Scots On The Vox Is Our Number One. But Lloyd Is Gross Man

When it comes to a sexy voice, it seems you can't beat a Scot

Film star Sir Sean Connery has been selected as having the sexiest voice in Britain according to a new MORI poll for Vodafone, which is launching its revolutionised Voicemail service. And it doesn't matter how old you are or where you're from, the recently knighted Scot is still your favourite. The ex 007 was top with nearly two in five (41%) of the votes followed by fellow Scot, news presenter Kirsty Young with 14% - although Scotland's tiny temptress, Gail Porter proved the exception to the rule with just 4% of the votes.

However, if you're a politician, you probably don't turn us on either. William Hague and Ann Widdecombe both did badly in the Vodafone/MORI poll, beaten only by food guru Lloyd Grossman, as having the most annoying voice in Britain.

Vodafone, the UK's most popular mobile phone network commissioned the poll of over 2,000 people in Great Britain aged 15 plus to look at the British public's phone and messaging habits.

According to the survey, men and women all over Britain are united in their frustration over people forgetting to give their number when leaving a message, as nearly a third claimed this was the most annoying thing omitted from a message. This, however, is addressed by Vodafone's Voicemail as the caller number is captured, along with a time and date stamp.

The survey also discovered that Londoners are the more likely to use an answer service on their mobile phones (64%) than any other people in Britain. This is a complete contrast to those living in Wales where only 29% use a mobile answering service - 17% of those who don't use it complaining that it is just too difficult. Again, this is overcome by Vodafone's Voicemail service with its improved menu structure and on-line help.

In addition, Vodafone/MORI's survey showed that a large percentage of both men and women are reluctant to leave a message when they hear the beep. At work, 77% of men and 71% of women may not leave a message when confronted by an answer machine and these figures rise to 82% and 78% respectively when it's a social call.

Elsewhere, the survey pointed to the rocketing popularity of text messaging. Over a quarter of 16 to 20 year old mobile phone users consider it a form of communication they couldn't live without, a fact supported by the latest figures which show that 500m text messages were sent across all the UK's mobile networks in May this year.

This survey was commissioned to support the launch of Vodafone's new Voicemail service. Replacing the current Vodafone Recall offering, it is a new improved answer service for your Vodafone mobile.

It has taken the best aspects of Recall, made them even more user friendly, and then added features to ensure that retrieving messages becomes second nature to the customer.

Vodafone's new Voicemail gives you:

• A new recorded voice which navigates you through a simpler menu structure, making getting your messages as painless as possible
• online help so it's even easier to set up and use
• caller number capture with time and date stamp - played on request or automatically during playback
• the option to delete a message on first hearing by just keying '3'
• ability to save messages for 7 days and store unread messages up to 21 days
• ability to change the replay order so important messages can be played first
• better than ever security as customers can not access messages remotely without first changing the default access pin code from their mobile phone (once the welcome message has been deleted by the user)

Technical details

• The number you call to retrieve messages, 1-2-1, will not change.
• Any saved information such as personal greetings, messages, security PIN, alert preference and mailbox number will be retained.
• Calls to Vodafone Voicemail are charged at the standard national rate and are included in the customer's monthly bundle of inclusive minutes.
• MORI Omnibus. Nationally representative sample of 2,118 British adults aged 15+, face-to-face interviews carried out between 20-24 July 2000. Results are weighted to reflect national population profile.
• E-MORI is a division of MORI focusing on new electronic technologies including the Internet, IT, telecoms as well as new music and entertainment technologies such as digital television.