Fonolo Wins Judges’ Prize at GigaOm’s Mobilize Conference
Attendees clamor for ‘Deep Dialing’ and ‘Intelligent Call History’ services from Toronto-based company
SAN FRANCISCO — Sept. 19, 2008 — Fonolo, the company that helps consumers call large companies with less frustration, has been awarded the Judges’ Prize at Mobilize 2008, GigaOM’s conference on the future of the broadband mobile Web.
The judges’ scores at the conference’s high-profile Launchpad segment placed Fonolo best among the 13 innovative new companies evaluated. Fonolo was the only company to receive a perfect score from a judge.
Excitement over Fonolo was best expressed by judge Nagraj Kashyap, Senior Director, Qualcomm Ventures, who exclaimed: “I love the app, this is the first thing I’m going to do when I get home.”
A four-minute presentation showcased Fonolo’s innovative new iPhone application. “Deep Dialing” directly from the iPhone allows users to skip through phone menus of large companies and navigate immediately to the information they require.
“The appeal of Fonolo is truly universal,” said Fonolo founder and CEO Shai Berger. “We’re thrilled that our concept resonated with so many people at Mobilize. Tonight’s recognition underscores the fact that people are frustrated with phone menus.”
The “Deep Dialing” process is simple: Users find the particular company they want to contact, visually scan through the phone menu and click on the appropriate link. Fonolo then dials the company, navigates the phone system and calls the user’s phone. The user answers and is connected to the desired point in the phone menu.
Fonolo’s services are powered through proprietary technology that automatically “spiders” phone systems, thus building and maintaining a database of the numbers that consumers typically call. This “map of phonespace” is a dataset that has never been built before.
Fonolo further helps consumers by providing an “Intelligent Call History” which automatically tracks calls made to a given company, complete with recordings and user notes, regardless of the phone used.
Named “Best New Product” when it was unveiled at the Emerging Communication Conference in March, Fonolo is currently in private beta.
About Fonolo
Fonolo helps consumers deal with large companies over the phone. Fonolo’s Deep Dialing feature allows users to skip the dreaded phone menus (also known as “IVR systems”) and get right to the point. With Fonolo’s Deep Dialing, users can navigate the call path options visually, on a computer or mobile device, then click to be connected directly, rather than plodding through the menus step-by-step. Fonolo’s Intelligent Call History feature tracks all the calls a user makes to a particular company, regardless of which phone is used, and automatically organizes them along with notes and recordings.
Fonolo is privately held and based in Toronto. The service is currently in closed beta testing. For more information, visit www.fonolo.com.
Contact:
Sue Huss, for Fonolo
sue.huss@comunicano.com
+1 619-379-4396