VoiceSMS vs. Pinger -- what do you think?

I have received Sprint voice sms... so far, it's decent and fairly easy to use. The downside is the nonlocal but that is really a nonissue since I have free LD on my mobile. I tried Pinger and sending a voice message is quite a pain since I have a heavy accent. Retrieval is easier but not much better.

So I cast my vote for Sprint...

 

LOL who did you get a voice sms from?

Anywho I go for voice sms as well. It is really nice if you have two sprint phones then it works very well.

 

Full disclosure: I work for Pinger. Here are a few answers to your questions:

Is it safe?
Yes, we're a third party, but Pinger is a real company with a standard privacy policy and protections of your personal info similar to Sprint's. We won't share your personal information and the only way someone can send you a Pinger message is if they know your mobile phone number (like text). Pinger also provides optional PIN security so you could protect someone from hijacking your phone and sending a message as you.

Why are their different phone numbers for each message?
By having different call back numbers for each message, we really improve the user experience. By calling that number, you hear that specific message immediately—no wading through other messages or prompts. This way you can use your SMS inbox as a your Pinger inbox and select the message you want to hear and call the specific number. Of course, with most phones you can call a number inside a text with a button or two.

Will it be free forever?
Pinger has been free for a year now. We're working on creative ways to make Pinger free for end users forever. That said we haven't ruled out charging a subset of users. Of course, that billing would only be done with permission. The likely billing methodology would be "premium SMS". That is on your request to purchase Pinger credits, you'd get an SMS to which you'd have to reply with a "Y" before we could charge your account. The billing goes right on your carrier bill.

What's different between Pinger and the Sprint Voice SMS service
Pinger works on any US mobile phone that can receive a text message on nearly every operator in the US: AT&T, Sprint/Nextel, T-Mobile, Verizon, Alltel, Metro PCS, US Cellular, Cellular One/Dobson, Unicel, SunCom, Cincinnati Bell, Cellular South, Virgin Mobile, Boost Mobile, Tracfone, NTELOS and Cricket. Anyone on any of those networks can send and receive Pinger messages. My understanding of the Sprint service is that you need particular Sprint phones with particular software to send and while people on different networks can listen, they can't initiate messages.

Pinger also provides the ability to send to groups (either ad hoc or named groups like "Soccer team") has a complete web interface where you can manage messages, contacts and options.

You can even try Pinger without registering by calling 858 2PINGER (858 274-6437) from your mobile phone.

Can I use Pinger with a heavy accent?
One of Pinger’s coolest features is addressing a message by saying the recipient's name. There are actually two ways to get the name into Pinger so you can do this trick--one's better for people with heavy accents or who don't even want to use English to address.

Name recording
If you just call the Pinger number and address by dialing or saying a person's mobile phone number, we'll record you saying that person's name (in whatever accent you have) so that next time you utter the same name, you’re good to go. This method is better if you have a heavy accent or don't want to import names and numbers as described below.

Text Matching Voice Recognition
The commenter above probably imported his contacts into Pinger from Outlook or Yahoo which requires a different type of voice recognition that's more sensitive to accents. That said we have a bunch of people at Pinger with a variety of accents and it works for them! This method’s better if you have a whole bunch of people you want to import at once.

 

No problem. The Pinger logo/icon means that person is a Pinger user--they have listened to a Pinger message on their phone.

Expert prompts just reduces the amount of prompting on the phone to an absolute minimum. Once you get used it, it makes Pinger amazingly fast and light.

 

Yes, those people have at least listened to a Pinger message.

 

By default deleted message stay in your trash folder until you empty your trash folder. You can set an option to have deleted items be removed immediately as well.

As far as competition, there really isn't another carrier-independent person to person voice messaging system. There are a few companies that sell systems to carriers like the one Sprint has, but they are by definition not carrier independent.