Why a voice, and not another chat app

Typing isn't talking

Most of what passes for conversation now happens with thumbs. You draft, delete, redraft, send and wait. It's tidy, it's safe, and it's rarely much fun.

A voice can't be edited. You hear the laugh before the answer, the pause before the change of subject, the moment someone clearly wasn't expecting that question. You're both in the same moment at the same time, which is rather the point of talking.

That's why Covmod is something you ring rather than something you download. No app, no profile to fill in, no inbox to keep on top of. A number, a code and a voice.

The quiet bit nobody mentions

Britain has had a government minister whose brief includes loneliness since 2018, which tells you it's stopped being a private matter. Plenty of people get through whole days saying little more than 'cheers' at the till.

We won't pretend a phone line fixes that. What we offer is smaller and more honest: an evening where you talk and someone talks back, with warmth and a bit of wit, and nobody keeping score. It's adult entertainment built around good conversation, and we're happy to call it exactly that.

Choosing who answers

On a lot of lines you get whoever happens to be on shift. We think you should choose. Every hostess has a profile: her languages, what she likes talking about, how she tends to come across and whether she's available right now. You read, you pick, you key in her code.

The women who answer are real, over 18 and working with our telephony partner under stage names. The photos, names and bios on their profiles are computer-generated, and we say so on the profiles and in the footer. We'd rather lose a call than let you believe otherwise.

One price, stated up front

Every call costs 45p/min plus your phone company's access charge. The same for every hostess, whatever time you ring. No subscription, nothing to join, no bundles of minutes to top up.

Premium-rate lines earned their reputation in Britain through small print. We put the price beside the number, every time, because a decision made with the full picture is one you won't regret in the morning.

What Covmod won't pretend to be

A service claiming to cure loneliness would be lying, and lying to people who deserve better. So here's where we draw the line.

• Not a helpline. We have neither the training nor the remit of a proper listening service, and unlike one, we charge.
• Not therapy or support of any kind, and no substitute for either.
• Not a dating service. The call is the whole product: nobody swaps numbers or arranges anything afterwards.
• Not a gallery of real women. The profile pictures are computer-generated.
• Not for under-18s. 18+ only, always.

Who it's for, and who it isn't

Covmod is for someone who fancies a proper conversation tonight, wants to hear a voice after a long week of typing, or simply enjoys flirting with someone who's good at it, and doesn't feel the need to justify any of that.

It isn't for anyone after a date, and it isn't for anyone going through something heavy. If that's you, a confidential service will do far more than we can: Samaritans answer on 116 123, day and night. Your GP is a good place to start, too.