A new smartphone services is emerging in the U.S. market where a user can have her or her name instead of a 10 digit numerical sequence as a phone number.
Called StarStar Me, the service was created by Palo Alto, Calif.-based mobile technology developer Zoove Corp. and it enables subscribers to receive calls through a personalized mobile phone number using their name or nickname. For example, **SARAH (**72724) or **SUPERMOM will start to be available to Verizon Wireless customers in the U.S. first. No plans have been outlined yet for the Canadian market.
How does it work: People call StarStar Me subscribers by tapping the star key twice, followed by a unique word or number grouping on a mobile phone’s keypad. With the StarStar Me app, subscribers can choose to have calls ring their phone, automatically respond to calls with a custom text message when they’re unavailable, or provide callers with a mobile web page that links to their blog, website, and social media accounts like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. The subscriber’s contact info can then be added to the caller’s address book.
Joe Gillespie, CEO of Zoove, said there’s a rapidly growing trend to extend personal branding, identity and personal communication into the digital realm through mobile phones. This is evidenced by the fact that the majority of people now access social media sites, such as Facebook on their mobile devices and are using their smartphones to connect in new ways.
The StarStar Me mobile app is now available as a download from the App Store and Google Play. Normal airtime charges and data rates apply.Verizon subscribers can have up to three StarStar Me numbers per mobile phone number. The service costs $3.00/month per StarStar Me number. Calls to StarStar numbers work within the U.S. on any Verizon, Sprint,T-Mobile, or AT&T mobile phone.