SpinVox allows users to receive their voice messages automatically converted into text and delivered as an SMS. As such, BMI passengers can continue to receive their voice messages whilst in the air and respond via SMS text or additionally by voice, SMS or email once on the ground.
Christina Domecq, CEO of SpinVox, stated: “One of the truly horrible experiences for travelers is arriving at a destination after a long flight, turning on your phone and getting deluged with voicemails stored up while you were out of touch in the air. As such we are delighted to be able to offer travelers on European flights a way to stay in touch and so ensure they are able to receive and act on voice messages whilst flying.”
Should the trails be successful and full voice call capability is installed, as Emirates has begun to do on its fleet and other carriers are believed to be in discussions to so do, SpinVox will continue to allow passengers to receive and respond to voice messages discretely and without irritating fellow passengers through having dial up, listen to and record the details of voice messages nor will they risk incurring the often punitive costs of roaming and additional service charges.”
For those travelling in the US, in the last month, major US air carriers like American Airlines and Delta announced intentions to deploy WiFi across their fleets, allowing passengers to email, text message and browse the internet. Additional airlines such as JetBlue, Southwest and Alaska Airlines have all made similar statements.
However, the Federal Communications Commission continues to prohibit the use of mobile voice services. This means passengers are unable to make voice calls or retrieve a voicemail from the traditional voice mailbox but will still be able to receive their voicemail messages converted to text by SpinVox and sent to them by email.
Domecq continued: “If you’re only able to access your email and SMS texts and not your voicemail, you could be missing valuable opportunities. SpinVox voice messaging users on the ground already have a distinct communications advantage, and now they will have it in the skies.”