Source: andyabramson.blogs.com

I have to admit upfront that having the best of breed clients all playing in the world of VoIP is probably one of the most exciting parts of my job. Just like the Master of The Mashup Thomas Howe gets to take the best of the best tools and make something new and different happen in the sense of great new Voice 2.0 applications, my team and I get to play mixologists when it comes to how our clients and their technologies, either amongst themselves or with our pals in the media and the blogosphere get to tell their stories. But more importantly, what we’re demonstrating is how to use the tools and media opportunities that exist today to flatten and level the 1.0 media world by being agents of change.

Yesterday iotum’s Alec Saunders continued to show off the feature rich capabilities of the iotum Free Conference Calling platform that works from within Facebook during his daily Sqawk Box podcast with the usual group of suspects including Voxeo’s Dan York and ATS’s Adam Somer to name a few. Alec artfully interviewed SightSpeed’s VP of Marketing, Eric Quanstrom about and extracted many of the key points that really paint the picture of where SightSpeed is headed. This wasn’t interpretive journalism or opinion based blogging. It was facts and information straight from the so called "horses mouth" as Eric took the group and listeners through the direction SightSpeed is heading with Google and Open Social.

Later that same day, Skype Journal’s new master of the microphone, Jim Courtney, proved that at any age, anyone can learn how to use the tools of podcasting after taking the VAPPS High Definition Conferencing service’s built-in record the call feature and turned his interview with VAPPS founder Ben Lillenthal into a podcast. During the call Ben signaled the market giving Jim the heads up on the new name change from High Speed to HiDef Conferencing and also revealed how more is coming from VAPPs.

Besides showing off his business acumen, Courtney showed that he did his homework as the line of questioning he took, and just like Saunders did with Quanstrom had a real conversation with VAPPS CEO and wove a story together in real time.

Add to it that he Courtney used the VAPPS new HiDef Conferencing capabilities that works with Skype and we all now are getting to hear just how simply amazing the audio quality is when all parties are using Skype endpoints. I for one have been using the HiDef service for a while, and actually was one of the first trial set of ears that Ben called on even before his company became a client. The difference is immediately noticeable between a regular audio conference and a HiDef Conference in what can best be described as tone and audio richness.

In both cases the information disseminated by the use of the call recording and podcast tools clearly demonstrates how VoIP in the middle makes for new ways to communicate. For broadcasters and podcasters the tools available today far outweigh what was there only a few years ago, and pretty much have to be putting companies who make high priced audio gear for broadcasters on the ropes. None of what was done cost anyone any money to record, encode, produce and publish. That’s flattening and leveling in my book.

Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

I am very happy to see fellow blogger Alec Saunders‘ iotum going global with it’s FREE Conference Calls application on facebook. iotum is supported by a international group of companies. Namely they are, Truphone in the U.K., Abbeynet in Italy and MOI Telecom in France. Following is the Press release by iotum and I suggest you also read, VoIP Watch article by Andy Abramson, one of the people responsible (I hope that gentle push came from you Andy, not MOI, Forgive me for guessing.) for this marvelous marriage (Only place I agree on Polygamy is market place). Andy, I think I am in need to find some purple minutes.

OTTAWA & February 27, 2008– iotum today announced global availability of its popular FREE Conference Calls application on Facebook under agreements with Internet communications partners Truphone in the U.K., Abbeynet in Italy and MOI Telecom in France.

Iotum CEO Alec Saunders said the global expansion of FREE Conference Calls is in response to demand from users of the application launched on Facebook last September. "Now, thanks to our partnership agreements, anyone can join a FREE Conference Calls from anywhere in the world."

"FREE Conference Calls has many standard features not available from other providers," he said. "We give our users the ability to provide agendas for their calls; moderators can mute or unmute the calls; record a podcast; schedule calls in advance, or provide reminders. Hosts can also queue participants to speak, and we even provide a live "writing wall" for interactive text chat."

Since launch, Iotum’s FREE Conference Calls service on Facebook has attracted more than 90,000 users. Conference calls have been created to hold public teleseminars, private meetings, family events, New Year’s Eve countdowns, political discussions and to record multiperson podcasts.

Starting today, users can join an iotum FREE Conference Call using one of three methods:

• Direct dial from home, office, or mobile. In the United States, Canada and France, users can dial the conference server directly using an ordinary call and be joined to the FREE Conference Call. Iotum intends to roll out more directdial countries in the future by recruiting additional partners to service other parts of the world.
• VoIP. From anywhere in the world, users can call using their PCs. All that’s required is an active Internet connection, and clicking on the FREE Conference Calls application icon in Facebook.
• Call back. A user can be called back simply by entering into the FREE Conference Calls application on Facebook the phone number where his or her call is to be received.

