By Dipo Olowookere
Subscribers of a leading mobile communication company in East Africa, Smart, in Tanzania, can now send and receive voicemails and voice messages seamlessly as well as receive missed call notifications anytime they miss a call, including when their mobile is switched off.
This has been made possible as a result of the partnership entered into between Smart Tanzania and Kirusa, a global leader in providing telecom and social media solutions.
Both parties launched the unique InstaVoice service in Tanzania. All smartphone users in the country have to do to enjoy this service is by installing the InstaVoice app.
Its intuitive and unique chat-like interface allows users to manage and respond to missed calls and voicemails through text as well as rich media, while enjoying other features like unlimited voicemail inbox, personalized voicemail greetings, voicemail delivery over email, option to link multiple numbers and ability to withdraw an already sent voicemail/message.
Meanwhile, Feature phone users and non-app users can still enjoy the service as they will be alerted via SMS of new voicemails or voice messages.
They can simply follow the short instruction in the SMS to retrieve the messages and can dial ‘star’ followed by the recipient’s number to record and send a voice message.
The InstaVoice Service has been designed to facilitate seamless communication across networks and countries. Over 50 mobile operators across the globe have partnered with Kirusa to provide an integrated InstaVoice experience to over 100 million monthly active users.
Speaking at the unveiling ceremony, the Group CEO of Smart, Mr Abdellatif Bouziani, stated that, “InstaVoice is a highly innovative forum that has recaptured the idea of voice messaging for our customers and in the long run adds to call completion in scenarios when the person one is trying to reach is unreachable, has their phone switched off, or is busy.
“We strive to provide innovative, value-for-money solutions to our customers and fulfil their need to communicate seamlessly.”
Since 2015, Tanzania tele density has reached 79 percent for which mobile voice subscriptions account for the greatest part. In the past five years, mobile subscriptions rose by 89 percent, from 21 million in 2010 to almost 40 million in 2015.
Founder and CEO of Kirusa, Inderpal Singh Mumick, said, “InstaVoice is a highly acclaimed service across Africa, and we hope to receive an enthusiastic response in Tanzania. The integrated features are sure to deliver an enhanced, and smooth messaging experience.”
InstaVoice is also available as the first-ever voicemail skill on Amazon’s Alexa platform. Users can configure their InstaVoice account to avail a seamless access to voicemails over Alexa Platform.
Aduragbemi Omiyale 
Adedapo Adesanya