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walkie talkies

Voxer’s new app is a “10-4, good buddy”

by Cam Clark

voxer logo

Do you ever read a text and swear you can hear the person on the other end saying it? Well, you might be hearing things, or you might just be using the new app Voxer.

Voxer is a walkie talkie application for smartphones that lets you send instant audio, text, photo and location messages to one or a group of your friends. Now, I know the the thought of a walkie talkie on a smart phone isn’t exactly a revolution. You would think it’s maybe even a step backwards. However, Voxer solves a major problem for me – texting.

voxer app I am not one that enjoys jamming out text on a smart phone. I have tried and been disappointed with today’s talk-to-text translators, such as Dragon. They tend to be cumbersome and error prone. Even as easy as today’s phones have made it to type, it’s still irritating to thumb your way through the alphabet. Then there are those texts that get interpreted the wrong way, and we have all had them. I would much rather talk than type.

Some would ask, “Why not just call?” To that I say that there are many social norms attached to calling someone. When you just need a quick answer, these niceties can feel bothersome and time consuming. But you don’t have to worry about being potentially interruptive, salutations or the obligatory need to carry on a conversation when texting. It’s perfectly socially acceptable to leave them out when communicating through that medium.

Looking forward at the industry as a whole, I can absolutely see this capability being implemented as part of the next iteration of MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) on all mobile phones. While this is unfortunate for Voxer, it’s good for you and me.

I have found myself a little obsessed with this app lately and I hope you will be, too. Check it out for iOS or Android and tell me what you think. Can you see yourself finding this type of communication useful?