We are back again with the Best VOIP Stuff in 2008. Today, we look at some of the best SIP softphones we could use for our VOIP needs. For newbies, There are many more better softphones than X-lite :-)
X-lite is probably the most widely used SIP softphone in the world. SIP was originally designed by Henning Schulzrinne (Columbia University) and Mark Handley (UCL) starting in 1996.If you are still new to the whole SIP technology and SIP based VOIP, then read our SIP Guide.
There are many more SIP softphones which were recently launched or have been around for a while just not yet noticed by the whole VOIP world or just limited to the Professionals. Today, we vote for the best of the best SIP softphones.
1) X-lite: World's most widely used Free SIP Softphone. The biggest disadvantage is you can have only one SIP account at one time.
2) Ekiga: One of the latest SIP softphones which is open source and stable. Offers VoIP and video conferencing and supports SIP and H.253 Protocol which is used for Video conferencing.
3) 3CX Softphone: 3CX is totally a windows based company. They make Windows based PBX and offer a excellent SIP softphone. We recommended them last time as Must Download SIP Softphone.
4) Linphone: Similar to Twinkle, its a Linux based SIP softphone. Getting popular lately. Not recommended for novice users, coz its more complicated to use.
5) ZOIPER: Zoiper is a SIP/IAX softphone client. Also supports T.38 FAX OVER IP. Zoiper is extremely popular these days and has received good media coverage. Another recommended Softphone.
I am sure there are many more good SIP softphones, Just list them down as "Other". Please vote below for your most favorite SIP softphone in 2008.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Get your iNum Global VOIP number
iNum is finally launched and available on multiple VOIP Networks. Its about time you start allocating yourself a iNum,a Global VOIP number for your phone.
VoxAlot/SIPBroker, Gizmo 5, VOIPUser have started integration of iNum into their service. You can instatly get your iNum without any special changes to your account.
For example, if you have a Gizmo5 account then you already have a iNum.
To know what’s your iNum number look for your Gizmo5 SIP number, which looks like 1-747-XXX-XXXX and replace the [1-747] with [883 510 07].
Example: If your Gizmo5 SIP number is 1-747 123 4567 then your iNum is +883 510 071 234 567.
I would however like to debate the whole concept of iNum today for the reason that at this time iNum does nothing more than what ENum does today. There is still a 2 process step required to dial a iNum. Their whole What is iNum page is full of jargons which a common man wouldn't understand.
I would be really happy if they can put together a simple FAQ page explaing how inum can be used. We all know you give us a +883 code and it can be accessed from anywhere in the world. OK Got it now how do we access it? Can we get the call on my Phone or I have to be tied up to my PC? Sometimes, I wonder whoever writes FAQ documents should always assume that a 1 yr kid is reading it not a 35 year old expert in the field. Hope iNum could improve on that explanation of what they can do and what they can't. With whatever knowledge I have and whatever I understood from iNum website, it doesnt add any value to me. It looks the same as ENUM.
There are many users who are complaining that iNum should be a one step service. You dial the number and it's connected. No more additional usernames and extensions to be dialed.
Guess, once I setup my iNum I will write a comprehensive guide on how to use iNum. If anyone else already written it, let me know.
VoxAlot/SIPBroker, Gizmo 5, VOIPUser have started integration of iNum into their service. You can instatly get your iNum without any special changes to your account.
For example, if you have a Gizmo5 account then you already have a iNum.
To know what’s your iNum number look for your Gizmo5 SIP number, which looks like 1-747-XXX-XXXX and replace the [1-747] with [883 510 07].
Example: If your Gizmo5 SIP number is 1-747 123 4567 then your iNum is +883 510 071 234 567.
I would however like to debate the whole concept of iNum today for the reason that at this time iNum does nothing more than what ENum does today. There is still a 2 process step required to dial a iNum. Their whole What is iNum page is full of jargons which a common man wouldn't understand.
I would be really happy if they can put together a simple FAQ page explaing how inum can be used. We all know you give us a +883 code and it can be accessed from anywhere in the world. OK Got it now how do we access it? Can we get the call on my Phone or I have to be tied up to my PC? Sometimes, I wonder whoever writes FAQ documents should always assume that a 1 yr kid is reading it not a 35 year old expert in the field. Hope iNum could improve on that explanation of what they can do and what they can't. With whatever knowledge I have and whatever I understood from iNum website, it doesnt add any value to me. It looks the same as ENUM.
There are many users who are complaining that iNum should be a one step service. You dial the number and it's connected. No more additional usernames and extensions to be dialed.
Guess, once I setup my iNum I will write a comprehensive guide on how to use iNum. If anyone else already written it, let me know.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
ChristmasDialer offers Free Long distance VOIP Calls
Want to make free voip call to your kids this christmas? Yes, now you can make a long distance call to anyone in the usa for free with custom messages from Santa.
Christmas Dialer a unique FREE VOIP service for north america, lets you customise a message and choose a phone number anywhere in the USA and they would make the call for you.
Its basically a way to wish someone a merry christmas all thanks to VOIP technology. Christmas Dialer is cool and make your kids special. They might even feel that Santa has actually called them to wish :-)
It works on 2 steps:
1) you enter the phone number of the person you would like to receive the call.
2) You customise one of the three messages.
3) then a phone call will be placed with your selected message.
Here is a small Video on how Free Long Distance call from christmasDialer works:
I suggest you give them a try and make the most of this free long distance calling service.
Christmas Dialer a unique FREE VOIP service for north america, lets you customise a message and choose a phone number anywhere in the USA and they would make the call for you.
Its basically a way to wish someone a merry christmas all thanks to VOIP technology. Christmas Dialer is cool and make your kids special. They might even feel that Santa has actually called them to wish :-)
It works on 2 steps:
1) you enter the phone number of the person you would like to receive the call.
2) You customise one of the three messages.
3) then a phone call will be placed with your selected message.
Here is a small Video on how Free Long Distance call from christmasDialer works:
I suggest you give them a try and make the most of this free long distance calling service.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Jaxtr Launches FreeConnect slashes Calling Rates
Jaxtr has been in and out of the mainstream VOIP market since last year. Did they spent VC's money properly or just gave away in free calls? Good thing for you is they are still ready to take a risk with Free International Calling.
Jaxtr launched a new service they call as "FreeConnect". You need to be a Registered members to use the service. You can use the jaxtr Web interface to enter the international number they want to call. Jaxtr then gives you a local number to call to reach the overseas person. When the original member places a call, jaxtr notifies the overseas recipient by text message or email, providing that person with a local number to call. When he or she does so, jaxtr connects the original caller's and the recipient's local calls via VoIP circuits. After the first call, the two people can reach each other at any time by calling the local numbers jaxtr has given them. Such local numbers are currently available in 55 countries. Anyone knows if Jaxtr is able to assign numbers in India? Unfortunately I couldn't verify this information.
Jaxtr is betting on Free International Calls even when its proven to be not doing well for many companies including themselves. They had to layoff a few employees recently and had major issues getting fresh capital injection.
Only time can tell if Jaxtr can survive with the Free Model but I have already identified them as next potential fallout from the Free VOIP Provider list.
Besides FreeConnect, Jaxtr also slashed its normal calling rates for the holiday season.
India US$ 0.024 / min
USA US$ 0.008 / min
Canada US$ 0.008 / min
China US$ 0.008 / min
UK US$ 0.008 / min
Let's Give Jaxtr another try and see if there is any improvement at all.
Jaxtr launched a new service they call as "FreeConnect". You need to be a Registered members to use the service. You can use the jaxtr Web interface to enter the international number they want to call. Jaxtr then gives you a local number to call to reach the overseas person. When the original member places a call, jaxtr notifies the overseas recipient by text message or email, providing that person with a local number to call. When he or she does so, jaxtr connects the original caller's and the recipient's local calls via VoIP circuits. After the first call, the two people can reach each other at any time by calling the local numbers jaxtr has given them. Such local numbers are currently available in 55 countries. Anyone knows if Jaxtr is able to assign numbers in India? Unfortunately I couldn't verify this information.
Jaxtr is betting on Free International Calls even when its proven to be not doing well for many companies including themselves. They had to layoff a few employees recently and had major issues getting fresh capital injection.
Only time can tell if Jaxtr can survive with the Free Model but I have already identified them as next potential fallout from the Free VOIP Provider list.
Besides FreeConnect, Jaxtr also slashed its normal calling rates for the holiday season.
India US$ 0.024 / min
USA US$ 0.008 / min
Canada US$ 0.008 / min
China US$ 0.008 / min
UK US$ 0.008 / min
Let's Give Jaxtr another try and see if there is any improvement at all.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Best Residential VOIP Phone Service Provider in 2008
Today we choose the Best Residential VOIP Phone Service Provider in USA in 2008. Residential Service Providers have seen good and bad times in 2008. With fall of sunrocket, is your VOIP Provider safe and sound?
We analyse over 20 VOIP Providers in USA before choosing the finalist, which we believe currently has significant user base and have received more feedback than other Residential VOIP Providers.
1) Lingo: Lingo probably has the best VOIP Phone Service Deal on the internet. For $21.95 per month, they offer unlimited calls to over 21 countries in Europe, Asia,Latin America and Of course USA/Canada. You can get 1 month free service with their latest Coupon.
2) PhonePower: PhonePower is one of the newest VOIP Phone Provider in USA. No one thought they could get customers in this already saturated market, however to everyone's surprise, they managed to make their mark. Today they are counted one of the leading USA Phone Companies. Their plans starts from $9 per month and they have some exciting promotion going on where they offer 1 year of FREE Service when you signup for 1 year. For 1 year, you get second year FREE.
3) Packet8: One of the oldest VOIP Phone Providers in the USA and have done extremely well during the Sunrocket falldown. They managed to get maximum sunrocket users to their platform. Tough competitor to Lingo with a a similar unlimited calls to over 40 countries in USA, Canada,Asia and Europe for $24.95
4) Vonage: One of the ailing companies who continue to do business which is surprising to many. Vonage is the next Sunrocket as many analyst believe their balance sheets dont look too good and they have bunch of lawsuits to be settled. Proven VOIP Provider who once totally dominated the market however lost its charm after a lot of mismanagement and unreliable VOIP Service.
Choose your Favorite Residential VOIP Phone Service Provider in 2008:
We analyse over 20 VOIP Providers in USA before choosing the finalist, which we believe currently has significant user base and have received more feedback than other Residential VOIP Providers.
1) Lingo: Lingo probably has the best VOIP Phone Service Deal on the internet. For $21.95 per month, they offer unlimited calls to over 21 countries in Europe, Asia,Latin America and Of course USA/Canada. You can get 1 month free service with their latest Coupon.
