YouMail has launched its free Visual Voicemail Plus application for Apple's iPhone and Google's Android operating system.

While iPhone users have had access to standard visual voicemail, YouMail's Visual Voicemail Plus allows users to see and play their email along with other advanced features. On the other hand, Android users haven't even had a taste of visual voicemail, so the launch of the application in Android Market gives users an entirely new voicemail experience.

"The strategy is simple," said Alex Quilici, CEO at YouMail, Alisa Viejo, CA. "We've had a very large number of our users tell us that YouMail would be dramatically improved for them if we provided an application for their smartphone -- and we're responsive to user feedback.

"Further, we've had a lot of people who aren't on YouMail contact us and tell us that they would use it if we had a visual voicemail application for their phone," he said. "So, we've launched Visual Voicemail Plus, a BlackBerry app and now for the iPhone and Android."

YouMail's Visual Voicemail Plus application was released in Android Market following the recent announcements of its arrival in RIM's BlackBerry App World and Apple's App Store.

YouMail claims that its main focus is developing the application for multiple platforms in order to improve the voicemail experience for all smartphone users.

Features of the application include full caller ID, the ability to read voicemail and save voicemails forever, recover deleted ones or organize them.

YouMail admits that the process was much quicker during the Android beta phase in comparison with the iPhone version of the application because the Apple App Store reviews each application, whereas the Android Market doesn't.

Visual Voicemail Plus also allows users access to the basic YouMail service where they can manage voicemail even more closely.

From the YouMail desktop, users can choose who can leave them messages and create personalized greetings for anyone in their address book.

Around the edges, there are a few differences between the Android version and the iPhone version," Mr. Quilici said.

"The Android application doesn't yet support status greetings, and it doesn't yet let people forward their voicemail around from the device, so to benefit from those features, people still need to use their PC," he said.

During the release of both the iPhone and Android versions of the application, YouMail ran a contest where anyone who downloads the application will be entered to win a free transcription service for one year.

As the Android-compatible version is being released today, the contest is still in effect.

The application is part of a new category of applications on the market today, as it improves the existing functionality and capabilities of the smartphone.

"One trend we're noticing is a shift from people building stand-alone apps, to building apps that are just one key part of a larger service -- that makes that service better when people have a cell phone in their hand," Mr. Quilici said. "We would expect to see more and more of that."