Drop.io Makes Voicemail, Podcasting Easier with Phone.io

This morning Drop.io revealed another feature set to its web-based file sharing service. Called phone.io, the applet works by providing voice-related options for drop.io users. In doing so, users are now more easily able to leave voicemails, podcasts and other audio message files in their accounts.

One of phone.io’s most appealing use-case options is for voicemail messages, which seems to be building off of drop.io’s recently added conference call capabilities. With phone.io one can leave a voicemail message for themselves or other users, which can then be downloaded, embedded or shared across the social web. There are one-click sharing options for creating voicemail or podcasts in real time, with sharing options for iTunes, RSS, email, Twitter, and Facebook to name a few.

Drop.io has informed me that this is a feature the company has been pondering fr some time, but the necessiy of many users seeking podcasting alternatives for GarageBand’s Gcast service, which just upped its prices, has helped drive the demand and push this feature to the top of the company’s to-do list. To compete with Gcast and steal a bit of market share, drop.io has added a premium service option that extends a 15% discount on the drop.io manager, encouraging existing Gcast users to switch over.

There are a handful of other updates that have been added to the manager account option as well, including a more robust activity stream displaying all managed drops in one snapshot, as well as a completely redesigned text editor.

In looking at drop.io’s recent developments, it’s evident that the company is possibly looking more towards business-oriented applications and targeting power-users that may need premium accounts. It’s a smart move, as drop.io has worked its way into the cloud computing industry with incremental and discretionary feature sets.

This all makes sense, as drop.io has also hinted at a major new product release coming down the pipelines, which will include business collaboration applications of some kind.