2) PhonePower: PhonePower is one of the newest VOIP Phone Provider in USA. No one thought they could get customers in this already saturated market, however to everyone's surprise, they managed to make their mark. Today they are counted one of the leading USA Phone Companies. Their plans starts from $9 per month and they have some exciting promotion going on where they offer 1 year of FREE Service when you signup for 1 year. For 1 year, you get second year FREE.
3) Packet8: One of the oldest VOIP Phone Providers in the USA and have done extremely well during the Sunrocket falldown. They managed to get maximum sunrocket users to their platform. Tough competitor to Lingo with a a similar unlimited calls to over 40 countries in USA, Canada,Asia and Europe for $24.95
4) Vonage: One of the ailing companies who continue to do business which is surprising to many. Vonage is the next Sunrocket as many analyst believe their balance sheets dont look too good and they have bunch of lawsuits to be settled. Proven VOIP Provider who once totally dominated the market however lost its charm after a lot of mismanagement and unreliable VOIP Service.
Choose your Favorite Residential VOIP Phone Service Provider in 2008:
Thursday, December 18, 2008
CallingAmerica.com Unlimited Free Calls to USA
There are lotsa VOIP Providers offering free international calls to USA and we got one more joining the league. This one is however offering unlimited free calls to usa from anywhere in the world.
The Ad-based model for VOIP free calls seems to be most popular choice amongst VOIP Providers. Calling America is one of them who is offering unlimited free calls to any number in the United States in liue of advertisements from any computer with a Web browser and a broadband connection. In short its a close competitor to EarthCaller. The only difference being Earthcaller only works in IE7 now.
Do we have a limit on numbers of calls?
Most unlimited calling companies often have FUP(Fair usage policies) to trick you in and then sneak the FUP in to make sure they won't go bust just if you go high on them :-)
CallingAmerica.com allows you to talk upto 15 minutes for each call as a register user and make unlimited calls. That means each call will last for 15 minutes and it would be disconnected. You would be able to dial again the same number. For no-registered users, this limit is 2 minutes. Probably worth signing up, However always note that most free VOIP companies make money from selling your personal contact information to other companies and make a few bucks. Its a industry wide practice. I still get calls from a company trying to sell me nutrition products DUH.
This is purely a PC to Phone service and it requires you to have a microphone.
Lets look at how to use calling America to make free international calls to USA:
1) Go to CallingAmerica.com
2) The service requires you to view a short ad before you place the call. The audio is played through the browser, and the site uses your computer’s microphone to transmit what you say.
3) Now You would notice signup option. Just register and then login. You would notice Phone Number box. Input a 10 Digit USA Phone number without country code(e.g 2222223333)
4) It will prompt you for a word verification (Register users can skip this).
5) You would notice a call connection timer.
.Then Click Press to Call.
6)If you are calling the very first time, it would prompt for a Flash Notification to allow Callingamerica to access your microphone. Select Yes.
7)Now it would start dialing out to the destination number.
Once connected, you can talk for 15 minutes and can repeat this again.
Please note this fre VOIP service was launched today, so they are fairly new. Let's know your comments and feedback as always.
The Ad-based model for VOIP free calls seems to be most popular choice amongst VOIP Providers. Calling America is one of them who is offering unlimited free calls to any number in the United States in liue of advertisements from any computer with a Web browser and a broadband connection. In short its a close competitor to EarthCaller. The only difference being Earthcaller only works in IE7 now.
Do we have a limit on numbers of calls?
Most unlimited calling companies often have FUP(Fair usage policies) to trick you in and then sneak the FUP in to make sure they won't go bust just if you go high on them :-)
CallingAmerica.com allows you to talk upto 15 minutes for each call as a register user and make unlimited calls. That means each call will last for 15 minutes and it would be disconnected. You would be able to dial again the same number. For no-registered users, this limit is 2 minutes. Probably worth signing up, However always note that most free VOIP companies make money from selling your personal contact information to other companies and make a few bucks. Its a industry wide practice. I still get calls from a company trying to sell me nutrition products DUH.
This is purely a PC to Phone service and it requires you to have a microphone.
Lets look at how to use calling America to make free international calls to USA:
1) Go to CallingAmerica.com
2) The service requires you to view a short ad before you place the call. The audio is played through the browser, and the site uses your computer’s microphone to transmit what you say.
3) Now You would notice signup option. Just register and then login. You would notice Phone Number box. Input a 10 Digit USA Phone number without country code(e.g 2222223333)
4) It will prompt you for a word verification (Register users can skip this).
5) You would notice a call connection timer.
.Then Click Press to Call.6)If you are calling the very first time, it would prompt for a Flash Notification to allow Callingamerica to access your microphone. Select Yes.
7)Now it would start dialing out to the destination number.
Once connected, you can talk for 15 minutes and can repeat this again.
Please note this fre VOIP service was launched today, so they are fairly new. Let's know your comments and feedback as always.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Best Cheap International Call Provider of 2008
This post is a part of the VOIP Provider of the Year 2008 Awards. Today, we vote for the best cheap international call provider of 2008.
There was a huge influx of Cheap international call providers in 2008. However there are always some good and some bad VOIP Providers. We have carefully chosen the finalist for the cheap international call providers in 2008.
1) LocalPhone: Personally my favorite VOIP Provider at the moment. Awesome quality of service with Access Numbers based dialing and you can assign upto 5 numbers directly for your contacts and dial those numbers for direct access. They could improve their access number features to identify registered number and skip the menus for calling out. Hope they do this soon.
2) Nymgo: A fairly new VOIP Provider from UK received rave reviews on VOIP Guide.
3) Tringme: Indian face of VOIP, Tringme is extremely popular amongst indians. I always wish they could improve their call quality which is definately improved over a period of time but still more to go :-)
4) Betamax: the big daddy of Cheap International Call services and run bunch of VOIP services under it's belt.
5) MediaRing: Perhaps the Only VOIP Provider listed on the Stock Market and a profitable VOIP firm serving billions of the minutes of international call traffic. At times, they have done better volumes than Singtel, a giant in Telecom. This huge VOIP Provider is worth checking out.
6) Rebtel: The King of Mobile VOIP market and still doing well in this niche. Rebtel is extremely popular in USA and UK markets.
7) Pingo: A Calling card providers but now offering Softphone based call out. Pingo always received negative and positive reviews about their service.
8) Pennytel: King in Untimed Call services, Their untimed unlimited call offers did extremely well. Extremely popular in Australia and NZ.
Vote for your Favorite Cheap International call Provider 2008:
There was a huge influx of Cheap international call providers in 2008. However there are always some good and some bad VOIP Providers. We have carefully chosen the finalist for the cheap international call providers in 2008.
1) LocalPhone: Personally my favorite VOIP Provider at the moment. Awesome quality of service with Access Numbers based dialing and you can assign upto 5 numbers directly for your contacts and dial those numbers for direct access. They could improve their access number features to identify registered number and skip the menus for calling out. Hope they do this soon.
2) Nymgo: A fairly new VOIP Provider from UK received rave reviews on VOIP Guide.
3) Tringme: Indian face of VOIP, Tringme is extremely popular amongst indians. I always wish they could improve their call quality which is definately improved over a period of time but still more to go :-)
4) Betamax: the big daddy of Cheap International Call services and run bunch of VOIP services under it's belt.
5) MediaRing: Perhaps the Only VOIP Provider listed on the Stock Market and a profitable VOIP firm serving billions of the minutes of international call traffic. At times, they have done better volumes than Singtel, a giant in Telecom. This huge VOIP Provider is worth checking out.
6) Rebtel: The King of Mobile VOIP market and still doing well in this niche. Rebtel is extremely popular in USA and UK markets.
7) Pingo: A Calling card providers but now offering Softphone based call out. Pingo always received negative and positive reviews about their service.
8) Pennytel: King in Untimed Call services, Their untimed unlimited call offers did extremely well. Extremely popular in Australia and NZ.
Vote for your Favorite Cheap International call Provider 2008:
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Best Free International Call Provider of 2008
This post is a part of VOIP Provider of the year 2008 Award Series. You can vote for your most favorite free international call Provider in 2008. Vote and Choose the best Free international call provider in 2008.
After a lot of analysis, I have finally chose the following VOIP Provider for free international call provider in 2008 category.
1) EarthCaller: One of the best free international calls service to USA. Works from anywhere in the world as long as you have IE7.
2) Mediaringtalk: Offers free international calls to over 8 countries since last 1 year, consistantly extending free calls offer. Good voice quality however sometimes calls are dropped.
3) Poketalk: Another free international calls provider but received many negative reviews on VOIP Guide, still made it to the finals.
4) Betamax: This includes all betamax VOIP Services such as nonoh, voipraider, voipcheap etc.
5)RingPlus: Our great find has gone beyond expectations and provided a good platform to make worldwide free international calls through their gateway.
7)Tuitalk: Another free international call service.
8)DukaDial: Part of the Jaduka Labs service. Offers Phone to Phone free calls in USA.
You are free to chose another provider of your choice under Others if one of the above provider is not your favorite. Please let me know if you believe a VOIP Provider deserves to be on the list but missed out.
If you are a VOIP Provider and would like to be included for the poll, Please send me email with explanation on why you think you should be included in the free international call provider of the year award.
Start Voting! Choose your favorite free international call Provider of the year 2008.
After a lot of analysis, I have finally chose the following VOIP Provider for free international call provider in 2008 category.
1) EarthCaller: One of the best free international calls service to USA. Works from anywhere in the world as long as you have IE7.
2) Mediaringtalk: Offers free international calls to over 8 countries since last 1 year, consistantly extending free calls offer. Good voice quality however sometimes calls are dropped.
3) Poketalk: Another free international calls provider but received many negative reviews on VOIP Guide, still made it to the finals.
4) Betamax: This includes all betamax VOIP Services such as nonoh, voipraider, voipcheap etc.
5)RingPlus: Our great find has gone beyond expectations and provided a good platform to make worldwide free international calls through their gateway.
7)Tuitalk: Another free international call service.
8)DukaDial: Part of the Jaduka Labs service. Offers Phone to Phone free calls in USA.
You are free to chose another provider of your choice under Others if one of the above provider is not your favorite. Please let me know if you believe a VOIP Provider deserves to be on the list but missed out.
If you are a VOIP Provider and would like to be included for the poll, Please send me email with explanation on why you think you should be included in the free international call provider of the year award.
Start Voting! Choose your favorite free international call Provider of the year 2008.
VOIP Provider of the Year 2008 Awards
Its time of the year again, only a few days to go for 2008. Lets all vote for our favorite VOIP Provider in 2008. The results from this polls will not only help us find a VOIP Provider in 2009 but will help VOIP Providers to improve their services.
This post will be discussing the whole VOIP Provider 2008 awards rules and explain the concept.
There will be multiple categories for choosing VOIP Provider. Comparing Vonage with Betamax wouldn't make sense.
