Christina , SpinVox1

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The big idea: In 25 words or less, please tell us how this Fast 50 Nominee is helping to address the planet's problems.

SpinVox is changing the nature of messaging and enabling people to communicate both more naturally and efficiently though turning spoken words automatically into text.

Please describe how this nominee is using business as a force of positive change. What technology, idea, or strategy is the nominee using -- and what problem, such as global warming, poverty, or pollution, does it address? (suggested length: 100 words)

The voice-to-text conversion system developed by SpinVox eliminates the problem of inefficiency inherent in current voicemail services and truly connects the worlds of wireless and the Web. It’s much easier, faster and more discreet to read a voice message as an SMS text or email than to go through the process of listening to one. Once converted to text, voice messages containing important phone numbers, names and information can stored more easily. It also facilitates other forms of communication as users can more easily blog, microblog and populate social networks wherever they are located using just their mobile phone as through SpinVox their voice is converted to text and posted automatically to their chosen site.

What are the results, both financial and social? How has the nominee's business performed, and what impact has it had on the problem it addresses? (suggested length: 100 words)

By speaking messages that are then converted to text, humans can interact more naturally and efficiently without being limited by location, device keypads or voicemail systems. As a result, SpinVox is already deployed across four continents. Twelve carriers have launched the company’s flagship voicemail-to-text services in the last year, so over 100 million subscribers as well as 150 million bloggers now have access to the service. In March 2008, a further $100 million funding round was secured in difficult financial markets, recognizing the company’s success in pioneering the voice-to-text revolution.

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