MobileSphere went from about 5,000 users of its SlyDial service to more than 100,000 users in about three days last week. It didn’t hurt that the service got a mention on the “Today” show.

“We’ve had a lot of users … tremendous growth,” said Gavin Macomber, co-founder and executive vice president of marketing and business development.

The SlyDial service is pretty much what it sounds like. The service connects callers with the voice mail of the person they’re trying to call, regardless of whether that person is available to talk by phone or not. The free, ad-supported service is billed as a way to dodge awkward conversations or relay information to friends or business contacts without having to interrupt them. The caller knows their message is going direct to voice mail, so they don’t have to talk “live” with anyone. It is somewhat similar to voice SMS types of services.

MobileSphere also offers a premium service for people who don’t want to listen to ads. A pay-per-use model costs 15 cents per voice message, or subscription options are available for $4.95 a month or $29.95 a year.

To “slydial” someone, users dial 267-SLYDIAL (267-759-3425) and follow the voice prompts. 

MobileSphere launched with CellularLD several years ago. It offers about eight different products in total.