I have finalised the following categories. Please note this are not the polls. There will be individual post for each of the categories where you would have to vote for your favorite VOIP Provider.
1) Free International Call Provider: Only VOIP Providers will be chosen who are providing purely free international calls without any catch. Of course, Betmax is included as being the largest in this category.
2) Residential Phone Service Provider (US Only): Only VOIP Providers from USA will be considered for this category. Comcast and Verizon will be included since they have fair market share in this market.
3) Cheap International Call Provider: Any VOIP Provider giving cheap international calls. It was the toughest category to choose the finalist, but I finally nailed down a few.
4) Business Phone Provider: All VOIP Providers catering to the Business Phone market. Almost everyone has a business VOIP option, however only a few has made an impact in this market.
5) SIP Provider: Some people use SIP Provider exclusively for SIP to SIP calls, which is your favorite?
If you think there could be more categories, do let me know, I would give it a thought.
Again, this is not a poll, there will be seperate post for each of those categories and I will link them from here. Today, you can start voting on the Free International Call Provider. Choose your favorite.
If you are a VOIP Provider and not one of those listed as Finalise for VOIP Provider Award 2008, please request to be included. Send me email at ut(dot)godmode@gmail.com
Let's work together and choose the best VOIP Providers in 2008.
This post will be discussing the whole VOIP Provider 2008 awards rules and explain the concept.
There will be multiple categories for choosing VOIP Provider. Comparing Vonage with Betamax wouldn't make sense.
I have finalised the following categories. Please note this are not the polls. There will be individual post for each of the categories where you would have to vote for your favorite VOIP Provider.
1) Free International Call Provider: Only VOIP Providers will be chosen who are providing purely free international calls without any catch. Of course, Betmax is included as being the largest in this category.
2) Residential Phone Service Provider (US Only): Only VOIP Providers from USA will be considered for this category. Comcast and Verizon will be included since they have fair market share in this market.
3) Cheap International Call Provider: Any VOIP Provider giving cheap international calls. It was the toughest category to choose the finalist, but I finally nailed down a few.
4) Business Phone Provider: All VOIP Providers catering to the Business Phone market. Almost everyone has a business VOIP option, however only a few has made an impact in this market.
5) SIP Provider: Some people use SIP Provider exclusively for SIP to SIP calls, which is your favorite?
If you think there could be more categories, do let me know, I would give it a thought.
Again, this is not a poll, there will be seperate post for each of those categories and I will link them from here. Today, you can start voting on the Free International Call Provider. Choose your favorite.
If you are a VOIP Provider and not one of those listed as Finalise for VOIP Provider Award 2008, please request to be included. Send me email at ut(dot)godmode@gmail.com
Let's work together and choose the best VOIP Providers in 2008.
Friday, December 12, 2008
MediaringTalk offers cheapest calls to India at 1.9 cents
Cheap international call markets is already breaking the Free international call market by reducing long distance calling rates every month. Mediaringtalk joins the party by giving the best calling rate to India ever possible.
Thanks Hasan for notifying us on the rate change.MediaRingtalk is a VOIP services by Mediaring, a Singapore based VOIP Provider serving billions of minutes worldwide each year. I visited their Data center and facility at singapore a few months back and it awesome to say the least. With such dedicated infrastructure backing up their already reliable connectivity with some of the best E1 providers in telecom industry, It can't get any better. For privacy and business reasons, I won't disclose their telecom provider name on the blog. However its one of the primary reasons why Mediaringtalk can today offer the best calling rate for India.
Yes, Mediaringtalk now offers 1.9 cents per minute to india. Its all across India (Mobile + Landline) both. FreeCall used to offer 1.5 cents earlier which they increased to 1.9 cents and with all the betamax mishap i prefer to stay with betamax services whenever I can. You can buy credit as low as $10. Please note your mediaringtalk credit expires in 180 days so you better use it.
Mediaringtalk also offers free international calls to many destinations such China, Taiwan,UK (landline only), Singapore, Hong Kong, USA, Canada & Australia.
Mediaringtalk has over 1 million users worldwide and they do serve ocassional ads in their softphone for the free international calls that they offer. Please note that mediaringtalk is only supported via their softphone and they do not support external SIP. We tried it last time however its unreliable.
Overall Mediaringtalk's 1.9 cents to India is a great deal we must say!
Thanks Hasan for notifying us on the rate change.MediaRingtalk is a VOIP services by Mediaring, a Singapore based VOIP Provider serving billions of minutes worldwide each year. I visited their Data center and facility at singapore a few months back and it awesome to say the least. With such dedicated infrastructure backing up their already reliable connectivity with some of the best E1 providers in telecom industry, It can't get any better. For privacy and business reasons, I won't disclose their telecom provider name on the blog. However its one of the primary reasons why Mediaringtalk can today offer the best calling rate for India.
Yes, Mediaringtalk now offers 1.9 cents per minute to india. Its all across India (Mobile + Landline) both. FreeCall used to offer 1.5 cents earlier which they increased to 1.9 cents and with all the betamax mishap i prefer to stay with betamax services whenever I can. You can buy credit as low as $10. Please note your mediaringtalk credit expires in 180 days so you better use it.
Mediaringtalk also offers free international calls to many destinations such China, Taiwan,UK (landline only), Singapore, Hong Kong, USA, Canada & Australia.
Mediaringtalk has over 1 million users worldwide and they do serve ocassional ads in their softphone for the free international calls that they offer. Please note that mediaringtalk is only supported via their softphone and they do not support external SIP. We tried it last time however its unreliable.
Overall Mediaringtalk's 1.9 cents to India is a great deal we must say!
Skype VOIP releases Version 4 Beta 3
Skype the most popular VOIP Service in the world releases another beta of their popular Skype VOIP SoftPhone. We look at the latest features in the new skype release.
The most striking addition is they brought back the Call Quality feedback area, Outlook Contacts and full History. They’ve added full History features, as promised when it launched Beta 2. You can browse and search past conversations by event type (instant messages, incoming calls, outgoing calls, and so on), that means you can trace back the forgotten words easily. There’s also a new download manager for file transfers. You might noticed this already but i would like to mention, Skype really owns every messenger out there in the market for file transfer, its lightning fast. Trust me and try it once. With the Outlook integration, adding skype contact is even more easier.
Some of the improvement in skype VOIP Softphone V4 beta 3
- Chat with up to 100 people in group chats
- Improved Video Conferencing
-numerous improvements to call and video quality with a new Bandwidth Manager
- a new look that’s more reflective Skype brand
One of the best part of Skype is of course their Skype Country Plans which are extremely tempting to signup. I already have a skype US&Canada plan and it works awesome. They give 10000 minutes each month for only 4.5 Euros. They also have unlimited world plan worth checking out.
If you really use Skype on a day to day basis, you might just like to check the new version or else just stick with the current one.
The most striking addition is they brought back the Call Quality feedback area, Outlook Contacts and full History. They’ve added full History features, as promised when it launched Beta 2. You can browse and search past conversations by event type (instant messages, incoming calls, outgoing calls, and so on), that means you can trace back the forgotten words easily. There’s also a new download manager for file transfers. You might noticed this already but i would like to mention, Skype really owns every messenger out there in the market for file transfer, its lightning fast. Trust me and try it once. With the Outlook integration, adding skype contact is even more easier.
Some of the improvement in skype VOIP Softphone V4 beta 3
- Chat with up to 100 people in group chats
- Improved Video Conferencing
-numerous improvements to call and video quality with a new Bandwidth Manager
- a new look that’s more reflective Skype brand
One of the best part of Skype is of course their Skype Country Plans which are extremely tempting to signup. I already have a skype US&Canada plan and it works awesome. They give 10000 minutes each month for only 4.5 Euros. They also have unlimited world plan worth checking out.
If you really use Skype on a day to day basis, you might just like to check the new version or else just stick with the current one.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
VOIPZoom SIP settings revealed
Lots of people were eagerly waiting for VOIPZoom SIP Settings. For only monthly fee of € 2.50/month(Euro)/3.19 USD, you can make free international calls to over 41 destinations around the world. The only shortfall VOIP zoom service had was non comptability of the SIP based connectivity.
However, we finally found it. Its not officially out on their website yet but regular visitor Kulwinder Singh did DNS lookup on VOIPZoom and accidently found SIP settings on VOIPZoom. Thanks to Kulwinder for sharing this news with us. We them did some more test to confirm that SIP is indeed available on VOIPZoom.
We strongly suggest if you are using VOIPZoom service and have a VOIP Adapter/SIP Phone then try thes SIP settings.
----Kulwinder's Analysis---------
; <<>> DiG 9.3.4-P1 <<>> sip.voipzoom.com
;; global options: printcmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 10210
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 2, AUTHORITY: 3, ADDITIONAL: 0
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;sip.voipzoom.com. IN A
;; ANSWER SECTION:
sip.voipzoom.com. 504 IN A 194.120.0.198
sip.voipzoom.com. 504 IN A 194.221.62.198
;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
voipzoom.com. 171413 IN NS ns3.betamax.com.
voipzoom.com. 171413 IN NS ns1.betamax.com.
voipzoom.com. 171413 IN NS ns2.betamax.com.
-------
----------My Analysis-----------------
Pinging sip.voipzoom.com [194.221.62.198] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 194.221.62.198: bytes=32 time=364ms TTL=231
Reply from 194.221.62.198: bytes=32 time=366ms TTL=231
Reply from 194.221.62.198: bytes=32 time=367ms TTL=231
Reply from 194.221.62.198: bytes=32 time=365ms TTL=231
Ping statistics for 194.221.62.198:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 364ms, Maximum = 367ms, Average = 365ms
-------------------
Now try using the following VOIP Zoom SIP Settings:
SIP port : 5060
Registrar : sip.voipzoom.com
Proxy server : sip.voipzoom.com
Outbound proxy server : leave empty
Account name : your VoipZoom username
Password : your VoipZoom password
Let us know if these VOIP Zoom SIP settings working for you.
However, we finally found it. Its not officially out on their website yet but regular visitor Kulwinder Singh did DNS lookup on VOIPZoom and accidently found SIP settings on VOIPZoom. Thanks to Kulwinder for sharing this news with us. We them did some more test to confirm that SIP is indeed available on VOIPZoom.
We strongly suggest if you are using VOIPZoom service and have a VOIP Adapter/SIP Phone then try thes SIP settings.
----Kulwinder's Analysis---------
; <<>> DiG 9.3.4-P1 <<>> sip.voipzoom.com
;; global options: printcmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 10210
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 2, AUTHORITY: 3, ADDITIONAL: 0
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;sip.voipzoom.com. IN A
;; ANSWER SECTION:
sip.voipzoom.com. 504 IN A 194.120.0.198
sip.voipzoom.com. 504 IN A 194.221.62.198
;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
voipzoom.com. 171413 IN NS ns3.betamax.com.
voipzoom.com. 171413 IN NS ns1.betamax.com.
voipzoom.com. 171413 IN NS ns2.betamax.com.
