Passive-aggressive phone-tag from Slydial

Here’s a dilemma: You’re just too popular. You owe phone calls to a lot of people –- your wealthy great-aunt, your best friend from space camp, your just-married roommate –- but you don’t actually want to talk to them. You just want to call them and leave a message. Tag. They’re it in the phone-tag game. 

There's a new solution out there today. A service called Slydial lets you leave messages on people’s cellphones without their phones actually ringing. Of course, they don’t know that (well, unless they read this blog), so they'll think you tried to call while they were on the other line or driving through a tunnel or counting piles of money in their vaults.

Boston-based MobileSphere stumbled across the technology that powers Slydial while looking for a way to let customers get roaming voicemail in Europe, proving, as co-founder Gavin Macomber says, that "the greatest and simplest ideas are found when you're working on something else." Kind of like penicillin.

Slydial is one of the many services supported by in-call commercials, a growing medium ...

... in which captive callers have to listen to an ad before they get something for free. Jingle Networks, which offers free 411 information for callers who listen to an ad first, has soared in popularity, and said last month that it had become profitable. Google offers a service called GOOG-411. The spate of ad-sponsored phone services has even angered consumer watchdogs.

The Slydial ads are about 30 seconds, but that's nothing compared with the long phone conversation you would have to have if great-aunt Millie actually picked up the phone and started asking what you think about that Obama guy. She hopefully won't pick up -- when I tried out the service earlier today, the recipient's phone rang a few times before it went straight to voicemail. Macomber said that some carriers, such as AT&T, show a missed call, and the phone might ring once or twice -- although he said even if the phone rings, the caller wouldn't be connected. Others, such as Verizon, won't ever ring.

Slydial suggests a few ways to use its service: calling in sick without hassle from your boss, staying in touch with a significant other without missing the big game, breaking up with someone the easy way. Or, if you want to be even more passive-aggressive, Slydial someone who has Slydialed you.

-- Alana Semuels

Semuels, a Times staff writer, covers marketing and the L.A. tech scene.

Photo: Sameer Vasta via Flickr

Comments

[Michelle]

This new Slydial service sounds awesome, I will have to give it a try. It sounds useful to not only leave other people a voicemail but maybe I could also for myself for reminders.

The in-call commercials are something seem to be similar to like the banner ads on Google or other websites. I tried the Goog 411 but found it more annoying than useful. The service is only done by an automated computer so you never get a chance to speak with a real person, this is a horrible customer experience in my opinion. I have been using another free 411 service called 1-800-411-SAVE and absolutely love it! The 411 Save service is done by only people so I never have to argue with some machine and the best part is that they also connect my call for free. I have to see if Slydial will prove to be as useful and fun to use as 411 Save.

[beN]

well this certainly exxplains my many unrung voicemailz. ;-)

[Sigmond]

You haven't a clue as to what Passive aggressive personality syndrome is at all do you..... Nice but clueless.

[paulfromfree411]

Just wanted to jump in here and mention the Jingle Networks number, since it isn't in the article: 1-800-FREE411. We are indeed profitable on a per-call basis now, and we're the biggest in the free d.a. field (in terms of number of users) because we allow callers to search by name or by category, to get business, gov't, and residential listings, and we'll text driving directions straight to your cell immediately after a call.

Best,
Paul