Linden Lab launched its new Avaline voice application for Second Life and then, well, didn’t.
I’m sure it’s just a typeo that’s being corrected and the post will be up shortly, but here’s the details as outlined (before it was taken down):
Hi. I’m Taka Linden, the new product+business manager of communication services in Second Life. Before joining Linden Lab just over two months ago, in various capacities I’ve managed the development and marketing of mobile phones, voice-driven web services, and performance analysis tools for supercomputers. I’m thrilled to be part of the Second Life community, and look forward to developing lots of neat and useful stuff.
Half of the fun of this job is planning new bells and whistles — and the other half is bringing them to life. So today, I am pleased to announce that AvaLine: Dial an Avatar has completed its beta program and is now online and ready for subscribers.
With an AvaLine, a Resident can receive calls from anywhere in the world, while inworld. AvaLine beta users, for example, found a number of inventive ways to incorporate real-world phone calls into their inworld experiences:
* keeping in touch with friends and loved ones
* taking calls while staying immersed in the inworld experience (e.g., no independent apps to manage, handsets to juggle, etc.)
* providing business associates an easy and cost-effective way to communicate
* giving social contacts a discrete way to connect
* reducing or avoiding long-distance telephony charges
How to use an AvaLine
To talk with a Resident, a caller simply dials a nearby local access number (available in more than 40 international cities), and enters the Resident’s personal connection code. If the Resident is online and accepts the call, the two parties can begin talking immediately, just as on a regular phone call or inworld voice chat. If the Resident is not inworld or declines the call, the caller may leave a voicemail message that the Resident will receive as an email attachment. The caller pays only what’s required to connect to the local number, and the Resident pays only the flat-rate AvaLine subscription fee, regardless of the geographic distance between the parties, the number of calls received, or the number of minutes used.
How to get an AvaLine
Go to secondlife.com/avaline and log in. Click the ‘Manage Your AvaLine’ button, and select the service and billing frequency you desire. The system will generate a personal connection code for you, and you can begin accepting calls immediately. To aid busy communicators who engage with multiple groups who don’t mix, you can subscribe to as many AvaLine connection codes as you require. Each connection code costs L$ 1500 if billed monthly, or L$ 1200 if billed annually (as a once-a-year payment of L$ 14,400).
How to get voicemail
As part of the AvaLine launch we’re offering free voicemail for the rest of 2009! Voicemail setup is quick and easy — just go to secondlife.com/avaline, click the ‘Manage Your Voicemail’ button, type in your email address and make sure the ‘enable’ box is checked, and click ‘Apply’.
How to keep an AvaLine code from the beta program
Log in to the Second Life Support Portal, open an ‘AvaLine Beta Migration Ticket’, and fill in all the fields that begin with “AvaLine.” On 1 September 2009 we will keep your connection code in place as we convert your account to a standard subscription with billing recurring in the frequency you select.
Introductory offer
To kick off the full launch of AvaLine: Dial an Avatar, until 31 August 2009 we’re offering the following promotions:
* first month free
* free voicemail for the rest of 2009
* exclusive ***hula-dancing*** Linden bear for the first 500 subscribers
Your voice
As Joe mentioned when he kicked off the beta program in May, AvaLine: Dial an Avatar is the first of many new services we’ll be rolling out in the next several months, and we would very much like your feedback and suggestions:
* How do you use AvaLine: Dial an Avatar?
* What else do you wish you could do with your AvaLine?
* What is your biggest communications challenge in or related to Second Life?
* What is your favorite way to communicate? (e.g., voice on phone, SMS, voice on computer, IM, email, etc.)
I’m a sucker for shiny. Tech excites me, new gizmos make me go ‘wow - must try that’. I even signed up for the AvaLine beta. But I don’t get it. Beyond the headline-grabbing ‘look you can phone an avatar’ what exactly is the use case? With no way to know if you are in world or not, the only way this makes even a tiny bit of sense is with the voicemail option, for which pricing seems to be missing. Also, wouldn’t voicemail for in-world voice be even more useful? Why wouldn’t I just set up a Skype account for my AV which would at least have the advantage of being available even when I’m not in world. This feels like a piece of the ‘let’s all ive in the virtual world’ that is miles too early, if needed at all.
/me folds arms and waits to be proved wrong.
Doesn’t Vodafone have something similar inSL? This just looks like the Linden implementation of Vodafone’s efforts.
It’s the kind of shiny that only SL would love (because they charge a fee for it). I can just hear it now … I’m wandering the grid checking out wondrous virtual landscapes immersing myself in the 3D world and enjoying the escape from my mundane RL existence when suddenly I’m interrupted by …. “RINGGGGGGGGG … Hi, this is your credit card company. There is no problem with your current account but we wanted to let you know about our latest offer.” Oh yes I can hardly wait.