Wizzard Software is excited to announce that WizzTones, Wizzard Software’s premiere software application for Skype, has become Skype Certified through a worldwide co-marketing and licensing agreement.

WizzTones is a unique software product designed specifically for use with Skype, one of the leading applications in global Internet communications. WizzTones provides Skype customers with a fun, inventive and resourceful way to manage their Skype contacts list. With WizzTones, customers can assign each individual on their Skype contacts list a personalized ring tone, giving them the freedom to walk away from the computer but still be able to identify just who is trying to get in touch with them.

“We are delighted to enter this new relationship with Skype,” said Danielle Lewis, marketing director for Wizzard Software. “This agreement will allow us to broaden our global reach and bring WizzTones to even more Skype users throughout the world.”

In order to become Skype Certified, WizzTones was required to pass multiple Skype technical tests to insure proper compatibility with Skype and meet all of Skype’s design standards.

Skype Certification allows WizzTones to take advantage of marketing, retail and distribution opportunities with Skype, including: a listing in Skype's online store, which exposes WizzTones to a world-wide market; an introduction of WizzTones to Skype's worldwide retail and distribution partners through the Skype Certification Catalog; and participation in select Skype events, promotions and marketing initiatives.

This agreement also gives Wizzard Software the ability to use the Skype Certified logo in conjunction with WizzTones and all WizzTones marketing materials.

The truly unique feature of WizzTones allows users to create customized "talking" alerts using Wizzard's one-of-a-kind online text-to-speech creation process. This exclusive feature provides the ability to produce an announcement alert, spoken in a computer-generated, life-like male or female voice, in up to 10 different languages.

WizzTones also allows users to search for and assign various ringtones offered by and purchased directly from Skype, including popular ringtones and sound effects. Users may also choose from the many free ringtones included with the WizzTones download. Yet another feature of WizzTones allows users to create vocal ringtones using a microphone.

Skype is the world’s fastest-growing Internet communication offering, allowing unlimited free voice and video communication between Skype users. Skype currently has more than 113 million registered users, is available in 27 languages and is used in almost every country around the world. Users can also take advantage of Skype’s premium features such as the ability to make and receive calls to and from traditional phones, voicemail, call forwarding, ring tones, and personalization options.

According to an August 2006 report issued by Point Topic, overall VoIP subscribers rose by 83 percent. The VoIP services market is expected to reach $11.3 billion by 2007, with a compound annual growth rate of 27.2 percent, according to Gartner Dataquest. According to ZDNet Research, in 2005, ringtones pulled in $600 million, 20 percent ahead of estimates and more than double the 2004 take.