We are considering a monthly fee, but for the economics to work we will need to be making roughly that $1 per hour of usage to cover phone call and other costs.
We are still searching for the demographic that needs some sort of web content on the go, can't get it on their smartphone and is willing to pay for it.
Any ideas would be appreciated.
At that rate the information you deliver has to be critical and the user demographic has to require the voice conversion. IMO it's just too expensive for casual use and viral growth.
I guess that means either finding a niche which justifies the premium product or lowering the cost of delivery. I'm not sure why it is necessary to deliver via voice rather than the user's data connection via the web.
We started with the phone because it was easier to get a working prototype out the door and its truly a ubiquitous solution.
We are looking at building an iphone and android app. Its starting to seem like a more viable way to make the service profitable.
I still think there is something there, I just think that the a pricing model where the meter is always running discourages casual use, particularly when you can potentially run up several hundred dollars a month in use.