New Yo messaging service lets doctors say Yo! I'm ready to examine you

Our friends at Yo have dreamed up a couple of new uses for their ultra-simple messaging service that transmits just one word.

The Israeli company has so far been sailing along quite nicely on the sheer novelty of its app, but it knows that it will have to find some more serious applications to keep the fun going.

So today we learn about “Yo Lineup,” a messaging tool that will help doctors offices and restaurants handle appointments and reservations.

“It’s a separate web app that is built on top of the Yo API platform,” explains Yo spokeswoman Ayelet Noff.

The app turns phones into pagers, in essence, letting doctors tell patients when their appointment is about to happen, and letting restaurants tell customers when their table is ready.

The app is free, but in order for food patrons and health patients to be notified, they have to have the app and be signed in.

Yo says its app has now been installed 2 million times.

So far, Yo has taken $1.5 million in venture funding.

“There’s a fine line between stupid and genius,” said Yo co-founder Moshe Hogeg onstage at VentureBeat’s MobileBeat conference July 9.

He also said that “sometimes the message is the message.”  For telling people their table or health exam is ready to happen, a single word really is all you need.