"Participants don’t have to be on Facebook, but it’s more valuable for them if they are," Saunders said. "And it’s easy. Facebook users simply install the iotum FREE Conference Calls application and invite friends for a group chat."

Sherman Hu, producer and host of the ShermanLive.com blog, wrote: "As a coach to thousands of business owners about the innovative combination and profitable deployment of blogs, podcasts, video and social media for business, I see the ability to conduct training calls and have anyone outside of North America dial in from anywhere in the world at no charge as a priceless benefit. This initiative will have farreaching impact for my global business."

At Truphone, Platform Director Dean Elwood said: "Truphone already has built a reputation for telephony innovation by providing free mobiletomobile calls via the Internet. This tieup with Iotum fits perfectly with our vision of providing new ways for people to call each other without heed to old world boundaries and pricing structures."

Source: andyabramson.blogs.com

Alec’s post reminded me just how useful the newest version of iotum’s Free Conference Calling app that works from within Facebook really is.

The newest version adds recording. For time shifting team members who need to "hear" but not actuallybe on ever call, this is a wonderful application. It’s screaming for integration into 37 Signals Basecamp and Google Docs and Apps, where the audio file can be listed, stored or linked to.

Source: goebel.net

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Wifimobile quits their flatrate model and goes prepay like Truphone. The move is said to be inspired by a blog post from iotum’s Alec Saunders from Canada who managed to spend just $4.16 on mobile calls and roaming at the IP industry event Fall 2007 VON in Boston. Calls were handled by either TruPhone (if in a Wifi zone) or Mobivox (if not).

Wifimobile users can now set up accounts to make very cheap calls over Wi-Fi as per Truphone, and GSM Call through access as per Mobivox. The rates are competitive, such as under $0.10 per minute to India. You can find them here. The move was necessary because Wifimobile’s previous flatrate model could not offer calls to many countries like India and the Middle East as it looked like this:

Only 15.99 11.99 7.99 Per Month

The oneFone service from WiFiMobile allows you to make unlimited* free calls to landlines in over 40 countries as well as mobile phones in certain countries including the USA. For a list of countries that you can call for free click here.

All calls to landline and mobile numbers to countries not listed here are automatically routed through your normal GSM provider. This allows us to guarantee that customers are never charged more than the set monthly line rental.

*The unlimited free calls are subject to a fair usage policy.

In the last months Wifimobile had to walk in the shadow of Truphone, because they offered calls to the same countries for free in a limited offer that always got extended. Calls to destinations outside these 40 countries could at least be completed as paid calls with Truphone, while Wifimobile just couldn’t offer them.

As Truphone’s free calls should have finished at the end of the year, Wifimobile hoped to compete on the same level with them and beat them with more VoIP features. An added enhancement is that people can register not only their cell phone but also the home or office landline for the use with Wifimobile’s callthrough numbers. That brings more calls onto Wifimobile’s VoIP network and makes their service usable outside of Wifi areas.

Truphone lacks such a nice callthrough feature and I am missing it, as I told in my blog post "Packet8 MobileTalk could be done much better". Wifimobile also offers real time call records, which can be viewed in a secure customer portal, and they are also currently working on an inbound solution.

But will this be enough to step out of Truphone’s shadow?

It must have been a strong blow that Truphone has just announced the extension of their free calling to landlines (and some cellphones) in 40 countries until the end of February 2008, only one week after Wifimobile changed their business model. Free phone calls are still the strongest argument for the VoIP customer. Read both companies’ press releases! I am quite convinced that Truphone will never charge for these calls. We can already prepare for the next extensions in March, July and December. That’s how it worked in 2007.

WiFiMobile goes global with prepay VoIP and dial through service

Los Angeles California December 13th 2007 - Leading mobile VoIP provider WiFiMobile today announced that their VoIP service has changed to prepay with very competitive costs.

The company had previously charged a monthly subscription which allowed free calls to landlines in certain countries, however calls to all other worldwide destinations were barred. The introduction of a top up system now presents a global platform.

WiFiMobiles new tariff rate has been completely revised and users can now take advantage of calls such as to India at under 10 US cents per minute. Calls to other online WiFiMobile customers are free regardless of location.

