BUSINESS INTERVIEW TV’s top voiceover supremo is on a big mission VaaS has the X Factor
Best known as the ‘Voice of God’ for his resounding X Factor introductions, it is perhaps ironic that Peter Dickson has invested in, and is beating the drum about a new voice as a service (VaaS) platform that transforms the human voice into a driver for growing online business.
to build Voice as a Service (VaaS) applications. This will put the functionality of the web into voice services and, according to Iovox’s punchy public relations patter, build an alternative to expensive inflexible telcos, fix the ‘broken telephony model’ while bringing voice communications into a new age. It could mean that any reseller keen to offer customers a voice driven web tool can build a bespoke application quickly and easily and make some serious profit. That’s what attracted Dickson to the opportunity as a backer.
C
“I was introduced to CEO Ryan Gallagher at the hotel I co-own in London, The Sanctum Soho,” said Dickson. “We got talking about what Iovox was doing and I could immediately see its potential. When I look at any business for potential investment it must fulfil three criteria: Be entertainment and technology based and be scaleable. Iovox ticked all three. The scaleability of Iovox was the main attraction for me. I can see this going global quickly. The Vox Analytics product is stunningly good. I have one of their numbers myself. It’s like having a mini PBX at home. When I go to the USA, my numbers follow me there. I also like the banking and IVR system apps that have been developed, and the vox security verification software has lots of potential applications.”
The Vox Analytics Dickson refers to is said to give phone calls ‘analytical value’, allowing users
alled Iovox, the company has developed an open voice platform that allows non-programmers
to monetise more than minutes. As Gallagher said in the company’s launch statement: “The time is right to give the power of web voice services to the public. Despite falling revenues people forget that voice is still growing exponentially and it remains the most compelling, human way to communicate and persuade. There are lots of things you can do with voice that you can’t do with email, SMS or other technologies, voice has a human element and a sense of urgency.
“The Iovox platform opens up a world of opportunity to customers, allowing them to create voice- enabled websites, offline advertising and improve regular telephony through a simple drag- and-drop process to sell goods and services, provide customer support, understand audiences and responses, create alerts and much more. Voice services can also be drilled down-on to generate more sophisticated analytics such as identifying from which cities, countries, advertisements or listings calls are coming, busy periods, average lengths of call and so on.”
Dickson, who has recently become well known in the comms industry for his voice overs at the Comms National Awards, believes he has backed a winner in Iovox and urges resellers to think outside the square in providing voice solutions to customers. There are some obvious key opportunities such as banking and print advertising where the pay per call model is already proving its worth, age verification for online gambling, and the online sale of restricted items like knives and pharmaceutical drugs. Estate agents serve as an example of
www.comms-dealer.com
Peter Dickson
unique numbers being attached to every property. The list is goes on. “Iovox can shine a light on every phone transaction in the way that Google Analytics can for web-based traffic. It’s just stuff delivered down wires at the end of the day,” added Dickson.
For someone who earns his living via his voice it’s hardly surprising that Dickson fervently believes voice services can be monetised more effectively and is helping to spread the word. “I do think the Internet is great for many commercial transactions but there often comes a point when you actually just want to talk to someone. With Iovox’s many solutions this is now possible and, for the supplier, this interaction with the consumer is now capable of being analysed to the n’th degree. No more missed calls, no more
excuses. I am what you might call an old fashioned active investor. I promote the company when and where I can. It’s not something that I can do full time, but I have been successful in opening some reasonably big doors for the guys both here in the UK and abroad. I have a wide range of contacts in the entertainment and broadcast sectors.
“Iovox is an exciting young company with tremendous drive and enthusiasm. It also has some amazing investors and non-exec directors who come from blue chip technology and comms backgrounds. Chris Burke, former CTO at Vodafone and director at RIM, has called Iovox’s technology ‘the future of telecoms’. I hope resellers get to grips with this soon for their sake, otherwise their cheese is going to be moved very soon!” n
24 COMMS DEALER JANUARY 2011
www.comms-dealer.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52