Match.com Lets Online Daters Call or Text Message Without Revealing Their Phone Numbers
Time to read: 1 minute
January 23, 2012
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Online dating is a competitive market. The turnover rate is inevitably high, because actually giving customers the thing that you’re selling (a meaningful connection to another person) reduces the likelihood that your happiest customers come back. So the main challenge becomes delivering an amazing experience to the user in a relatively short time.
This challenge led match.com to look for new ways to help online daters communicate anonymously. The company found Twilio. Before Twilio, Match’s team had built telecom applications by working with a third-party vendor. After discovering Twilio, match.com found that integrating voice or text messaging features can be as easy as building a basic web application.
Twilio’s platform enables three functions for the popular dating site:
● It enables potential dates to talk over the phone without giving out their numbers.
● It allows members to text message each other anonymously.
● It also allows members to listen to voicemails online.
matchPhone: Anonymous calling and texting, powered by Twilio
Match.com’s Twilio-powered voice and text messaging service – called matchPhone – gives subscribers virtual phone numbers that they can safely give out to their prospective dates. These special phone numbers take every incoming call and text message and forward them to the member’s actual phone. Users have complete control over who can and cannot reach them. With a single click, a member can block someone from calling or texting again. The technology enables online daters to have intimate phone and text message conversations while retaining their privacy.
Previously match.com worked with a third party telephony provider. This provider didn’t offer support for text messaging. Any changes had to be prioritized by the vendor. This meant lead time and dependency that delayed innovation.
With Twilio’s cloud communications platform, match.com has more flexibility to enhance the product and add more features quickly. Thanks to Twilio, the company now has more control over matchPhone’s success. And match.com members have more ways to communicate with their potential dates.
It’s win-win for everyone.
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