US / UK : Pinger launched its worldwide instant voice messaging service that lets anyone with a mobile phone send voice messages directly to more than 20 countries for the cost of a local call. Pinger provides a rich and economical alternative to international text messages because people can use the personality of their voices to send messages up to five minutes long, without incurring carriers' long-distance calling fees.

"Even people who love SMS get frustrated with its character limits and the inability to express yourself like you can with your voice. You can't sing 'Happy Birthday' in a text message," said Joe Sipher, Co-founder, Chief Marketing and Product Officer of Pinger. "Just as powerful, Pinger provides the ability to send a single voice message to groups of people around the world or in your home town."

To use Pinger simply call the local Pinger number (in the UK, for example, just ring 0203 051 0982), enter the mobile number of the recipient(s) and talk.

The person at the other gets notified of the new message with a text, prompting them to call a local number to hear the message. After listening, the recipient can reply or even forward the message to nearly any mobile phone in over 20 countries independent of the mobile phone carrier they use.

Addressing a Pinger message is made simple with voice recognition. After entering a recipient's mobile number the first time, you'll be asked to say a voice tag for that person. The next time you want to send that person a message, ring Pinger and simply say their name. To send to groups, just say the names of additional recipients.

Pinger is different from voicemail. Voicemail is a dead end-a failure when one person tries to talk to another and is forced to leave a message. Pinger is intentional voice messaging. It enables people to express themselves using their voices and is perfect for those occasions when one doesn't have time to converse. It's more fun too because people can reply back and forth like texting. With Pinger, senders don't have to worry about time zones or phone carriers, as long as the recipient can receive text messages on their mobile, they can receive a Pinger message.

Pinger has local numbers all over the world, so even when travelling abroad, international messages can be sent by dialling a local number from the country the sender is in (see list of country numbers on our web site). The Pinger service is free. Users pay their regular rates for the local call and normal rates (if any) to receive texts.

About Pinger

Pinger was founded on the vision that using your voice to message should be as fast, simple and convenient as email or SMS. The patent pending Pinger service enables people, for the first time, to send instant voice messages to nearly anyone regardless of carrier or phone type. Founded in late 2005 and successfully launched in the US by former Palm executives Greg Woock and Joe Sipher, Pinger has a proven management team who believes deeply in building simple products and services that just work. Located in San Jose, California, Pinger is privately held and currently recruiting smart people who like to create great products and have fun. For more information, visit www.pinger.com.