Technolog Te ee ss iM Study Finds Americans WantTo Talk...Just Not To Each Other (NAPSA)—The next time your cell phone rings, don’t answer it— the person calling may not want you to. That’s the finding of a recent survey that showed more than 71 percent of the people who call your cell phone frequently hope you won’t answer. Experts say that doesn’t necessarily mean that communication is dead in America, but rather that people often want to leave one another quick messages, rather then taking time to have full conversations. According to the cell phone user study conducted by enhanced messaging solutions provider HeyAnita Inec., while voice mail provides a mechanism for leaving a message when someone doesn’t answertheir phone, it does not address the real need uncovered by the survey: to completely eliminate the possibility that someone might answer their phonein the first place. “Our study showed the majority of people often want the opportunity to communicate by voice without having to talk live,” said Mark Willingham, vice president of marketing at HeyAnita. “Voice mail is a good default messaging solution for when you want to talk with someone, but in reality voice mail is a failed attempt to talk live. Each day, there are phone conversations that—given the New technology lets users send mobile messages without typing text or worrying that recipients might answertheir phones. choice—we would replace with the ability to simply send a message.” Until recently, there was no efficient way to handle such daily scenarios. (Text messaging is pop- ular with teens, but many adults say they don’t like typing on small cell phone keypads.) However, a new technology may help change that. Called Rapid Message Service” (RMS”), it’s expected to usher in a new era in cellular messaging. Some industry experts call it “stealth messaging” while others refer to it as “text messaging with emotion.” In manyrespects, the technology is similar to text messaging, except that it uses recorded audio instead of text, providing a moreefficient interface for cell phone users. The technology lets cell phone users send voice messages to each other without causing the phone to ring. Instead, the recipient receives a subtle text notification that an RMS is waiting. Listening to the message, and responding in a like manner, is accomplished with a single click on the cell phone keypad. Another compelling feature of the technology: People can use it to send the same message to one person or many people. For instance, Mom can now send a dinner update to the entire family at the same time (and expect them homeon timewith no excuses). The technology delivers one of the main advantages that has made e-mail so popular—the ability to deliver a message without speaking directly to the recipient. To this end, RMS can be used to avoid potentially unpleasant conversations, from breaking the news to a business associate about a missed deadline, to canceling a Friday nightdate. The technology is currently in trials with major wireless operators in North America and Europe. For a limited time, cell phone users can try RMS for free, simply by going to http://rms.heyanita.com, entering their mobile phone number and then, when prompted, entering this trial code: 7777.
