Vodafone Brings Its Services in Second Life

Vodafone has just launched a beta version of a mobile operation in the online game Second Life that is supposed to allow people to call other Second Life avatars and connect the call to mobile phones in the physical world.

The Second Life phenomenon proved to be an impressive one right from the beginning, when its proportions were overwhelming. A huge amount of people spent their time building themselves another life in an alternative virtual world. Moreover, many companies have seen the great potential that such a trend could bring and introduced their names in this world for advertising.

The Vodafone Inside Out service will enable users to call other Second Life avatars and connect the call to mobile phones in the real world. This means that those who know each other in the game will be able to speak or send messages when one of them is online.

"The link between the first world and second world is coming together. This is what we're calling the 'second wave' of projects coming into Second Life - a move towards brands developing compelling, relevant and immersive technology applications for the virtual worlds", commented Justin Bovington, CEO of London-based virtual world agency Rivers Run Red.

Vodafone's connection with the Second Life world is a long one, as the company created its own island in the game and then started using the characters as chat avatars. This goes way back in 2006, making this operator a veteran in the game. Moreover, it is not the only telecom company to have chosen this publicity strategy, as Canadian Telus operator and Vivox are just some of the many others that have understood the great potential that lies in Second Life.

This specific project has been developed by agencies BBH, Dare and Rivers Run Red. This is only a sequel of the work that Vodafone has made with these agencies for arriving in Second Life. Users of this new service will receive unique numbers for calls and texts and will also receive free handsets, ready to be collected from the Vodafone InsideOut vending machine. The service within Second Life will be free until 30 November 2007.