For whatever reason, there are times when the act of conversing with buddies, girlfriends or family is just too emotionally straining. But what if you have important information they need to know?

Well, there's a crafty little helper out there called Slydial. The free service allows you to connect directly with someone's mobile voicemail, and avoid any chance of a lame, boring or otherwise awkward conversation.

Even better, a slydial call will come up on caller ID as a missed call coming from your phone number. The service works with any user in the U.S., regardless of mobile carrier.

We highly recommend it for calling in sick to work and requesting one-night stands return your hooded sweatshirt.