Skype to deliver voice messages to mobiles

Skype is set to launch a new service that will deliver voice messages to their users when they are away from their computers.



No longer will subscribers to the VoIP provider need miss a voice call because they are offline or away from their systems.



In effect, the innovation from the eBay-owned company promotes it from only being a computer-to-computer VoIP application, thanks to a technology tie-up with SpinVox.



Under the deal, Skype will use the UK's firm's technology to transfer voice messages stored on customers' PCs to their mobile devices, via SMS message or e-mail.



The voice-to-screen firm started in 2003: it has since won an innovation award, and been hailed in The Financial Times as a type of exemplary "breakthrough" for European enterprise.



It has 130,000 subscribers to its core product, which converts mobile voicemail to SMS messages, and will roll out five more, some of which will be available to Vodafone users.



Bound to grab more headlines however, is its new "working relationship" with Skype, due to be formally announced at the world telecoms conference 3GSM, which kicks-off today.



For Skype users, the deal between the two represents a "significant development" according to the company's co-founder Daniel Doulton.



He said: "Previously there was no way to let users know they had messages on their Skype numbers unless they were online.



"Now…they will receive voice messages from their Skype number as text on their mobile even when they are offline.



"Receiving voice messages as text or e-mail at anytime, anywhere will transform the way Skype users interact with the web and their online communities."



Analysts say adding voice-converted messages to the downloadable application is part of eBay's bid to "goose Skype profits," despite the fact that the telephony outfit's revenue has more than doubled from a year ago to $66million.



MarketWatch reported eBay's chief executive Meg Whitman saying trading of their phone division was "encouraging", yet she admitted sales of premium products are "not yet developing as quickly as we hoped."