I am getting more and more impressed with the ideas coming out of Vonage. By dialing 1-700-Valentine, Vonage customers will be prompted to choose from a variety of love poems along with the option to add their own 30 second personalized message, which will then be sent on February 14. Vonage customers can send this voicemail greeting to any phone number in the US or Canada or have it emailed to their own account, where they can save it, download it or forward it to a loved one.

 

This is pure marketing genius. Many readers will point out how simple such a service is and that it isn’t even worthy of being called an innovation. But this is not a technology innovation as much as a marketing innovation. Then again Vonage became as successful as it is today due to its marketing, not its technology. Sure they have developed innovative technology as well but their marketing has made it very difficult for other VoIP providers to compete effectively with the New Jersey based IP communications leader.

 

If I was a Vonage customer I would use this service. Is 700-Valentine something that will make me switch to Vonage? Probably not but it would make me think twice if I ever had a reason to cancel my Vonage service. It shows the company cares about its customers and is giving back.

 

In my opinion as long as Vonage continues to come up with new features like this and markets them to existing customers, they will certainly cause a case of Vonage-envy among everyone else.

 

It is also great to see new applications being developed and marketed by an IP communications company. Vonage was one of the companies responsible for educating North America and other parts of the world about how VoIP can be cheaper. They are now showing the world how VoIP can also be better.