-------
----------My Analysis-----------------
Pinging sip.voipzoom.com [194.221.62.198] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 194.221.62.198: bytes=32 time=364ms TTL=231
Reply from 194.221.62.198: bytes=32 time=366ms TTL=231
Reply from 194.221.62.198: bytes=32 time=367ms TTL=231
Reply from 194.221.62.198: bytes=32 time=365ms TTL=231
Ping statistics for 194.221.62.198:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 364ms, Maximum = 367ms, Average = 365ms
-------------------
Now try using the following VOIP Zoom SIP Settings:
SIP port : 5060
Registrar : sip.voipzoom.com
Proxy server : sip.voipzoom.com
Outbound proxy server : leave empty
Account name : your VoipZoom username
Password : your VoipZoom password
Let us know if these VOIP Zoom SIP settings working for you.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
PhonePower VOIP Phone Service Review and Coupon
There are always new home phone services coming up in the US Market, obviously not as fast as typical VOIP Web based services. With Vonage, Comcast, Lingo dominating the market, the newer companies often offer something unique as value add. PhonePower is doing just the same.
This offer applies to all existing PhonePower Customers and of course new customers. PhonePower is a newest VOIP home phone service company in the USA and you can start enjoying their services for as low as $8.33/ per month which will give you unlimited free calls to USA and Canada.
PhonePower has 2 plans mainly for residential and small business users. It can get confusing to understand the plans with so many features bundled with it.
I highly recommend signing up for 2 year prepay plan for 2 reasons, you get a second line for free which you can use anywhere you like. Secondly, you pay $200 for 2 years, that means your effective rate for 1 month becomes $200/24 months = $8.33 per month. This is probably the best cheapest VOIP Phone service in the USA which makes it a good option for people looking to save money within USA and Canada during this tough times. Recession is catching up on all of us, do you still want to pay $20 per month to services like Vonage? Think again.
During December, PhonePower is also going to offer free international calls to all phonepower users to many destinations (See below).
United Kingdom,Spain,Ireland,Israel,Germany,Singapore,France,Denmark,Greece,Italy,China.
One of the most striking feature of PhonePower is they don't have any monthly contract like all the rest of the VOIP Providers. That means you can cancel their service if you don't like to use it anymore. If you do this within the first 30 days, its FREE so no cancellation fees. However anything after 30 days, will be charged a cancellation fee. However they won't recover the contract fees from you since there is no contract.
If you are a existing customer, please let us know your review about PhonePower. Please no reviews from Phonepower competitors :-) I know every VOIP Provider lurking on this blog :-)
This offer applies to all existing PhonePower Customers and of course new customers. PhonePower is a newest VOIP home phone service company in the USA and you can start enjoying their services for as low as $8.33/ per month which will give you unlimited free calls to USA and Canada.
PhonePower has 2 plans mainly for residential and small business users. It can get confusing to understand the plans with so many features bundled with it.
I highly recommend signing up for 2 year prepay plan for 2 reasons, you get a second line for free which you can use anywhere you like. Secondly, you pay $200 for 2 years, that means your effective rate for 1 month becomes $200/24 months = $8.33 per month. This is probably the best cheapest VOIP Phone service in the USA which makes it a good option for people looking to save money within USA and Canada during this tough times. Recession is catching up on all of us, do you still want to pay $20 per month to services like Vonage? Think again.
During December, PhonePower is also going to offer free international calls to all phonepower users to many destinations (See below).
United Kingdom,Spain,Ireland,Israel,Germany,Singapore,France,Denmark,Greece,Italy,China.
One of the most striking feature of PhonePower is they don't have any monthly contract like all the rest of the VOIP Providers. That means you can cancel their service if you don't like to use it anymore. If you do this within the first 30 days, its FREE so no cancellation fees. However anything after 30 days, will be charged a cancellation fee. However they won't recover the contract fees from you since there is no contract.
If you are a existing customer, please let us know your review about PhonePower. Please no reviews from Phonepower competitors :-) I know every VOIP Provider lurking on this blog :-)
Sunday, December 7, 2008
VOIPHit Betamax SIP based VOIP Service
Betamax is a powerhouse when it comes to VOIP Services. They setup new VOIP Services almost every 3 months. Start with extremely low VOIP Calling rates and get you on the board easily.
However one of the most important feature is still missing on many of the existing Betamax VOIP Services such as recently launched VOIPZoom, that's SIP. I hope many of you are already awaere of what's SIP. If not read our Idiot's Guide to SIP.
SIP is now a standard in VOIP telephony but not many VOIP providers reveal SIP details. However, it seems betamax has launched a VOIP Service called VOIPHit which is purely a SIP based VOIP service. They also have VOIPHit softphone which you can download, or just use it via X-lite or setup on our VOIP adapter or SIP Phone.
VOIPHit does not offer any free calling destination. Its only a cheap international call service.
VOIPHit SIP Settings:
SIP port : 5060
Registrar : sip.voiphit.com
Proxy server : sip.voiphit.com
Outbound proxy server : leave empty
Account name : your VoipHit username
Password : your VoipHit password
Display name/number : your sipusername or sipnumber
Stunserver (option) : stun.voiphit.com
Codecs :
G.711 (64 kbps)
G.726 (32 kbps)
G.729 (8 kbps)
G.723 (5.3 & 6.3 kbps)
GSMFR (13.2 kbps)
However one of the most important feature is still missing on many of the existing Betamax VOIP Services such as recently launched VOIPZoom, that's SIP. I hope many of you are already awaere of what's SIP. If not read our Idiot's Guide to SIP.
SIP is now a standard in VOIP telephony but not many VOIP providers reveal SIP details. However, it seems betamax has launched a VOIP Service called VOIPHit which is purely a SIP based VOIP service. They also have VOIPHit softphone which you can download, or just use it via X-lite or setup on our VOIP adapter or SIP Phone.
VOIPHit does not offer any free calling destination. Its only a cheap international call service.
VOIPHit SIP Settings:
SIP port : 5060
Registrar : sip.voiphit.com
Proxy server : sip.voiphit.com
Outbound proxy server : leave empty
Account name : your VoipHit username
Password : your VoipHit password
Display name/number : your sipusername or sipnumber
Stunserver (option) : stun.voiphit.com
Codecs :
G.711 (64 kbps)
G.726 (32 kbps)
G.729 (8 kbps)
G.723 (5.3 & 6.3 kbps)
GSMFR (13.2 kbps)
VMTag offers Free Phone Call to Voicemail System
VOIP Providers and Services are trying to combine the benefits of value added service with mainstream telephony such as VOIP to make your life easier.
We discussed about Fonolo, a call center menu bypass system.Today we talk about another interesting service called VMTag, A Phone Call to Voicemail system.
VMTag basically allows anyone anywhere in the world to receive free voicemails in their mailbox whenever someone calls up a phone number. A random number is generator each time you register your email as VMTag Voicemail service user.
How does VMTag Works?
1) You enter the email address to which Voicemail should be delivered.
2) Once you enter the email address and submit VMTag will assign a Mailbox number to the email id and gives you a phone number to call.
3) When you dial that phone number and enter mailbox number, you can drop a voicemail for that Id. This voicemail will then be forwarded to the email address.
How can you use VMTag Phone to Voicemail system?
You can send messages to your friends, create reminders for yourself, send voicemails as email if you don't have blackberry.
VMTag is one of those services which will stregthen the VOIP & Telephony market. These new ideas will slowly become mainstream as VOIP Providers integrate these functions under one single ultimate uber VOIP Service. I am still waiting to see such VOIP Provider. However future for VOIP looks promising.
We discussed about Fonolo, a call center menu bypass system.Today we talk about another interesting service called VMTag, A Phone Call to Voicemail system.
VMTag basically allows anyone anywhere in the world to receive free voicemails in their mailbox whenever someone calls up a phone number. A random number is generator each time you register your email as VMTag Voicemail service user.
How does VMTag Works?
1) You enter the email address to which Voicemail should be delivered.
2) Once you enter the email address and submit VMTag will assign a Mailbox number to the email id and gives you a phone number to call.
3) When you dial that phone number and enter mailbox number, you can drop a voicemail for that Id. This voicemail will then be forwarded to the email address.
How can you use VMTag Phone to Voicemail system?
You can send messages to your friends, create reminders for yourself, send voicemails as email if you don't have blackberry.
VMTag is one of those services which will stregthen the VOIP & Telephony market. These new ideas will slowly become mainstream as VOIP Providers integrate these functions under one single ultimate uber VOIP Service. I am still waiting to see such VOIP Provider. However future for VOIP looks promising.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Fonolo allows to Bypass Call Center Phone Menus
With really interesting concepts coming into Telecommunication and VOIP, many VOIP Providers are trying their hand with out of the box ideas. Fonolo is one smashing new service which does this in great style.
Did you ever call your cable provider like comcast, Verizon and just waited, waited and waited forever. With more stupid call center executives making you mad, the wait seems forever. I myself have noticed many call centers makes your life so difficult that they put horrendous amount of phone menus to choose from, which are just going around in circles so that you never be able to find the real human call center employee. Of course the end result is you get bored and hang up.
Now let fonolo make your life easier. Fonolo is like a call center service spyder. It spider all leading call center services and their menus and lets you hijack them and set your own preferences.
Let's understand what Fonolo can do for you.
1) You can first signup for Fonolo. currently fonolo is in beta allows only USA and Canada numbers.
2) Now you need to setup the call routing mechanism for each company's call center. Just do this for the most used.
3) Pick the company you need (say comcast). Fonolo will give you the option to now change Comcast Call center phone menu.
4)Scan through their phone menu visually, then just click the spot you need to call.
5)Fonolo will automatically dial, navigate their menu and then dial your phone. When you answer, you will be connected to the right spot in the menu.
6) What this means let fonolo take the pain to reach the customer service executive rather than you jumping around those stupid call center menus.
I believe this is a great servie. Thinking of simplicity and providing this to the today's consumers was a must. With more and more call centers acting utterly stupid with their phone menus, I believe Fonolo will be massive.
Go try them out. Its totally free. I hope they can extend this service worldwide very soon. Let's hope for the best. I have setup my account and now going to try calling my Yahoo Search Marketing Account Manager bypassing all those menus :-)
Did you ever call your cable provider like comcast, Verizon and just waited, waited and waited forever. With more stupid call center executives making you mad, the wait seems forever. I myself have noticed many call centers makes your life so difficult that they put horrendous amount of phone menus to choose from, which are just going around in circles so that you never be able to find the real human call center employee. Of course the end result is you get bored and hang up.
