LOS ANGELES-Voice recognition company HeyAnita Inc. is moving away from its roots with a new product the company describes as “text messaging without the text.”
Today HeyAnita released the commercial version of its Rapid Message Service, which allows users to send voice messages without having to first place calls. The service sits between the urgent character of telephone conversations and the nonchalant nature of text messaging.
“RMS is a messaging solution that allows users to send messages to one or many users with their voice,” said Mark Willingham, HeyAnita’s vice president of marketing.
RMS customers can use the system to record a voice message and then send it to a person or a group of people. A text message alerts a recipient to an RMS message and directs them to a phone number where they can retrieve the message. After listening to the message, a user can respond through a direct call or by another RMS message. Willingham said family members could use RMS to stay in touch, and business users could use it to quickly relay messages within a team or division. The key to the system, Willingham said, is that users can communicate without engaging in potentially lengthy conversations.
“That’s probably the biggest driver of all,” he said.
HeyAnita is selling its new service to wireless carriers. The service can work across more than 90 percent of the nation’s mobile phones-those that can receive text messages-and operates independently of network technology. Willingham said the service improves on voicemail messaging, which only works within one carrier’s network, but does not yet support landline phones.
“Our product map does include” landline phones, Willingham said.
RMS represents a break from HeyAnita’s traditional focus on voice recognition technology. Aside from RMS, the company also sells technology to wireless carriers for voice access to e-mail and calendar information, as well as customer service functions. RMS is also a break from the company’s standard licensing business model; HeyAnita is selling RMS under a revenue-sharing program.
“We believe that a product like this really simplifies the messaging system,” Willingham said.
Founded five years ago, HeyAnita to date has raised $40 million in venture funding and reached profitability last year. The company said it is trialing its RMS product with several wireless carriers.