Their unique local access numbers remain in place where cheap calls can be made when no Wi-Fi access point is in range. These numbers are available in twelve countries at present with more to follow shortly. Customers can also register other numbers such as their home landline to utilise these access numbers. This combines Internet and dial through calling into just one account.

The service is available at the companys website where their VoIP client oneFone can be downloaded instantly to any compatible Nokia E or N Series smartphone. A free $1 credit is applied to all new accounts to test the technology. Customers are also able to securely access the log in portal to view account balance, top up history and real time CDRs.

The companys VoIP client oneFone fully supports Presence enabling users to see who is online at any time with other business features such as Call Conferencing, Call Transfer and VCC (Voice Call Continuity) coming soon.

WiFiMobile CEO says "This stretches out our potential market to places that we couldnt touch previously. Countries such as India have over 200 million mobile users and have a huge overseas based population. Our rates are very competitive and we have the most robust VoIP client".

For further information please visit www.wifimobile.com or email pr@wifimobile.com.

WiFiMobile

Head Office:
3250 Wilshire Boulevard
9th Floor
Los Angeles
California
CA 90010

Tel: +1 310 459 3000 Ext 2

Email: pr@wifimobile.com

ABOUT WIFIMOBILE

WiFiMobile were founded in 2002 and have offices in the US and UK. In 2004 the company achieved status of a Forum Nokia S60 3rd Edition Featured Developer, one of only 23 recognized worldwide.

VoIP client oneFone is a self developed and wholly owned application and provides cheap or free long distance calls as well as converting select Nokia devices into extensions of corporate IP IBX systems. The company is poised to achieve phenomenal growth in the next year in this rapidly evolving market.

Thursday, December 20, 2007
Truphone freezes call charges until the end of February 2008

Truphone today announced that all Truphone call charges have been frozen at their current rates until February 29th 2008. For the next two months, Truphone calls will be free to landlines in 40 countries, and to mobiles in the USA, Canada and elsewhere. Using Truphone to call EU mobiles costs just 15 pence per minute or less.

Truphone call charges summary

• Free calls to landlines in 40 countries
• Free calls to cellphones USA, Canada, China, Hong Kong and Singapore
• Pay 15 pence or less to EU mobiles - and no connection charge
• Free mobile calls to other online Truphone customers
• No roaming fees: Truphone calls costs the same wherever you are
• No download cost, no monthly charge and no inbound fees
• These rates are guaranteed until February 29th 2008. Rates quoted are exclusive of VAT
• Anyone with a suitable handset can get Truphone by sending an SMS with the word ‘Tru’ to +44 7624 000000

Source: andyabramson.blogs.com

Client Alec Saunders reports on the rapid adoption of the free Facebook conference calling application that iotum has developed.

With three clients (iotum, Truphone and Voxalot) who have developed really cool apps for FaceBook, I’m seeing Jeff Pulver’s claim that FaceBook is really an operating system take hold. My one modifier to that is its more a platform than an OS, but I think we’re saying the same thing.

With iotum crossing the 50,000 user mark this clearly shows people want to do more than just have text and photos on Facebook. It also shows that their is a large audience which wants real-time symmetrical communications. This bodes well for Voxalot and Truphone too.

Source: gigaom.com

Source: goebel.net

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You know that I bashed Facebook very hard for being a terrible time sucker. Many Web 2.0 applications need too much attention, compared to their value. But there are some utilizations that make me smile, because the unleash the potential of Web 2.0 without wasting my precious time and money. Like Voxalot’s latest Facebook application, VoxCall for Facebook, that really disrupts telecommunications. It let’s me make free phone calls without touching the PSTN. Read the announcement:

On Monday 19th Nov 2007 Voxalot will be officially launching our new social communications application for Facebook called VoxCall.

VoxCall is an exciting new initiative from Voxalot that allows Facebook users to click on their friends and initiate phone calls. The beauty of VoxCall is that it is self-organising in that if your VoxCall friend changes their contact phone number, you don’t even have to be notified… VoxCall will use whatever number they have registered.

VoxCall also offers both public and private chat rooms where VoxCall friends can get together for a group discussion.

The underlying technology that VoxCall uses to connect calls is Voice over IP addresses (often known as SIP URIs). When you add the VoxCall application, you will be prompted to enter your SIP URI. To ensure that you are the rightful owner of that number, VoxCall will display a PIN number on the screen and then call the number you entered. Your phone will ring and you will be prompted to enter the PIN, which is validated.

