CTIA: Dial2Do Uses Voice Prompts For Hands-Free Users

Voice-response vendor Dial2Do wants users to keep both hands on the wheel and let the company's software follow voice prompts to handle all their mobile messaging needs.

Dial2Do demonstrated the service as part of its North American launch this week at the CTIA tradeshow in Las Vegas. Dial2Do is a service of Rococo Software, a provider of wireless application development platforms.

After providing a telephone number and e-mail address online, a customer calls a Dial2Do number to verify identity. Back online again; they enter in their contacts' information. Contacts can be imported from Google's Gmail and Microsoft Outlook by following tabbed prompts; the service also supports group contact usage. Users then have access to voice-prompted e-mails, texts, and reminders.

Several states and foreign countries have adopted or are considering laws against mobile phones use in the car, whether for voice calls or any messaging. Others have restricted users to hands-free operation only.

"Dial2Do is ideal for people in their car -- the regular commuter or the busy parent -- who'd like to be able to get things done while keeping both hands on the wheel," said Ivan MacDonald, CEO of Dial2Do, in a statement. His service lets users "call the number and speak, and we do the rest."

Additional services include the ability update feeds on Twitter, Jaiku, and similar sites, as well as have an RSS feed read back to the user.

Dial2Do says the service is free since it's beta testing; it doesn't disclose the duration of the beta. "If we do ever decide to charge for something, we'll give you plenty of notice and try to keep the basic services free," the company said on its Web site.