Visual Voicemail

[Dimitris Kogias]

> Think like a developer: how can we make it work?   Think like an
> entrepreneur: is there a solution here that we can offer?   Can we
> transform GSM-as-usual into a transport?   If GSM is just the tube you
> use to get to the mobile device, and the number that you call isn't the
> GSM number, then you can intercede if the call isn't answered and
> capture the voicemail, perhaps in an Asterix PBX.   Once you have the
> voicemail, the phone can download it next time it has IP connectivity.  
> Voila: visual voicemail, no scraping needed.

IP connectivity is nice but not a must.  SMS is also a possibility, as
are unanswered voice calls from predefined DIDs used as signaling
(bidirectional too, to cover SIM changes).

Voicemail notification for GSM is in fact signaled using SMS today.  The
relevant ETSI standard, if I'm reading it right, specifies an option for
the caller ID of the call(s) that originated voicemail(s), and I
wouldn't be surprised if that's what Cingular implemented for the
iPhone.  Who wants to take bets that other carriers will have it
implemented in the not too distant future?

Anyway, I prefer my voicemail to live on servers under my control, as
you suggest.

> 
> The question is, is this a service anyone would go to the trouble to
> use?   In some ways it would suck - no way to notify the phone that the
> voicemail is present if you're off the IP network.

Yes, and not necessarily, respectively.

D.