As such, VoxCall supports calls between friends that belong to *any* "open" voice network (not just Voxalot).

The beauty is that VoxCall uses VoIP without touching the PSTN. My buddies just enter their SIP URI and I can call them with just one click in Facebook. When they change their SIP address I don’t have to bother to update my data since their Facebook button stays the same. We stay connected for free from SIP to SIP.

I find this much more nifty than the Facebook apps from Jajah, Jangl, Jaxtr, Rebtel, IVR Technologies, iotum, Sitfono or Grandcentral. They also connect people on Facebook and let them call me for free, in most cases. But there is always a telephone number involved, so that someone has to pay an incumbent telco which provides them.

Source: goebel.net

I always wondered about the power of Comunicano. That’s the marketing communications company of Andy Abramson, one of the most intesting bloggers in the VoIP industry. From some of his blog posts I already had gotten the vague feeling that he must be some kind of mastermind.

Many of my blog posts lead back to information that Comunicano spread. But I could realize that only recently, because Comunicano’s website is nearly empty. No press releases, no list of clients - while Andy, the company’s founder and head, is one of the most influential bloggers in the VoIP industry.

Some weeks ago I wrote how I feel about this situation:

Especially the VoIP area, which became a main focus of this blog, is dominated by blogs of entrepreneurs who have an interest in maximizing their profits. Luca, Andy, David, Alec, Pat and others run great websites, but there you will hardly find tipps on how to hack their companies’ services for free phone calls. They use their blog as a business tool.

Today I realized that my blog is full of Comunicano’s clients: Covad, Entriq, IntelePeer, iotum, Junction Networks, Mobivox, Nokia, PhoneGnome, SightSpeed, TalkPlus, Thomas Howe, Truphone, Voxalot and Vringo. Comunicano has set up a blog with their latest press releases and finally published their list of clients.

Thank you for this disclosure, Andy. I feel better now. It helps me to judge the posts on your blog which often are starting points for my own articles. I would have written these texts anyway because the topics were interesting. But it’s always better to know precisely who is feeding you an information.

Also now it’s easier to get first hand information about these companies without delay. Kudos to Comunicano for interesting and not annoying press relations so far!

I appreciate openness.

Source: voipcentral.org

Iotum and Jajah have got together for offering click to call Jajah support for Talk Now application support for Blackberry devices. Alec Saunders owned Iotum and Jajah have other plans in mind too and they are also looking at support for address books and conference calls. With Talk Now users dont have to face phone tag anymore and can stay in touch with people. It will ensure lesser interruptions and you will need to return very few voicemails as a result.

Also with Jajah being included one can enjoy international calls at very low prices. Later on both the companies would be introducing something for the Symbian phones too.

Alec Saunders stated in a phone chat:

We [Iotum and Jajah] have pretty similar views of what is happening in the world of new voice apps.

BlackBerry users can certainly rejoice and it looks that the association would turn out to be more fruitful in the future.

Image

Via: gigaom

Source: voipcentral.org

Smith has informed me that Iotum,the Voice 2.0 company is now seeking beta users for its latest product Iotum Talk-Now. The striking feature of Talk-Now is that it can share your contact specific availability to let people know when to reach. It shows the personalized availability of your favored contacts. It also notify you the status of a contact. The Blackberry 8700 and PEARL users can sign up here for the beta test.

Source: voipcentral.org

FWD customers now can enjoy iotums Relevance Engine as an application on all the FWD Platforms.

Benefits:

iotum Relevance Engine can intelligently judge a calls relevance and route it to the most appropriate device across the network. Now FWD can easily deploy this application over its network to help its users get an enhanced communication experience. FWD also supports communication over other providers services.

User trials of iotum and FWD integration will start from early next year. Jeff pulver who has been voicing Voice 2.0 for a long time now will be expanding its market.

“As the value of network minutes decreases,” said FWD Founder and IP Communications Entrepreneur Jeff Pulver, “Voice 2.0 applications like the iotum Relevance Engine will become the new drivers of value in the communications industry.”

About FWD:

FWD is a Pulver.com company, founded by IP Communications entrepreneur, Jeff Pulver. It provides an open and innovative standards-based IP platform enabling people to have a better communications experience and enhance their control. The FWD platform allows users to communicate using VoIP, video, IM etc and supports the ability to communicate with other providers’ services.

About iotum

iotum is a Voice 2.0 company founded in 2003. iotum is setting out to shape a world where devices and services work seamlessly together to let people communicate with who they want, when they want and on the device they want.