Inside INdiana Business Launches Innovative Phone Broadcasts Using Vontoo Voice Messaging Technology

Client: Inside INdiana Business
Goal: Morning & Afternoon News Updates

Expanding its reputation as a leading multi-media provider of business news, Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick and its parent company, Grow INdiana Media Ventures, are now sending news reports directly to subscribers’ mobile, business, or home phones. The concept is a new approach to broadcast content distribution that represents a unique pairing—a partnership between a media outlet that covers emerging trends in the state’s technology sector with an Indianapolis-based company gaining a strong reputation for its on-demand voice messaging technology. Now instead of going online or turning on the T.V. or radio, people hear the latest news simply by answering a call distributed by Vontoo phone messaging.

The phone broadcasts are free to recipients who register online by providing a cell, business or home phone number to Inside INdiana Business.com. Vontoo then uses VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) to make twice daily calls to each number, delivering a full report of the day’s business news developments. Breaking news broadcasts recorded by the program’s key reporters are also automatically distributed.

Grow INdiana Media Ventures Director of Interactive Media and Market Development, Ryan Chelli, says the personal approach and high accessibility of a phone call resonates strongly with the program’s core audience of business professionals. “Today’s workforce is increasingly pressured to perform and we find people are multi-tasking at an incredible rate,” Chelli explains. “There’s not always time to stop and read an Internet story or even listen in the car to a brief news report. Yet a phone call can be taken quickly and reviewed anywhere—even while walking to the next meeting.”

Using Vontoo, the same digital reports already recorded for the radio broadcasts are uploaded and scheduled for phone delivery. Next, Chelli himself accesses a simple Internet interface to almost instantly distribute the calls in mass. No hardware, software or third-party call center is required to use Vontoo, which Chelli emphasizes is one key reason the media outlet felt so comfortable trying the new voice broadcasting method. “We did a story on Vontoo and heard from other companies how easy it is to use,” says Chelli. “Even so, once I did it myself I was surprised by its simplicity. In many ways, the process is much easier than anything else we do to distribute the program.” In a single transaction, one to one million calls can be sent.

Following the voice broadcasts, Vontoo sends summaries to Chelli that detail which calls reached live listeners and which connected to a voicemail system or answering machine. Chelli views this tracking feature as the most valuable benefit Vontoo offers, particularly for media outlets that depend on detailed audience statistics to maintain advertiser support. “It’s one thing to tell your advertisers how many people you think are reading or listening to your programs,” he says. “But to be able to prove it; that’s huge. Reviewing the summaries even tells us what viewers are finding most interesting, allowing us to tweak the content and structure of our reports if ever necessary.”

Chelli and his team are exploring using Vontoo’s dynamic content building capabilities to customize each news report. “Someone from Ft. Wayne might not be interested in the same news as someone who lives in Evansville,” he explains. “With Vontoo, we can develop phone broadcasts that keep the news relevant to our viewers’ specific demographics.”

As for Vontoo, co-founder Dustin Sapp says the voice messaging company is pleased to play its part in creating a new approach to broadcasting. “If there’s one theme across our diverse group of clients, it’s that they’ve been able to use Vontoo’s automated calling capabilities to generate new ways to grow their businesses,” says Sapp. “That’s what I like about well-designed technology; it inspires creativity. The fact that this partnership centers on the exchange of information and ideas directly impacting our own state’s economy adds that much more to the experience.”

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