Jim's right that Mobivox has problems.

There are two parts to Mobivox's value as I see it.

First, Mobivox offered a speed dial to Voxgirl, a software agent. Voxgirl lets you dial by speaking the names of your mobile or Skype contacts. Touch speed 1, Voxgirl answers, you say "Call Jim", Voxgirl says "mobile or Skype?" and you say "mobile" and you're connected. While some smartphones offer this as a feature, Mobivox was adding special signal processors to clear up background noise, speech recognition that worked across accents and dialects, and adaptive systems to learn from your preferences. With a little time and effort, Voxgirl could really understand you. Mobivox could addict you to the convenience of one button dialing.

Second, Voxgirl doesn't get off the phone when you make a call. This is the real genius, and the moneymaker. Once you become really convenient for people before their call (see above), you can be useful during a call.

• "Voxgirl, add Mary to the call."
• "Voxgirl, record this call."
• "Voxgirl, invite my facebook friends to join this call."
• "Voxgirl, find a french translator."
• "Voxgirl, read my email."
• "Voxgirl, transcribe this call."

Mobivox becomes a platform for adding third party services to calls. Some would be free, some not. 

These are promising points of value creation for users and for ecosystems. The Mobivox team and the investors who paid for the experiment may not be able to exploit them; execution's difficult. So far, I haven't seen this opportunity offered anywhere else. Hmmm. Would you want to buy the technology and team? Or build it yourself? 

Previously about Mobivox on Skype Journal:

• Mobivox has Voxgirl's number, maybe yours too
• Is Skype a telco?
• A Caution re Third Party Skype Access
• Managing Presence and Other Mobivox Issues: A Response
• Mobivox presentation materials
• In Case You Didn't Hear That Voice Mail...
• Skype as a Minute Stealer
• Mobivox: New Financing Round and Interesting User Demographics.
• Mobivox Acquires Some Skype DNA on Executive Team
• A Primer for Skype's Direction: Mobile Conversations
• CES 2008 - A Final Roundup of Coverage
• Brandon Holland and His Affinity for the Echo123 Girl.