Now let fonolo make your life easier. Fonolo is like a call center service spyder. It spider all leading call center services and their menus and lets you hijack them and set your own preferences.
Let's understand what Fonolo can do for you.
1) You can first signup for Fonolo. currently fonolo is in beta allows only USA and Canada numbers.
2) Now you need to setup the call routing mechanism for each company's call center. Just do this for the most used.
3) Pick the company you need (say comcast). Fonolo will give you the option to now change Comcast Call center phone menu.
4)Scan through their phone menu visually, then just click the spot you need to call.
5)Fonolo will automatically dial, navigate their menu and then dial your phone. When you answer, you will be connected to the right spot in the menu.
6) What this means let fonolo take the pain to reach the customer service executive rather than you jumping around those stupid call center menus.
I believe this is a great servie. Thinking of simplicity and providing this to the today's consumers was a must. With more and more call centers acting utterly stupid with their phone menus, I believe Fonolo will be massive.
Go try them out. Its totally free. I hope they can extend this service worldwide very soon. Let's hope for the best. I have setup my account and now going to try calling my Yahoo Search Marketing Account Manager bypassing all those menus :-)
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Get Ooma VOIP Phone at $199
With Holiday shopping going wild in USA, there are some great deals to be found for VOIP Phone systems such as Ooma or MagicJack.
Ooma is stand alone VOIP Phone system which works on the fly. No monthly contracts, no signup amounts. Just buy the Ooma VOIP Phone box and you are done. Ooma offers totally unlimited calls to USA Phones (PSTN lines included). At first, you would compare this to a Linksys PAP2 VOIP Adapter, however its different.
Linksys PAP2 is a VOIP adapter which you can connect to a PSTN phone and configure the VOIP Adapter to run SIP based VOIP Service. Ooma on the other hands comes pre-configured and connects to a Ooma network.
Ooma has a extremely different concept and uses a possible loophole in the american telecommunication systems, which lets you make free local calls within a certain distance. What Ooma does is, they pass Ooma call over Ooma network across USA. For the time being consider this as in-network calling, like one SIP address making a call to another SIP address and then convert that to a PSTN line very near to the termination call location. This way the call becomes a free long distance USA call.
ooma gives you all the calling features including caller-ID, call-waiting, and voicemail.The ooma Lounge is your online destination for the ooma service. You can listen to messages, control your account preferences, prepay for international minutes, and even set up voicemail notifications, 24 hours a day.
ooma of course has in-network calling, you can call any other Ooma anywhere in the world. Currently Ooma is only sold in USA however once they start selling outside USA, imagine the cost benefit.
Ooma also allows you to connect your regular landline along with Ooma Phone line. That means you can still access 911 calls and have the flexibility of ooma phone at your hand.
Ooma comes with Ooma Scout,a nice little add-on Product which gives you the ability to have use of a second phone line, all integrated into the same phone number you use with the hub.
Original Price for Ooma is $399. However Amazon is selling Ooma VOIP Package for only $199. This is really a great deal. We strongly suggest you buy a Ooma VOIP Phone Package.
Ooma is stand alone VOIP Phone system which works on the fly. No monthly contracts, no signup amounts. Just buy the Ooma VOIP Phone box and you are done. Ooma offers totally unlimited calls to USA Phones (PSTN lines included). At first, you would compare this to a Linksys PAP2 VOIP Adapter, however its different.
Linksys PAP2 is a VOIP adapter which you can connect to a PSTN phone and configure the VOIP Adapter to run SIP based VOIP Service. Ooma on the other hands comes pre-configured and connects to a Ooma network.
Ooma has a extremely different concept and uses a possible loophole in the american telecommunication systems, which lets you make free local calls within a certain distance. What Ooma does is, they pass Ooma call over Ooma network across USA. For the time being consider this as in-network calling, like one SIP address making a call to another SIP address and then convert that to a PSTN line very near to the termination call location. This way the call becomes a free long distance USA call.
ooma gives you all the calling features including caller-ID, call-waiting, and voicemail.The ooma Lounge is your online destination for the ooma service. You can listen to messages, control your account preferences, prepay for international minutes, and even set up voicemail notifications, 24 hours a day.
ooma of course has in-network calling, you can call any other Ooma anywhere in the world. Currently Ooma is only sold in USA however once they start selling outside USA, imagine the cost benefit.
Ooma also allows you to connect your regular landline along with Ooma Phone line. That means you can still access 911 calls and have the flexibility of ooma phone at your hand.
Ooma comes with Ooma Scout,a nice little add-on Product which gives you the ability to have use of a second phone line, all integrated into the same phone number you use with the hub.
Original Price for Ooma is $399. However Amazon is selling Ooma VOIP Package for only $199. This is really a great deal. We strongly suggest you buy a Ooma VOIP Phone Package.
Monday, December 1, 2008
VOIPo Residential Phone Service Review
VOIPo is one of the newest Residential Phone Service in USA, Is it worth your money? We did a quick review of VOIPo Home Phone Service. Take a look.
Today, we received an email from VOIPo that the Pre-Launch Special for the residential phone service has started and we have been chosen as one of the first VIP Memebers to sign-up. We decided to check this out. Its far too ambitious to launch a residential phone service when VOIP Providers like Lingo, Phonepower are already biting on the share of Vonage, Comcast etc.
In USA, there are 2 types of VOIP Providers, One is a Cable Provider who offers VOIP Phone service as bundled package. Other types are pure VOIP Phone Service providers such as Viatalk or Phonepower.
VOIPo falls unders the pure VOIP residential Phone service category. They claim that they are offering unlimited free calls to USA and Canada from USA.
According to their email, The Pre-Launch Special that you can take advantage of to get free activation and save $129.95 on our annual Residential Freedom plan which offers virtually unlimited calling to the US and Canada using your regular telephones.
- $99 for First Year of Service (Savings of $100)
- Free Activation (Savings of $29.95)
- Free Phone Adapter Lease
- Free Priority Mail Shipping
- Full 30 Day Money Back Guarantee
- No Cancellation Fees
After your first year, service will renew at the standard price of $199 per year. All accounts are subject to a $3 per month regulatory recovery fee which is billed upfront based on your prepayment term. That means effectively they charge you $3 fee per month on top of the existing plan.
Seriously speaking, this really doesn't make a good plan. Why? Some simple reasons.
1) $199 per year isn't really cheap.
2) Limited to USA and Canada. Phonepower offers the same plan $199 for 2 years.
3) Their monthly plans are $21.95 per month. Again Phonepower is cheaper The pricing of VOIPo is way off.
4)A new VOIP Provider means more risk.
Considering all the above points, we suggest wait and watch on VOIPo. If you are looking for a good stable VOIP Providers in today's market, we highly recommend Phonepower. This award winning VOIP Providers offers top notch support and QoS.
Today, we received an email from VOIPo that the Pre-Launch Special for the residential phone service has started and we have been chosen as one of the first VIP Memebers to sign-up. We decided to check this out. Its far too ambitious to launch a residential phone service when VOIP Providers like Lingo, Phonepower are already biting on the share of Vonage, Comcast etc.
In USA, there are 2 types of VOIP Providers, One is a Cable Provider who offers VOIP Phone service as bundled package. Other types are pure VOIP Phone Service providers such as Viatalk or Phonepower.
VOIPo falls unders the pure VOIP residential Phone service category. They claim that they are offering unlimited free calls to USA and Canada from USA.
According to their email, The Pre-Launch Special that you can take advantage of to get free activation and save $129.95 on our annual Residential Freedom plan which offers virtually unlimited calling to the US and Canada using your regular telephones.
- $99 for First Year of Service (Savings of $100)
- Free Activation (Savings of $29.95)
- Free Phone Adapter Lease
- Free Priority Mail Shipping
- Full 30 Day Money Back Guarantee
- No Cancellation Fees
After your first year, service will renew at the standard price of $199 per year. All accounts are subject to a $3 per month regulatory recovery fee which is billed upfront based on your prepayment term. That means effectively they charge you $3 fee per month on top of the existing plan.
Seriously speaking, this really doesn't make a good plan. Why? Some simple reasons.
1) $199 per year isn't really cheap.
2) Limited to USA and Canada. Phonepower offers the same plan $199 for 2 years.
3) Their monthly plans are $21.95 per month. Again Phonepower is cheaper The pricing of VOIPo is way off.
4)A new VOIP Provider means more risk.
Considering all the above points, we suggest wait and watch on VOIPo. If you are looking for a good stable VOIP Providers in today's market, we highly recommend Phonepower. This award winning VOIP Providers offers top notch support and QoS.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Skype VOIP Billing system messed up gives me free calling credit
Skype VOIP, world's most popular PC to Phone VOIP Phone Service has serious issues with their VOIP billing software/module. Skype issues me free $69.95 credit :-) You must read this story.
I first noticed this skype billing mishap a couple of days back but thought it could be a bug in their VOIP billing system and ignored it. However everyday I check, I still see my balance is $69.95. I know I should be happy about this free calling credit which came from nowhere. I tried making a call with skypeout, DUH here is the worst part, I see a message saying "Account Blocked".
WOW, so basically Skype is saying,
1) We give you free calling credit becuase you seem like a nice guy :-)
2) We block your skype account so you can't use it lol.
Please note that my skype ID is still working and I can still make PC to PC calls, all that is blocked is PC to Phone calls which is using http://www.kqzyfj.com/click-2245874-10576637 service.
I did some more investigation to find out where this skypeout credit actually came into my account. I verified all my paypal transactions, none are sent to skype. my credit Card doesnt have any such transaction either. I then went to Skype online account management interface and verified the transaction. I indeed see a $50 USD in my account saying, "Credit allocation from Control Panel". No idea what this means.
So has someone abused my account? Does skype has any trace on this billing activity? Why innocent skype users are being blocked? I believe skype needs to clarify this matter. Hope someone from Skype is reading this.
Here are some screenshots of my Skype account for verification/Proof (losing my ID)
This could potentially mean this could have happened to many Skype accounts. Are you one of them? Let us know
I first noticed this skype billing mishap a couple of days back but thought it could be a bug in their VOIP billing system and ignored it. However everyday I check, I still see my balance is $69.95. I know I should be happy about this free calling credit which came from nowhere. I tried making a call with skypeout, DUH here is the worst part, I see a message saying "Account Blocked".
WOW, so basically Skype is saying,
1) We give you free calling credit becuase you seem like a nice guy :-)
2) We block your skype account so you can't use it lol.
Please note that my skype ID is still working and I can still make PC to PC calls, all that is blocked is PC to Phone calls which is using http://www.kqzyfj.com/click-2245874-10576637 service.
