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Leave a Voicemail on the Sly With Slydial

By David LaGesse

Posted: July 21, 2008

slydial logo

We've all wanted to dodge the chit-chat. We just want to leave a voicemail without risking an actual conversation. On the sly. Now we have slydial.

The new, free service links to the voicemail systems of wireless carriers, allowing you to slip a voice message into someone's mailbox without ringing their phone. Many carriers will let you send a voicemail back to someone who has left you one, but slydial is the first service I've seen for unilaterally dropping in a voice message.

Slydial is fast, easy, and claims to work with all major U.S. carriers. I was able to leave messages on Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T phones.

Slydial plans to pay its way through short ads at the start of the call. The ads I heard today were just a few seconds long. But they were only plugging other services from the service's parent, MobileSphere. We'll have to wait to see if paid ads run longer.

A free MYslydial account lets you set up contacts with four-number PINs that enable faster dialing. Or, click an icon next to their name on the MYslydial site for even faster calls. A premium version cuts out the ads.

The biggest downside is that the service doesn't work with landline voicemail. You need to know the recipient's mobile number, and slydial can't leave messages on prepaid cell phones.

Try it yourself by dialing 1-267-slydial (1-267-759-3425).

doesn't work on sprint

I;ve used it befor and it worked great - in all networks. I just tried it to a person on a sprint network and it won't connect. I tried to another sprint number and it's not working either. So much for a quick and easy way to leave a quick message..

k of ME @ May 05, 2009 15:06:42 PM

slydial

The problem with Slydial is the person's phone actually does ring once - I tried calling my own cell phone from a land line and the number 1-601-429-9007 came up on my cell phone's caller ID. When you call the 601 number back it says it's disconnected.

John of FL @ Apr 16, 2009 16:35:40 PM

slydial metro pcs

im trying to slydial a metro pcs phone and it keep saying "slydial dosent work with prepaid phones", how do i slydisl a metro pcs phone? help please

just me of NY @ Apr 03, 2009 02:40:38 AM

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Our in-house gadget guru, Senior Writer David LaGesse, checks out the latest technologies and gizmos, from computer software to GPS systems -- and reports back to you in plain English.


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