I just received the following release from Vodacom. I’m in a flat spin at work today, so I’m giving it to you as is – please excuse the PR guff:

From 1 April, Vodacom’s iPhone customers no longer have to wade through a long list of voicemails messages by calling 121 to get to the really important one that confirms that new job appointment or bond approval or marriage proposal…

Vodacom’s Visual Voicemail is a South African first voicemail management service for iPhone users, which enables customers to view their voicemail messages in a list format, including the number and time a voicemail came through, the same as with SMS or email messages.

From 1 April to 31 May, customers will be able to try out the product free of charge, while a nominal charge of only R9.99 per month will apply from 1 June. Customers who subscribe to Visual Voicemail for the first time from 1 June will get the first 30 days of their subscription free.

Vodacom iPhone users can use Visual Voicemail to read through a list of their voice messages; highlight the voicemail they want to listen to and, by enabling the speakerphone, listen, re-listen, ignore or delete voice messages in any order they please.

New and saved messages will remain in the customer’s 121 voicemail box for up to 7 days, unless the customer chooses to delete the voicemail message on their Visual Voicemail service which will automatically delete the message on 121.

Visual Voicemail will initially be available to all Contract, Prepaid and Top Up iPhone customers with iPhone Software Version 3 and higher. The service will be available on additional cellphone makes/models in the near future.

Shameel Joosub, Managing Director of Vodacom South Africa, said Visual Voicemail provides Vodacom iPhone users with an ability to, at-a-glance, view all their messages via an efficient and user-friendly interface.

“Visual Voicemail from Vodacom is a first for the South African market and will allow customers one-click access to any voicemail message in any chosen order in their mailbox. One of the great features of Visual Voicemail is that it allows customers to access messages, delete messages and compose messages, in any order they please, without dialing 121.”

iPhone customers can subscribe to Visual Voicemail by sending an SMS with ‘VVM On’ to 123 (FREE) to activate the service and ‘VVM Off’ to deactivate the Visual Voicemail service. Alternatively customers can call Vodacom’s customer care on 111, free from a Vodacom cellphone, or 082 111 from any other phone.

Good news! Thanks Vodacom.