????微軟公司（Microsoft）前高管雷?奧茲有一個革命性的創(chuàng)意：讓打電話再次變得“酷”起來。

????語音通訊似乎歷來和“酷”字沾不上邊,，充其量只是一項必要的功能,。很顯然，在很大程度上,，語音通訊已經(jīng)被各種基于文字的實(shí)時通訊服務(wù)取代了,，比如短信和近來大量涌現(xiàn)的移動通訊應(yīng)用。但是奧茲認(rèn)為,，他找到了一種方法讓傳統(tǒng)的語音電話功能重新煥發(fā)青春,。

????奧茲在一篇宣布他的新公司Talko正式成立的博文中稱：“我認(rèn)為聲音中蘊(yùn)含著無限的潛能，它可以傳遞語調(diào)和情感,，可以快速解決問題,、做出決定、處理事情,。要想表達(dá)諸如緊急,、焦慮、理解,、信心或者信任之類的情緒,，基本上沒有其他方式比聲音更快、更有效,。當(dāng)我們選擇用說話來交流時,，總會發(fā)生一些令人驚奇的事情?！?/p>

????奧茲想到的令語音通訊重新煥發(fā)青春的方法之一,，是把語音與文字、圖像等其它交流方法融合起來,。Talko移動應(yīng)用最近剛剛登陸蘋果iOS平臺,，除了可以撥打電話、發(fā)送短消息之外,，它還可以直接發(fā)送圖片,，而無需再打開另外一個應(yīng)用。另外,，用戶還可以對通話做“書簽”或者標(biāo)記,，它還能自動對通話進(jìn)行錄音，用于回放,。用戶還可以非常方便地借助這款應(yīng)用的界面發(fā)起多人電話會議,。用戶只需借助手機(jī)通訊錄就可以輕松地創(chuàng)建對話群，因此可以一次性向多人推送語音消息或發(fā)起多人進(jìn)行實(shí)時對話,。

????奧茲對《財富》（Fortune）表示：“它不會取代（電子郵件或短消息）,，但如果我們能增加語音通話的數(shù)量，我認(rèn)為它會起到很大幫助,?！?/p>

????這家公司是奧茲與另外兩名聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人馬特?蒲伯和埃里克?佩蒂共同創(chuàng)辦的。他們已經(jīng)從安德里森-霍洛維奇基金（Andreessen Horowitz）,、格雷洛克合伙公司（Greylock Partners）,、卡普爾資本（Kapor Capital）和奧茲本人那里拉來了投資。（不過該公司沒有透露目前獲得的融資額,。）

????在職業(yè)生涯的早期階段,，奧茲曾是協(xié)作軟件Lotus Notes公司的主要幕后功臣之一，這家公司后來被IBM收購,。奧茲又于2005年將他創(chuàng)辦的另一家公司Groove Networks賣給了微軟,，然后在微軟工作了五年，2010年時從微軟離職,。最近,，他又加入了惠普公司（Hewlett-Packard）董事會。

????雖然奧茲對科技行業(yè)有很深的理解,，此前的成功也讓他小有名聲,，但要想讓語音通話再次流行起來,，恐怕也不是容易的事。這家公司要想展翅高飛,，它不光需要普通消費(fèi)者捧場,，還得受到企業(yè)用戶青睞才行。目前Talko仍然是免費(fèi)的,，但該公司計劃向那些想要無限期地存儲通話的用戶按月收取費(fèi)用,。（Talko的免費(fèi)版只能將通話儲存10天）。

????Talko并非唯一一家試圖在這個領(lǐng)域賺錢的公司,。另一個語音通訊開發(fā)平臺Twilio允許企業(yè)用戶構(gòu)建自己的應(yīng)用,。該公司最近推出了一項新的功能，可以使用戶輕松地將圖片整合進(jìn)通話中,。

