Over 80% of surveyed consumers maintain some sort of answering solution. However, 79% of this number have never tried voicemail. While this confirms the industry's understanding of the need for answering solutions, it goes against the pervasive thinking that consumers who do not have voicemail are mostly those who have tried it and given it up.

Taking a sampling of 935 respondents who never tried voicemail, the Association drilled deeper to further understand their objections.

Answering machines satisfactory - but bundling could make the difference
Of those respondents who do not have and have never tried voicemail, 59% cited satisfaction with their answering machines, and 96% said they had no plans to subscribe to voicemail. However, 50% said that they would be more likely to subscribe if voicemail were included in the bundle without an additional charge.

Voicemail users often subscribe to other services
The survey found that 80% of voicemail subscribers have caller ID, versus only 41% of those who have never subscribed. In addition, voicemail subscribers are more likely to have high-speed Internet (57% versus 46%). Interestingly, there were no significant demographic differences between subscribers and non-subscribers. In fact, the mean income for those who have never tried voicemail is slightly higher than it is for the voicemail subscribers.

"While consumers claim not to be mostly indifferent to the monthly recurring charge (MRC), we believe that this isn't quite accurate," said Tom Harper, Executive Director, TMIA. "The fact that many consumers would be willing to try voicemail if it were included in the bundle helps us to draw the conclusion that the MRC is a barrier to entry."

Future research to delve into migration
TMIA is currently working on additional research into the migration of consumers from the answering machine to voicemail. Topics for upcoming research include:

• Profile of the answering machine user specific to usage, perceived benefits and shortcomings;
• Triggers that cause migration from machine to mail;
• Voicemail customer concern about changes in service from an upgrade.

Results of additional research will be unveiled at the next TMIA meeting, October 13-15 in Vancouver, BC. For more information on the meeting, please visit: www.tmia.org.

About TMIA
The Messaging Industry Association, formed in 1998, is an open forum comprised of over 44 companies including major service providers, prominent voicemail/messaging vendors, ASPs, customer premises equipment (CPE) providers and other parties. TMIA members share an interest in advancing the use of all messaging services in all markets, including SMS, UC, MMS and enhanced voicemail.

TMIA is actively recruiting members throughout the messaging industry. Those interested are encouraged to call 519-620-8668 or visit TMIA's Web page at www.tmia.org.

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