I like the way Virgin Mobile USA operates — they may be the prepaid MVNO, but they keep investing in different services to differentiate themselves from the competition. Today, the MVNO announced a new service called “Contact Vault” to allow its users with Switch_Back or Cyclops handsets to backup and restore their personal contacts. The idea is of course to protect Virgin Mobile USA users in the case their phone is lost, stolen, damaged or upgraded.
Beside standard backup and restore functionality, the carrier emphasizes the “kill feature,” which can be used to wipe out all contacts from the handset should it be lost or stolen. There’s also an option to import contacts from Outlook and Yahoo! Mail, as well as the regular auto-syncing feature.
Virgin Mobile USA’s customers can access “Contact Vault” directly through compatible handsets on the Virgin XL menu or through the carrier’s website to manage and change the contact information online.