????語音貌似不大可能會強(qiáng)勢回歸,。（你最近一次檢查語音郵箱是什么時候？）但一旦與各種熱門的現(xiàn)代化通訊手段結(jié)合在一起,，它還是有很多潛能可以挖掘的,。如果你能在打電話的時候（不論是私人電話還是工作電話）快速分享照片的話，為什么不這樣做呢,？

????奧茲表示,，他計劃近期繼續(xù)在Talko中添加其它功能，比如文檔或視頻分享等,。該公司還打算推出安卓版和網(wǎng)頁版應(yīng)用,。

????不過有一個平臺是Talko短期內(nèi)不打算登陸的，那就是微軟的Windows Phone系統(tǒng),。顯然,，離開微軟之后，奧茲身上已經(jīng)沒有一丁點(diǎn)“微軟情懷”了,。（財富中文網(wǎng)）

????譯者：樸成奎

????Ray Ozzie, the former Microsoft executive, has a revolutionary idea: Make phone calls cool again.

????It’s not clear that voice communication was ever cool. It was always more like a necessity. What is clear, however, is that it has been largely replaced by all sorts of real-time, text-based services, from SMS to the latest crop of mobile messaging apps. Ozzie thinks he’s found a way to revitalize the old-fashioned, voice-based phone call.

????“I passionately believe that there’s immense latent potential in voice to convey tone and emotion, to quickly resolve issues, to make decisions and to get things done,” he wrote in a blog post announcing the launch of his new company, Talko (sounds like “taco”). “There’s simply no faster and no more effective way to express essential emotions such as urgency, anxiety, understanding, confidence or trust. Quite simply, amazing things can happen when we just choose to talk.”

????One of the ways Ozzie hopes to make voice-based communication relevant again is by infusing it with other methods, including text and images. Talko’s mobile application, which recently launched on Apple’s iOS mobile operating system, lets people make ordinary phone calls, send text messages, and share photos without having to open a separate application. The app also allows users to bookmark and tag conversations, and automatically records calls for playback purposes. The app’s interface lends itself to conference calls. A user can easily create groups using their phone’s address book, and therefore push out voice messages or initiate live calls to more than one person at a time.

????“It won’t replace [email or messaging] but if we can increase the amount of talking I think it will help a lot,” Ozzie tells Fortune.

????The long-time entrepreneur founded the company with Matt Pope and Eric Patey. The trio has raised money from Andreessen Horowitz, Greylock Partners, Kapor Capital, and from Ozzie himself. (The company won’t disclose exactly how much it has raised to date.)

????Earlier in his career, Ozzie was one of the masterminds of Lotus Notes, the collaboration software that was eventually acquired by IBM . He later sold another company, Groove Networks, to Microsoft in 2005 and worked for the Redmond-based tech giant until he left in 2010. More recently, he joined the board of directors at Hewlett-Packard .

????Despite deep knowledge of the technology industry and previous successes to his name, it’s a tall order for Ozzie to bring voice back in vogue. If the company takes off, it’s going to need business customers to embrace the app, not just consumers. Today, Talko is free, but the company plans to charge a monthly subscription fee to users who want their calls saved indefinitely. (The free version of the app will only preserve conversations for a 10-day period.)

????Talko isn’t the only startup trying to make money in this category. Twilio, a development platform for voice communication, lets corporate customers create their own apps. That company recently launched a feature which lets users easily integrate images in its communications.

????Voice is unlikely to make a strong comeback. (When’s the last time you checked your voicemail?) But it may have untapped potential when bundled with more fast-growing modern means of communication. Why shouldn’t you be able to quickly share photos of your surroundings while on a personal or work call?

????Ozzie says he plans to integrate other functions—such as document or video sharing—into Talko’s calls in the near future. The company also plans to make the app available on Google’s Android mobile operating system as well as a web-based application.

????One place Talko won’t be available anytime soon? Microsoft’s mobile operating system, Windows Phone. Apparently, you can take the boy out of Microsoft and take the Microsoft out of the boy.