Talk to your Skype contacts from any phone

I'll admit, at first I didn't see the practical use for an application that would let me dial my Skype buddies from my cell phone. I mean, if I want to talk to someone on my contact list, all I need to do is dial them up via the Skype interface, right? Then it dawned on me that some people are actually away from their computers for more than five minutes (tell me, what's that like?) and may want to chat with a Skype contact while they're out in the real world. Here's where the free MOBIVOX service comes in handy.
During the short registration process, users are asked to provide their Skype login info so the service can automatically import your Skype address book information into your profile. Then all you need to do is select a local access phone number from an impressive list that serves 23 countries. There are over 80 US and more than 20 UK numbers already available, with more on the way for all countries, according to the website. Clearer access number information on specific US cities and towns would have been welcome, however. It took some extra time and some searching to determine whether Aurora was an access number for Illinois, Ohio, Colorado, Oregon, or Missouri (it's for CO). Complete the registration by providing your mobile number so MOBIVOX can ID you when you call and you're all set.

MOBIVOX free features are accessible immediately upon registration. Simply dial the local access number you've selected and "VoxGirl" will talk you through the voice-activated dialing process. At VoxGirl's prompt, say the name of the contact you wish to speak with, followed by which number you'd like MOBIVOX to dial (Skype, cell, home, etc). When I said, "Joe, Skype," the system confirmed my choice, gave me the option of canceling, then connected me immediately.

Call quality was terrific on my end, although the person I was speaking with said I sounded a bit choppy and distorted. Subsequent calls to other Skype contacts were of good quality on both ends so perhaps that first call was a fluke. Unfortunately, I wasn't so lucky with calls I made to landlines via MOBIVOX. All were choppy and one had such a delay that I had to end the call prematurely. Though I was disappointed this feature didn't work better, I can't say that it would preclude me from using MOBIVOX altogether because if I wanted to use my cell phone to call a landline I would simply dial direct in the first place.

MOBIVOX allows users to access the service from any phone so if you take a minute to add your home, office, and other phone numbers to your personal MOBIVOX profile, VoxGirl will recognize you no matter where you're calling from. Furthermore, the service lets you easily edit the contact info in your Skype list to include additional contact information for each person, as well as sort into groups of up to nine people.

While MOBIVOX lets users interact with their Skype accounts for free, several advanced features are also in the works, including mobile-to-home handoff and "Web calling," dialing contacts directly from your contact book on the MOBIVOX website. Prices haven't been announced yet for these features but company representative Jennifer Fader said, "Calling Skype buddies is free, Skype presence is free...[and] the only service that will have a charge on the day of the launch will be the terminations to other mobiles or landlines."

Speaking of launch dates, Fader says MOBIVOX will remain in private beta while last minute kinks are worked out, but a public beta release is expected to be announced "very soon."

Overall, I think that MOBIVOX has the potential to be a very useful service if the company focuses on the specific goal of giving users access to their Skype contact lists via mobile and other phones. Using MOBIVOX to call a landline or other cell phone from my mobile phone seems to add an additional (and unecessary) step. Furthermore, paying fees to MOBIVOX for advanced features while burning up cell phone minutes in the process seems redundant, to say the least.

If, however, MOBIVOX can focus on one thing -- bridging the gap between cell phones and Skype accounts -- they have a real chance and hitting the big time with their service.

Tags: cellular, mobile, Skype