I did some more investigation to find out where this skypeout credit actually came into my account. I verified all my paypal transactions, none are sent to skype. my credit Card doesnt have any such transaction either. I then went to Skype online account management interface and verified the transaction. I indeed see a $50 USD in my account saying, "Credit allocation from Control Panel". No idea what this means.
So has someone abused my account? Does skype has any trace on this billing activity? Why innocent skype users are being blocked? I believe skype needs to clarify this matter. Hope someone from Skype is reading this.
Here are some screenshots of my Skype account for verification/Proof (losing my ID)
This could potentially mean this could have happened to many Skype accounts. Are you one of them? Let us know
Free Calls from Philippines
Philippines is one of the costliest destinations for making VOIP calls and also remains as one of the most controlled telecom countries making it difficult for people to make calls to USA and Canada any cheaper than the market.
That means if you want to make cheap or free calls to USA or canada using your mobile phone or landline phone in Philippines, the rates are way off. However, it seems that the government is trying to resolve that issue by starting its very own Toll Free Service in Manila in partnership with Pacific Network Inc., will be offered until February 2009. Although at this stage, there isn't much information available about the toll free service, however you may inquire with the local authorities.
All we know is this toll free service (likely running on VOIP), is a toll free access number from where people can call and then dial out. Currently the service is limited to calling USA and Canada for FREE. There are no details on how long you can talk, but we believe it should be good enough for quick chit chat. We are not sure if you can have access to the toll free number from outside and then dialout. This should be a good offer.
The toll-free booth is located at the ground floor of City Hall building and is open to the public from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays. This free calling service to usa and canada will be available till February 2009.
That means if you want to make cheap or free calls to USA or canada using your mobile phone or landline phone in Philippines, the rates are way off. However, it seems that the government is trying to resolve that issue by starting its very own Toll Free Service in Manila in partnership with Pacific Network Inc., will be offered until February 2009. Although at this stage, there isn't much information available about the toll free service, however you may inquire with the local authorities.
All we know is this toll free service (likely running on VOIP), is a toll free access number from where people can call and then dial out. Currently the service is limited to calling USA and Canada for FREE. There are no details on how long you can talk, but we believe it should be good enough for quick chit chat. We are not sure if you can have access to the toll free number from outside and then dialout. This should be a good offer.
The toll-free booth is located at the ground floor of City Hall building and is open to the public from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays. This free calling service to usa and canada will be available till February 2009.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Nymgo VOIP offers Cheap International Calling Plans
With new VOIP Providers jumping on the cheap international calls market, the calling rates to many international destinations is dropping massively. Thanks to VOIP.
We noted a new VOIP Provider on the scene called Nymgo, A UK based VOIP Service managed by Splendor Telecom UK Limited. Nymgo offers various country calling plans and pay as you go plans under its belt.
Nymgo offers following Calling Plans:
1) America and Europe: For just $14.50 per month, you can talk for a total of up to 10,000 minutes per month.
2) Asia and Australia: For just $20 per month, you can talk for a total of up to 1750 minutes per month
3)Middle East: For just $20 per month, you can talk for a total of up to 300 minutes per month. (Isn't 300 minutes too less? )
One of the most striking plan is of course, Asia and Australia plan which covers almost the entire Asia Pacific and mainly India, Malaysia, Singapore,China,Thailand,Austrlia, NZ and Taiwan. That means if you subscribe to the Asia Pacific plan you will get upto 1750 minutes per month to these destinations. The cost of this package is $20 flat per month. You pay that money and enjoy calling to these destinations at almost 1.2 cents per minute (e.g. India), which is a good rate. Please note they do not allow calls to entire india only a few STD codes are allowed. Please check details here. Under Pay as you go package, the India calling rate is apporx 2.5-3 cents per minute.
However, since the VOIP Provider is new, we probably do not have a lot of information about Nymgo in temrs of Quality of Service. Nymgo offers their services via Nymgo softphone. There doesn't seem to be any information related to SIP. However they would more likely to provide that if a subscriber asked for it?
If anyone is currently using Nymgo, your feedback is appreciated. If anyone knows Nymgo SIP address, please drop under comments. SIP address is very important so that we can drop their softphone and instead use our softphone or use via SIP Phone or VOIP Adapter.
We noted a new VOIP Provider on the scene called Nymgo, A UK based VOIP Service managed by Splendor Telecom UK Limited. Nymgo offers various country calling plans and pay as you go plans under its belt.
Nymgo offers following Calling Plans:
1) America and Europe: For just $14.50 per month, you can talk for a total of up to 10,000 minutes per month.
2) Asia and Australia: For just $20 per month, you can talk for a total of up to 1750 minutes per month
3)Middle East: For just $20 per month, you can talk for a total of up to 300 minutes per month. (Isn't 300 minutes too less? )
One of the most striking plan is of course, Asia and Australia plan which covers almost the entire Asia Pacific and mainly India, Malaysia, Singapore,China,Thailand,Austrlia, NZ and Taiwan. That means if you subscribe to the Asia Pacific plan you will get upto 1750 minutes per month to these destinations. The cost of this package is $20 flat per month. You pay that money and enjoy calling to these destinations at almost 1.2 cents per minute (e.g. India), which is a good rate. Please note they do not allow calls to entire india only a few STD codes are allowed. Please check details here. Under Pay as you go package, the India calling rate is apporx 2.5-3 cents per minute.
However, since the VOIP Provider is new, we probably do not have a lot of information about Nymgo in temrs of Quality of Service. Nymgo offers their services via Nymgo softphone. There doesn't seem to be any information related to SIP. However they would more likely to provide that if a subscriber asked for it?
If anyone is currently using Nymgo, your feedback is appreciated. If anyone knows Nymgo SIP address, please drop under comments. SIP address is very important so that we can drop their softphone and instead use our softphone or use via SIP Phone or VOIP Adapter.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Heyotto offers free conference calls
Conference calling has really gone to bigger level during last 1-2 years with many more small companies trying out conferencing calling services to improve efficiency and communication.
HeyOtto is web conferencing solution which promises to deliver much more than conference calls. Otto is a human-like robot that follow commandes from its users. For an example, if someone wants to tell Otto to mute their phone line, they would say something like “Mute my line.” Or if you want to start the conference, you will have to say “Please start my conference.
Otto has built-in voice recognition intelligence. Currently, HeyOtto conference call service is offering 200 toll-free minutes free for your conference calls. You will also lock in a rate of 9 cents a minute, for each minute after those 200 minutes.
HeyOtto is extremely simple to use. Just give every conference call participant, access number : 1-888-Otto-123. Each participant will have a PIN based on which heyotto will automatically add them to your conference call bridge.
The following features are included in HeyOtto conference calling service:
-Roll Call feature
-Mute/Unmute all or some lines
-Lock confrerence option
-Dial-out option
-Volume adjust option
-Conference password for added privacy
-Transfer line
Start testing HeyOtto conference call system with 200 minutes of free conference calls.
HeyOtto is web conferencing solution which promises to deliver much more than conference calls. Otto is a human-like robot that follow commandes from its users. For an example, if someone wants to tell Otto to mute their phone line, they would say something like “Mute my line.” Or if you want to start the conference, you will have to say “Please start my conference.
Otto has built-in voice recognition intelligence. Currently, HeyOtto conference call service is offering 200 toll-free minutes free for your conference calls. You will also lock in a rate of 9 cents a minute, for each minute after those 200 minutes.
HeyOtto is extremely simple to use. Just give every conference call participant, access number : 1-888-Otto-123. Each participant will have a PIN based on which heyotto will automatically add them to your conference call bridge.
The following features are included in HeyOtto conference calling service:
-Roll Call feature
-Mute/Unmute all or some lines
-Lock confrerence option
-Dial-out option
-Volume adjust option
-Conference password for added privacy
-Transfer line
Start testing HeyOtto conference call system with 200 minutes of free conference calls.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Rebtel offers cheap international calls to India
Holiday season is around the corner and more VOIP Providers are coming out with new offers. Rebtel, a leading VOIP Provider is offering extremely cheap calling rates to India.
We share great relationship with Rebtel and have worked together before on a special offer for cheap calls to India. Today's offer will even beat that.
Rebtel is slashing their international calling rates to over 23 countries by 50%. This also includes India, that means you can now call India at 2.8 cents per minute till 18th December 2008. I know a lot of people who love to use Rebtel, especially because of ease of use and Mobile VOIP technology.
Please note This offer is only available for new signups.
Many people have used Rebtel VOIP service before, but some of you probably not aware of how Rebtel works. I am giving a quick explanation of the service.
1)You give them the phone number of a friend in another country, and Rebtel gives you a local number for them.
2)Save this number on your mobile so you can call your friend whenever you want, for a fraction of your normal international rate. It becomes a local call for you.
Video Demonstration of How Rebtel Works:
We strongly suggest you signup for Rebtel
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Unblock VOIP in Middle East
Millions of people in Middle East are fed up with new VOIP Providers being blocked. Every new VOIP service provider launched is blocked in these countries within 1 week. Today we most likely found a solution.
All thanks to one of the comments on another post, which forced me to check this tiny little utility called HotSpotShield.
This program adds another layer between you and your ISP which is often called as VPN. When you have hotspotshield on, you will be using USA IP address and your service provider in UAE would never be able to impose VOIP blocking feature. You should be able to use all your existing popular VOIP Providers such as Nonoh, VOIPRaider, VOIPcheap, VOIPax etc
How to use this program to unlock VOIP in Middle East?
1) Download Hotspot Shield (Mirror)
2) Click “Run Hotspot Shield”
3) The auto search VPN server, and connects
You can then try visiting some of your favorite VOIP Providers and check if they are now working properly. We do not gurantee that this method will work for you however it's worth a try. You can always discontinue using the program if its fails to work.
Good Luck unblocking VOIP in Middle East! Its time to start enjoying VOIP calls once again and make some free international calls
All thanks to one of the comments on another post, which forced me to check this tiny little utility called HotSpotShield.
This program adds another layer between you and your ISP which is often called as VPN. When you have hotspotshield on, you will be using USA IP address and your service provider in UAE would never be able to impose VOIP blocking feature. You should be able to use all your existing popular VOIP Providers such as Nonoh, VOIPRaider, VOIPcheap, VOIPax etc
How to use this program to unlock VOIP in Middle East?
1) Download Hotspot Shield (Mirror)
2) Click “Run Hotspot Shield”
3) The auto search VPN server, and connects
You can then try visiting some of your favorite VOIP Providers and check if they are now working properly. We do not gurantee that this method will work for you however it's worth a try. You can always discontinue using the program if its fails to work.
Good Luck unblocking VOIP in Middle East! Its time to start enjoying VOIP calls once again and make some free international calls
Friday, November 21, 2008
DeFi offers Mobile VOIP Unlimited International Calls
Mobile VOIP space has seen tremendous momentum during 2008, However most of it was in the mobile voip application development. However it seems VOIP Providers are now looking at making mobile VOIP their next best selling point.
