts together in coordinating the roll out of this program.

It's pretty clear that Dan was only referring to the consistency of SpinVox's external communications - not whether the approach was successful or if this policy is good business sense… and definitely not that this addressed the valid concerns that customers and investors have.There certainly has been some confusion over the announcement and yes, add this to the list of PR problems SpinVox have had recently, but Dan's just doing a (good) job of reporting this new development - don't try and spin his words just to repeat the previous criticisms which have been well covered, not least by us.These long and aggressive attacks are actually unhelpful - they dilute the valid and useful criticism others are making of the firm and add nothing new to the discussion. If you have something to say please come out from behind the anonymity and keep it on topic… otherwise it just looks like vitriolic ranting and allows the firm to dismiss all its critics under that banner.

It's pretty clear that Dan was only referring to the consistency of SpinVox's external communications - not whether the approach was successful or if this policy is good business sense… and definitely not that this addressed the valid concerns that customers and investors have.

There certainly has been some confusion over the announcement and yes, add this to the list of PR problems SpinVox have had recently, but Dan's just doing a (good) job of reporting this new development - don't try and spin his words just to repeat the previous criticisms which have been well covered, not least by us.

These long and aggressive attacks are actually unhelpful - they dilute the valid and useful criticism others are making of the firm and add nothing new to the discussion. If you have something to say please come out from behind the anonymity and keep it on topic… otherwise it just looks like vitriolic ranting and allows the firm to dismiss all its critics under that banner.

I am betting this is a cost cutting exercise - sending texts costs money - the cost of the service is obviously greater than what they are charging. So it looks like they are cutting their losses, moving everyone over to email which is a _lot_ cheaper for them.

Look forward to a free opportunity to test out the service. I believe this move and the publicity surrounding it will see many more UK users join the service; what I’m not seeing mentioned clearly is the fact that all free accounts will be charged after the end of december at £5 per month (the usual rate) so this is just a promotional period. If I like it I would consider subscribing…

[...] The Really Mobile Project » Blog Archive » SpinVox goes free in the UK thereallymobileproject.com/2009/08/spinvox-goes-free-in-the-uk – view page – cached spinvox_logo1 SpinVox have removed all charges for UK users of their Voicemail to E-Mail transcription service. Previously the service was charged at £5 per month. — From the page [...]

I am betting this is a cost cutting exercise - sending texts costs money - the cost of the service is obviously greater than what they are charging. So it looks like they are cutting their losses, moving everyone over to email which is a _lot_ cheaper for them.

I am betting this is a cost cutting exercise - sending texts costs money - the cost of the service is obviously greater than what they are charging. So it looks like they are cutting their losses, moving everyone over to email which is a _lot_ cheaper for them.

Wow! I disagree with most of this article and the SpinVox PR people blogging here. SpinVox certainly hasn’t gotten it’s act together, they have just brought in a new PR firm that has simply shut Domecq up. That’s why it now appears slightly more cohesive. Patricia Russo leaving is a big blow. The finances are still a bleeding mess and the high tech sweat shops are still a reality. And nothing changes the facts of the lies Domecq has been telling for the last 6-7 years.

Giving away the SpinVox service by offering to convert Voice Messages to e-mail will serve a purpose for SpinVox. They are obviously hoping that they will get more and more British Accents to try to computerize. They should be paying people to speak messages for them to build up their voice database. They still don’t give a hang about your privacy. They also want to increase their customer count, most likely for another round of funding and to put pressure on British Mobile Phone Companies to give them contracts.

Can’t you see through the spin? Don’t sign up for this and allow the violation of your privacy and the enhancement of their database with no real benefit to you.

And please remember, Domecq always has an angle that benefits her at somebody else’s expense. How many people are going to remember during the Christmas Holidays to cancel this service they tried for free? And I wonder if you will then be hooked into a contract?

You must watch them very carefully.

Look forward to a free opportunity to test out the service. I believe this move and the publicity surrounding it will see many more UK users join the service; what I'm not seeing mentioned clearly is the fact that all free accounts will be charged after the end of december at £5 per month (the usual rate) so this is just a promotional period. If I like it I would consider subscribing…

Look forward to a free opportunity to test out the service. I believe this move and the publicity surrounding it will see many more UK users join the service; what I'm not seeing mentioned clearly is the fact that all free accounts will be charged after the end of december at £5 per month (the usual rate) so this is just a promotional period. If I like it I would consider subscribing…

Wow! I disagree with most of this article and the SpinVox PR people blogging here. SpinVox certainly hasn't gotten it's act together, they have just brought in a new PR firm that has simply shut Domecq up. That's why it now appears slightly more cohesive. Patricia Russo leaving is a big blow. The finances are still a bleeding mess and the high tech sweat shops are still a reality. And nothing changes the facts of the lies Domecq has been telling for the last 6-7 years.Giving away the SpinVox service by offering to convert Voice Messages to e-mail will serve a purpose for SpinVox. They are obviously hoping that they will get more and more British Accents to try to computerize. They should be paying people to speak messages for them to build up their voice database. They still don't give a hang about your privacy. They also want to increase their customer count, most likely for another round of funding and to put pressure on British Mobile Phone Companies to give them contracts.Can't you see through the spin? Don't sign up for this and allow the violation of your privacy and the enhancement of their database with no real benefit to you.And please remember, Domecq always has an angle that benefits her at somebody else's expense. How many people are going to remember during the Christmas Holidays to cancel this service they tried for free? And I wonder if you will then be hooked into a contract?You must watch them very carefully.

Wow! I disagree with most of this article and the SpinVox PR people blogging here. SpinVox certainly hasn't gotten it's act together, they have just brought in a new PR firm that has simply shut Domecq up. That's why it now appears slightly more cohesive. Patricia Russo leaving is a big blow. The finances are still a bleeding mess and the high tech sweat shops are still a reality. And nothing changes the facts of the lies Domecq has been telling for the last 6-7 years.

Giving away the SpinVox service by offering to convert Voice Messages to e-mail will serve a purpose for SpinVox. They are obviously hoping that they will get more and more British Accents to try to computerize. They should be paying people to speak messages for them to build up their voice database. They still don't give a hang about your privacy. They also want to increase their customer count, most likely for another round of funding and to put pressure on British Mobile Phone Companies to give them contracts.

Can't you see through the spin? Don't sign up for this and allow the violation of your privacy and the enhancement of their database with no real benefit to you.

And please remember, Domecq always has an angle that benefits her at somebody else's expense. How many people are going to remember during the Christmas Holidays to cancel this service they tried for free? And I wonder if you will then be hooked into a contract?

You must watch them very carefully.

Oddly, despite the conversation above, I have today again been billed by SMS by Spinvox. Did we existing UK users get ‘migrated’? Are you there Matt?

Oddly, despite the conversation above, I have today again been billed by SMS by Spinvox. Did we existing UK users get 'migrated'? Are you there Matt?

Oddly, despite the conversation above, I have today again been billed by SMS by Spinvox. Did we existing UK users get 'migrated'? Are you there Matt?