Submitted by Mike Grenville on Mon, 24 Oct 2005 18:21

Football fans will be able to use their video phones to send comments on England World Cup qualifiers directly to the programme for possible inclusion.

London-based video messaging solution provider VoxSurf said that the BBC has deployed its technology to power a new trial called 'Your Shout!' The trial allows football fans to send in 3G video messages with their opinions on the crucial England internationals and during Football Focus broadcasts.

Currently only available on 3 and Vodafone, by making a video call to shortcode 62001 and following the on-screen instructions, football fans can leave their comments. Programme editors will be able to select the best content to be broadcast on live TV both during and after the matches, which are being covered live on Match of the Day. The best videos will also be shown on the BBC Sport website.

The trial is based on VoxSurf's VxOne video messaging technology, customised for the BBC. Once video messages are received they are immediately sent to the Match of the Day editorial team as emails. Additionally, the system retains the caller's number, enabling them to be contacted for further opinions or quotes.

It extends BBC Sport's current usage of video messaging capabilities, which is being used on Football Focus, the BBC's Saturday lunchtime football show. Video clips are submitted to Football Focus and then broadcast on the following week's show as well as the Football Focus website.

"The 'Your Shout!' trial is a world first - we haven't seen another method that applies video messaging to allow users to interact with and contribute to live TV broadcasting," commented Andy Munarriz, co-founder of VoxSurf. "It combines the immediacy of the phone with the excitement of video to allow anyone to create personalised content and become a football pundit. With 3G becoming mainstream we see major opportunities for leading broadcasters to get even closer to their viewers."