DeFI a mobile VOIP Provider has announced ambitious plan to give unlimited international calls at $40-$50 per month. Please note that DEFI has fair usage policy in place and they only allow max 3000 minutes per month. There doesn't seem to be any restriction on where you can call, so you can call anywhere in the world. We believe premium numbers would be blocked and satellite calls will be blocked too :-)
You need to have a Nokia N or E series phone in order to use Defi Mobile VOIP. There are no surcharges for any number you might call or the WiFi network to which you're connected. DeFi has signed contracts directly with operators of hotspot and cellular networks worldwide to allow it to offer this quantity of flat-rate calling.
The DeFi service is bundled with all the PBX options and features like call waiting, call forwarding, voicemail etc. At $40 per month, you get a single PSTN (public switched telephone network) phone number with the DeFi Global Access service. The number can be assigned in any of 30 countries. For $50 per month (Global Access Plus), you can choose three inbound numbers.
When any of these numbers are called and you're on a WiFi network, the DeFi software handles the incoming call. With simultaneous ring, DeFi can ring incoming calls on your cell phone's number even when you're not on a WiFi network.
Defi has access numbers in over 30 countries and more than 50 global partnerships involving more than 75 countries for Wifi Access Points.
DeFI a mobile VOIP Provider has announced ambitious plan to give unlimited international calls at $40-$50 per month. Please note that DEFI has fair usage policy in place and they only allow max 3000 minutes per month. There doesn't seem to be any restriction on where you can call, so you can call anywhere in the world. We believe premium numbers would be blocked and satellite calls will be blocked too :-)
You need to have a Nokia N or E series phone in order to use Defi Mobile VOIP. There are no surcharges for any number you might call or the WiFi network to which you're connected. DeFi has signed contracts directly with operators of hotspot and cellular networks worldwide to allow it to offer this quantity of flat-rate calling.
The DeFi service is bundled with all the PBX options and features like call waiting, call forwarding, voicemail etc. At $40 per month, you get a single PSTN (public switched telephone network) phone number with the DeFi Global Access service. The number can be assigned in any of 30 countries. For $50 per month (Global Access Plus), you can choose three inbound numbers.
When any of these numbers are called and you're on a WiFi network, the DeFi software handles the incoming call. With simultaneous ring, DeFi can ring incoming calls on your cell phone's number even when you're not on a WiFi network.
Defi has access numbers in over 30 countries and more than 50 global partnerships involving more than 75 countries for Wifi Access Points.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Cheapest Call to India at 1 cents per minute
The festive season is around the corner and we have once again working with leading VOIP Providers to give you the best deals. We have worked this deal with Pingo Phone Card.
Pingo and VOIP Guide shares the same vision, reducing the calling rate to India to anything close to 1 cent. Is it possible? Yes, why not. We have worked around a great deal for all of you. Pingo is one of the world's biggest Phone company routing billions of call minutes per year. Backed by award winning Telecom infrastructure, they provide excellent call quality.
Here are some details of this exclusive offer:
Pingo and VOIP Guide will offer you DOUBLE CREDIT for all new signups. The signups must be from VOIP Guide blog. You need to use our exclusive coupon code, voipguide10. You need to sign up for min. $20 and will get $10 off. So credit card will be charged for $10 and once you log into your account as a customer you will see the $20 credit. On top of this, Pingo will also give you 50% off normal calling rates for 3 months.
How can you call India at close to 1 cent per minute?
Pingo's calling rates to India is 5.5 cents per minute. Pingo will offer you 50% off on rates for the next three months, so effective rate is 5.5/2 = 2.75 cents per minute. With our offer, you get double credit, so Now you get 2.75/2= 1.37 cents per minute. This is the lowest ever international calling rate to India. we believe 3 months is enough time for someone to use this credit.
Remember to use Pingo Coupon Code: voipguide10
-----Please do not signup for this offer anymore. The coupon has expired. Instead you can take Rebtel 50% off offer-------
Please note this offer is available for limited time only. We have gone to lengths to negotiate this offer with Pingo and give you the best calling rate.
Just For your information, Pingo calling cards are accessible in over 80 countries worldwide with over 300+ Access numbers. Pingo is by far one of the biggest calling card company in the world.
We strongly suggest you signup today and make the most of it. Let us know if you have any suggestions.
-----Please do not signup for this offer anymore. The coupon has expired. Instead you can take Rebtel 50% off offer-------
Pingo and VOIP Guide shares the same vision, reducing the calling rate to India to anything close to 1 cent. Is it possible? Yes, why not. We have worked around a great deal for all of you. Pingo is one of the world's biggest Phone company routing billions of call minutes per year. Backed by award winning Telecom infrastructure, they provide excellent call quality.
Here are some details of this exclusive offer:
Pingo and VOIP Guide will offer you DOUBLE CREDIT for all new signups. The signups must be from VOIP Guide blog. You need to use our exclusive coupon code, voipguide10. You need to sign up for min. $20 and will get $10 off. So credit card will be charged for $10 and once you log into your account as a customer you will see the $20 credit. On top of this, Pingo will also give you 50% off normal calling rates for 3 months.
How can you call India at close to 1 cent per minute?
Pingo's calling rates to India is 5.5 cents per minute. Pingo will offer you 50% off on rates for the next three months, so effective rate is 5.5/2 = 2.75 cents per minute. With our offer, you get double credit, so Now you get 2.75/2= 1.37 cents per minute. This is the lowest ever international calling rate to India. we believe 3 months is enough time for someone to use this credit.
Remember to use Pingo Coupon Code: voipguide10
-----Please do not signup for this offer anymore. The coupon has expired. Instead you can take Rebtel 50% off offer-------
Please note this offer is available for limited time only. We have gone to lengths to negotiate this offer with Pingo and give you the best calling rate.
Just For your information, Pingo calling cards are accessible in over 80 countries worldwide with over 300+ Access numbers. Pingo is by far one of the biggest calling card company in the world.
We strongly suggest you signup today and make the most of it. Let us know if you have any suggestions.
-----Please do not signup for this offer anymore. The coupon has expired. Instead you can take Rebtel 50% off offer-------
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
GrandCentral VOIP on Mac with Vocito
Ever wanted to use GrandCentral VOIP Service via a Softphone? Your wish has come true. You can now use Grandcentral VOIP right from your desktop using a SoftPhone GUI.
Vocito is a desktop UI for GrandCentral for the Mac(All variations of Mac like Macbook etc). It works on Tiger and Leopard, is both PowerPC and Intel native, and is fully open sourced. It allows you to use your existing GrandCentral account to make calls out to anybody in the USA and as Grancentral gives you free calls to USA, you can pretty much call anybody in USA for FREE. Using GrandCentral, Vocito will dial the remote phone and your local phone simultaneously and connect you together.
It integrates into Address Book, Quicksilver, Automater, system services, supports "tel" URLs, and is fully AppleScriptable.
All this integration makes it easy to have Vocito automatically dial your phone from just about any application that supports scripting, html, or Automator actions. For example, you can easily set up your iCal meeting appointment to automatically dial the conference call for you at the correct time.
Vocito for GrandCentral VOIP is available for Download. Try it out if you already have GrandCentral VOIP account and have Mac.
Vocito is a desktop UI for GrandCentral for the Mac(All variations of Mac like Macbook etc). It works on Tiger and Leopard, is both PowerPC and Intel native, and is fully open sourced. It allows you to use your existing GrandCentral account to make calls out to anybody in the USA and as Grancentral gives you free calls to USA, you can pretty much call anybody in USA for FREE. Using GrandCentral, Vocito will dial the remote phone and your local phone simultaneously and connect you together.
It integrates into Address Book, Quicksilver, Automater, system services, supports "tel" URLs, and is fully AppleScriptable.
All this integration makes it easy to have Vocito automatically dial your phone from just about any application that supports scripting, html, or Automator actions. For example, you can easily set up your iCal meeting appointment to automatically dial the conference call for you at the correct time.
Vocito for GrandCentral VOIP is available for Download. Try it out if you already have GrandCentral VOIP account and have Mac.
Fring Mobile VOIP testing Trial Ads
With Global recession mounting over every industry including VOIP, VOIP Providers and VOIP Application developers such as Fring are looking for more revenue making ideas than just giving away FREE VOIP or mobile voip calls.
Fring is and will always be the leader in Mobile VOIP, atleast for a few coming years. However mobile VOIP offlate hasn't really took off for two primary reasons. Mobile Companies are still scared to try this out as an alternative business revenue model and shed off their GSM income and secondly, consumers are over the Mobile VOIP hype already. All they want to see now is a good way to save money during this difficult times.
For Fring, this is a great opportunity to build a good revenue model and demonstrate their VC/Partners that Fring can be a long term profitable firm, if at all sold it would get a fair price. With millions of downloads of Fring Mobile VOIP, the trial ads might work well. However can they sustain this?
With companies all over the world cutting down their ad budgets( Foolish move), its very unlikely that Fring would make loads of money. However better today than later, Fring could easily penetrate this market and keep on improving on their already solid Mobile VOIP platform. All they need now to go mainstream and hit a few deals with operators such as Verizon, Vodafone and T-Mobile and that could as well be the most successful VOIP business model world has even seen. Imagine operators pushing your product into the market is the dream of any VOIP Provider.
Fring however faces stiff competition from Nimbuzz. Do check them out, they are worth your time. I still remember talking to fring VP over a quick coffee, that their biggest rival in the current market is nimbuzz. I feel nimbuzz should be proud of the fact. Nimbuzz recently announced Partner agreement with leading VOIP Providers around the world to support SIP Calls across the network.
Good time ahead from Fring but as I always say, If you want to be successful during Recession, Stop thinking about Profits and start thinking about innovation. This innovation will eventually make you loads of money when the market is back in action.
Fring is and will always be the leader in Mobile VOIP, atleast for a few coming years. However mobile VOIP offlate hasn't really took off for two primary reasons. Mobile Companies are still scared to try this out as an alternative business revenue model and shed off their GSM income and secondly, consumers are over the Mobile VOIP hype already. All they want to see now is a good way to save money during this difficult times.
For Fring, this is a great opportunity to build a good revenue model and demonstrate their VC/Partners that Fring can be a long term profitable firm, if at all sold it would get a fair price. With millions of downloads of Fring Mobile VOIP, the trial ads might work well. However can they sustain this?
With companies all over the world cutting down their ad budgets( Foolish move), its very unlikely that Fring would make loads of money. However better today than later, Fring could easily penetrate this market and keep on improving on their already solid Mobile VOIP platform. All they need now to go mainstream and hit a few deals with operators such as Verizon, Vodafone and T-Mobile and that could as well be the most successful VOIP business model world has even seen. Imagine operators pushing your product into the market is the dream of any VOIP Provider.
