Matt Mazzeo

Switchboard - Turn your phone into a handsfree intercom

Switchboard is your instant voice network. It gives you a hands-free intercom between close friends and colleagues to let you chat more spontaneously, as though you're in the same room. You control your availability so that you're easy to reach when you want and you can focus when you need.

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Josh Robbins
I downloaded the app and spoke to Michael (helpdesk) in App and the sound was perfect and they talked about some cool features that are upcoming. This is a simple, fun solution to awkward conference calls and instant messaging for me with clients.
Michael Duncan McArthur
@josh_robbins Thanks for the feedback, Josh! Glad to hear you like Switchboard so far and that @michael_reynolds has you excited about some of our upcoming features! Please let us know if we can help you further in any way.
Philippe Brulé
Since I have met @jimsrand @jamesmeier during Techstars, they have made tremendous progress. Switchboard is the best thing that happened to our team of 15 since Slack.
Jim Rand
@jamesmeier @aboutphilippe Thanks Philippe! see you back on SB!
André de Albuquerque
How does this differ from voice specific messaging apps, like Voxer? Or any other Walkie Talkie apps
Jim Rand
@andredalbuq Good question. In general, you do not need to push to talk, the conversation flows from an intercom (the first person reaching out) to a full duplex conversation (as soon as they respond). Voice commands are another differentiator (depending on the app / specific commands) for now. That said, we built Switchboard with a persistent connection architecture and the ability to establish and control communications via side channels. So, for example, we have used smart buttons, Slack shortcuts, and other things to control what channels you’re monitoring or speaking to. We have the ability to mix audio channels (voice & other things) as well. Expect more to come here. Gestures and proximity based controls are on our roadmap, for example. The way we built Switchboard allows for a lot of flexibility and our pipeline is full of fun stuff to take advantage of that!
Edward Vasquez
Great! What is the business model, how are you going to make money?
Jim Rand
@edwardvasquezdr Thanks for the interest. We plan to introduce a premium tier for the Switchboard app for power users, but the business model revolves more around the technology stack. We have developed a deep audio and voice technology stack to power Switchboard and intend to license via an SDK. We are currently running paid pilots to validate this model.
James Wilson
This app is real easy to use, and is a big improvement over conventional web conferencing solutions. If I'm spending my AM plugged into various communication platforms, it would go smoother if more of my colleagues signed onto switchboard. Would mean much less time wasted dialing in. Love that it's so easy to slip into a sidebar when I'm using the app for a large conference call. Also works really well with my wireless headphones, so I don't have to be tethered to my desk. Need to get more colleagues on board!
Jim Rand
@james_wilson2 Please do invite your team! And if you use Slack, onboarding a team is even easier.
Michael KD

Love this thing! Use it all day to communicate with coworkers in remote offices, and also on walks with my wife - we can both listen to music and talk to each other seamlessly and without taking our damn earbuds out.

Pros:

Excellent voice quality, intuitive functionality, much better operation than skype or hangouts.

Cons:

Not really a con, but the product still has a few bugs (early in development)

Jim Rand
Haha, as one of our earliest adopters, thanks! And for alluding to the music stuff -- which we will have a separate announcement about soon.
Jocelyn Hett
As someone who tends to overthink written communication, I really appreciate how switchboard makes it easier to have a quick chat with my coworkers. Sometimes it's just faster if you talk it out, right!? I also love the ability to easily share a link to chat with people not using the app (customer calls, in my case), and the interaction with my music is great. I've heard whispers of more music features in the pipeline, so I'm definitely looking forward to that. Being an android user, I can't take advantage of the iOS app, but the MacOS app has been a great alternative. Looking forward to seeing more from you guys! 🙌
Jim Rand
@jocelyn_hett glad you're enjoying it, and yes you heard right, there are cool music features in the pipeline... stay tuned as we plan to announce more in the next month or so!
Steve Lee
Been using Switchboard with our team with great success - congrats on the launch!
Jim Rand
@stevel_sk Glad to hear! And always feel free to reach out with feature requests!
Gabe Elias

Love this app! Gives me telecom capabilities of WebEx with the instant messaging of Lync -- all without the hassle of managing a gazillion groups

Pros:

Easy to use

Cons:

Still waiting for android...

Adam
It's so great to see this launch on PH! I've been impressed with how simple it is to use and our team has only been using it for a few weeks. Just keeps getting better. Kudos!
Thom Leigh
@adamallaccess Hi Adam. Great to hear you've been finding our product useful. We're always updating Switchboard to make it more powerful and easy to use. We'll be announcing some great new stuff over the next month or so. Stay in touch!