Summary: Vivox Voice for Facebook allows users and Facebook Page administrators to provide high-quality audio chat to their fans.
As a gamer, I was already familiar with Vivox. They are the guys who bring voice chat to many online games on the PC. Through my association with Gamebreakr, a new video game news podcast, I got a chance to test out Vivox’s Voice application for Facebook. Vivox Voice is incredibly easy to use and the sound quality is excellent. I think that voice is the next great frontier for Facebook chat so I’m thrilled to be able to share some of what I’ve learned about Vivox.
Jennifer Frkanec, Director of Marketing at Vivox agreed to answer some of my questions about their new Facebook voice application, as well as provide some insight into where its headed and how it might help marketers trying to reach customers over the Facebook platform.
Facebook Marketing Review:
Why did Vivox decide to bring its already established voice chat technology to Facebook?
Jennifer Frkanec:
Vivox has a long history of bringing voice to communities, earlier this year we began developing our Web Voice solution, and the team was bursting with ideas on how to put it to use. A lot of the staff uses Facebook and knew it needed a way to simply talk with friends. We started to tinker and here we are today. We are thrilled with the take up and interest from the Facebook community, people want a deeper connection than leaving notes for each other
FMR:
What were some of the challenges involved with bringing Vivox into Facebook’s platform?
Jennifer Frkanec:
Honestly, I cannot really think of any challenges we had. The Facebook API’s are easy to work with and synched up nicely with Web Voice. Says something for our solution, naturally, but also about the flexibility and strength of the Facebook platform in connecting people when and with whom they want.
FMR:
What has the response been to the Vivox Voice application on Facebook? Can you share any metrics on usage or adoption?
Jennifer Frkanec:
Get Vivox on Facebook
The response has been great! Metrics wise – we surpassed Skype as the #1 voice app on Facebook a few days ago…we like that metric.
We have had people using the application all over the globe and reaching out to us with stories of how they are using it – direct conversations, family reunions, business meetings, language learning, bands doing fan meets on Facebook, fantasy sports chats, book club sessions and games. More and more use cases keep coming in and we love it!
Two quick stories that have happened recently: A high school friend of mine who now lives in Australia was talking with a friend in Florida – she IMed me to tell me how great the quality was and that they were about to pull in a friend in Spain! They loved how easy it was to see people and connect live and the quality.
And just this week a client of ours, Hi-Rez Studios, who are launching a new MMO game, Global Agenda, in early 2010 hosted a developer chat in their Vivox Voice room on Facebook. They had over 100 people show up to listen to the devs talk about the game and answer questions from players. It was great! Because our room size is presently maxed at 100 on Facebook we had people camping out in the channel a week in advance to secure their spot! Two hours before the event the room was 75% full and the conversation was going very well self-moderated. We got great feedback on the event and want for more from both the players and the game studio.
We are having great fun hearing the stories for use and it keeps us innovating to make the app even better.
FMR:
Can you talk about some of the new features coming for Vivox that are on your roadmap as the product continues to evolve?
Jennifer Frkanec:
Future features focus on usability and making the application an effective tool for the business side of Facebook and a fun app for the social side. We are looking at making events easier to create and run – attaching to more viral ways of promoting the event and ways of managing large groups with text and speaking indicators. We are also looking at different modes where only speakers can be heard but users can ‘raise their hand’ to ask a question, and, of course, expanding capacity for even larger events on Facebook.
Recording is also on the roadmap so people can re-post events like podcasts. On the more social side, we are looking at implementing virtual goods like voice fonts, recording messages to post to walls and enhanced dial-in capability. We are also working to open up the APIs and give developers more access and control of the app for their own purposes. It’s not just about getting people to talk for us – it is about getting people to talk when they want and with the tools they need to do it effectively and in the context of their lives. Scalability, high quality, controls and enhanced options will make that happen. And for enterprises using Facebook as part of their marketing strategy, well, that’s all about engaging community and making revenue, so we support that too.
FMR:
Vivox is established in the PC gaming space – do you have plans for integrating voice chat into social games on Facebook?
Jennifer Frkanec:
Some games are already using the app as is to support their players, with no customization. Plus, we are talking to quite a few developers and they are excited about what voice chat can do for their community on a larger scale and the game. So yes – there are plans.
FMR:
Are there any plans for secure, password protected invite only channels?
Jennifer Frkanec:
We can do that absolutely now but have not yet implemented it into the Facebook app. Currently you can lock a channel so invite in who you want and then not let in anyone else. We have the capability to offer a password lock on a channel and we will expose that feature soon.
FMR:
Finally, talk about some of the advertiser functions you are planning for Vivox (branded channels, sponsored ads, pre-roll ads, etc)
Jennifer Frkanec:
The Vivox Web Voice solution supports audio advertising, where a short audio clip can be played as people enter into channel. This can easily be brought into the Facebook application for companies looking to sponsor FB event. Users join a room and are greeted by a short message from appropriate brands. It is a captive and relevant audience, just what marketers want. Plus, users are able to interact with the ad. For example, they can say ‘more information’ and be connected to a customer service rep for that brand or here another message on more offers. So now, not only do they appeal to the sense of sight with graphical ads, they reach out to their audience in a relaxed state of awareness with an audio message– it’s a good reinforcement and a nice revenue generating strategy to support further social network endeavors.
You can try Vivox Voice for Facebook by visiting the application page on Facebook.
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