Fring however faces stiff competition from Nimbuzz. Do check them out, they are worth your time. I still remember talking to fring VP over a quick coffee, that their biggest rival in the current market is nimbuzz. I feel nimbuzz should be proud of the fact. Nimbuzz recently announced Partner agreement with leading VOIP Providers around the world to support SIP Calls across the network.
Good time ahead from Fring but as I always say, If you want to be successful during Recession, Stop thinking about Profits and start thinking about innovation. This innovation will eventually make you loads of money when the market is back in action.
iNum launches +883 VOIP Code numbers
Do you fancy having a very own VOIP Phone number Country Codes? Then your wish has been granted by iNum. Although, sounds extemely similar to the concept of ENUM, iNum provides much more than ENUM.
Electronic Numbering (ENUM) is a protocol developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to allow the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and the Internet to interoperate. iNum is an initiative of VoxBone and Voxeo.
iNum takes the ENUM concept to next level by actually assigning a +883 Country Code Global Phone number to you. That means, it doesnt matter where in the world you are you would continue to receive calls to your +883 number and without any roaming charges. This is still very new so routing your calls via other telecom carriers will be a challange for iNum.
One of the most important information lacking at the moment is how someone is able to use the iNum? Via VOIP (most common guess)? So still need VOIP Softphone or iNum SIP details on your SIP enabled phone and then someone can call you. However they could might as well call you using a SIP Softphone with an extension. Secondly, they can also call using ENUM provided by VoxAlot. This vital information is currently extremely confusing. I am sure 90% people would never even thought about how to port this to your phone?
iNum has however partnered with leading VOIP Providers to route calls via their networks and allow cross-network calling. VOIP Providers like Rebtel, Gizmo5 are already leveraging on this opportunity to connect and get more people on their platform. I am sure more VOIP Providers will jump into this madness :-). You can check the current list of iNum Partners. They have also released the local phone numbers in order to reach a iNum.
How do you test iNum? You can either register yourself at their website and wait for them to assign you an iNum. Remember currently iNum is in closed beta.
Where do I see iNum Going?
1) Mobile operators will jump on this as iNum goes mainstream. Of course, although the word 'Free VOIP' sounds too good, it won't be free. iNum will be issues for FREE however calling the iNum will be charged by respective telecom operators. Might be cheaper than usual.
2) iNum will extend it's service to deliver Video Conferencing, File sharing etc in future.
3) iNum can be called using SIP, direct 883 dialing (need operator intervention once it hits PSTN).
Either way, I am still wondering why iNum is better than SIP broker's ENUM . If ENUM is already doing this for years, iNum is potential a copycat? Can somoene enlighten me?
Electronic Numbering (ENUM) is a protocol developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to allow the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and the Internet to interoperate. iNum is an initiative of VoxBone and Voxeo.
iNum takes the ENUM concept to next level by actually assigning a +883 Country Code Global Phone number to you. That means, it doesnt matter where in the world you are you would continue to receive calls to your +883 number and without any roaming charges. This is still very new so routing your calls via other telecom carriers will be a challange for iNum.
One of the most important information lacking at the moment is how someone is able to use the iNum? Via VOIP (most common guess)? So still need VOIP Softphone or iNum SIP details on your SIP enabled phone and then someone can call you. However they could might as well call you using a SIP Softphone with an extension. Secondly, they can also call using ENUM provided by VoxAlot. This vital information is currently extremely confusing. I am sure 90% people would never even thought about how to port this to your phone?
iNum has however partnered with leading VOIP Providers to route calls via their networks and allow cross-network calling. VOIP Providers like Rebtel, Gizmo5 are already leveraging on this opportunity to connect and get more people on their platform. I am sure more VOIP Providers will jump into this madness :-). You can check the current list of iNum Partners. They have also released the local phone numbers in order to reach a iNum.
How do you test iNum? You can either register yourself at their website and wait for them to assign you an iNum. Remember currently iNum is in closed beta.
Where do I see iNum Going?
1) Mobile operators will jump on this as iNum goes mainstream. Of course, although the word 'Free VOIP' sounds too good, it won't be free. iNum will be issues for FREE however calling the iNum will be charged by respective telecom operators. Might be cheaper than usual.
2) iNum will extend it's service to deliver Video Conferencing, File sharing etc in future.
3) iNum can be called using SIP, direct 883 dialing (need operator intervention once it hits PSTN).
Either way, I am still wondering why iNum is better than SIP broker's ENUM . If ENUM is already doing this for years, iNum is potential a copycat? Can somoene enlighten me?
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Free VoIP Long Distance Calls during Holidays
We discussed about Poketalk a few weeks back. We have noticed they made significant improvement in call quality and call length.
You can now make free VOIP Long distance calls for upto 10 minutes to over 55 destination. The only limitation, the calls can originated from specific locations about 10 countries only.
Since the holidays are approaching, PokeTalk is now offering customers double the amount of free calls — 100 calls per month from November 24th through December 31st. That adds up to more than 16 hours of free calls from landline or mobile phones.
Poketalkallows per call to be upto 10 minutes.
If you don't know how PokeTalk works, here is the simple explanation:
1) Register at PokeTalk
2) Enter your Phone Number
3) Enter Party's number
4) Your phone will ring
5) Then PokeTalk will call your party.
6) Both are connected and can talk upto 10 minutes.
PokeTalk is a good option to call countries like Brazil etc and of course thailand (mobile) :-). Make the most of these offers coz they don't last long.
You can now make free VOIP Long distance calls for upto 10 minutes to over 55 destination. The only limitation, the calls can originated from specific locations about 10 countries only.
Since the holidays are approaching, PokeTalk is now offering customers double the amount of free calls — 100 calls per month from November 24th through December 31st. That adds up to more than 16 hours of free calls from landline or mobile phones.
Poketalkallows per call to be upto 10 minutes.
If you don't know how PokeTalk works, here is the simple explanation:
1) Register at PokeTalk
2) Enter your Phone Number
3) Enter Party's number
4) Your phone will ring
5) Then PokeTalk will call your party.
6) Both are connected and can talk upto 10 minutes.
PokeTalk is a good option to call countries like Brazil etc and of course thailand (mobile) :-). Make the most of these offers coz they don't last long.
VOIPZoom offers free international calls
Betamax has yet again launched another VOIP service before the holiday VOIP traffic reaches it momentum. Typically during novembeer-December, VOIP and Telecom providers around the world see massive increase in VOIP traffic.
Thanks to RameshKumar for heads up on this one. VOIPZoom is currently offering free international calls to over 41 destinations around the world at a flat monthly fee of € 2.50/month(Euro)/3.19 USD. That means as long as you pay the flat monthly free you would be able to make free international calls to these 40 destinations.
For Other countries, you need to top-up more credit. Currently they are offering calls to India at 2.5 USD Cents for both landline and mobile. Not the cheapest but not bad.
Please note VOIPZoom FUP (Fair Use Policy) is registered users get max 300 minutes per week of free calls, measured over the last 7 days and per unique IP address.
We couldn't find any SIP info, however strongly feel they are using one of the existing infrastructure for VOIPZoom, most likely voipraider or voipbuster SIP server. Anyone knows VOIPZoom SIP info? do let us know or post under comments.
3.19 USD for 1200 minutes of calls per month to 40+ destinations works great. If you are already using VOIPzoom, do let us know if you are satisfied with them. I am most likely going to buy some credit this weekend to try this out.
You can download VOIPZoom directly using this link..
Thanks to RameshKumar for heads up on this one. VOIPZoom is currently offering free international calls to over 41 destinations around the world at a flat monthly fee of € 2.50/month(Euro)/3.19 USD. That means as long as you pay the flat monthly free you would be able to make free international calls to these 40 destinations.
For Other countries, you need to top-up more credit. Currently they are offering calls to India at 2.5 USD Cents for both landline and mobile. Not the cheapest but not bad.
Please note VOIPZoom FUP (Fair Use Policy) is registered users get max 300 minutes per week of free calls, measured over the last 7 days and per unique IP address.
We couldn't find any SIP info, however strongly feel they are using one of the existing infrastructure for VOIPZoom, most likely voipraider or voipbuster SIP server. Anyone knows VOIPZoom SIP info? do let us know or post under comments.
3.19 USD for 1200 minutes of calls per month to 40+ destinations works great. If you are already using VOIPzoom, do let us know if you are satisfied with them. I am most likely going to buy some credit this weekend to try this out.
You can download VOIPZoom directly using this link..
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Jaduka DukaUS launched Free Conference Calls
Jaduka is back with another VOIP app, this time for making Web based Conference Calls. They have launched another Labs product to make totally free conference calls in USA and Canada.
Jaduka is known for VOIP applications such as EarthCaller, DukaDial etc. One of the most innovative and quality driven approach to build world class VOIP application has always been their motive. We have always supported them.
DukaUS, the new free conference call service will let you make totally free conference calls to upto 5 participants. dukaUS automatically calls each guest and invites them to join your conference. Just like any other Jaduka apps, DukaUS is easy to use. No Reseveration based conference calls, no tedious conference bridge settings. You are good to go with a few mouse clicks.
At this time, DukaUS conference calling service supports United States and Canadian telephone numbers ONLY. Each account is allocated a maximum of 30 minutes per day of group calling. Not bad really.
. Call quality is very good because they are not using VOIP, but the regular telephone network to connect calls—and no one gets charged for minutes—you don’t get charged and neither do the people you conference. You can create and moderate free telephone conferences for up to 5 people.
How to use DukaUS Free Conference Call Service?
1) In order to use DukaUS Free Conference Call service, you need to register an account at Jaduka Labs
2) In Conference Leader, Put your name and Phone Number.
3) Under Participant, Put their name and Phone number.
4) You can do conference call with upto 5 people.
5) Then click Start Conference. The Call will be placed to you first and then to rest of the 5 conference call participants. Everyone will be connected and conference call can then begin for 30 minutes.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Future of HD Video Conferencing
As we said earlier, Video Conferencing Market is growing rapidly and will continue to grow at 20%-30% YOY growth when companies are switching to Video Conference callFacilities instead of flying around people to their offices.
The annual savings on Travel can surely contribute towards building a in-house Video Conferencing system. The leaders being Tandberg and Polycom for Video Conference Facilities and in Web Based commercial conference systems, WebEx and GoToMeeting has significant share. However don't yet rule out interesting Conference2.0 Products such as DimDim(built by Indians).
Once companies move to Video Conferencing and with the latest craze about HDTV Video, more and more video conferencing companies are looking to make HD Video conferencing a possibility. Companies such as Vidyo claim to offer HD Video conferencing at 60 frames/second over the internet. Of course, all thanks to the latest technology H.264 standard for video compression which allows you tranfer compressed data over Video conference. In VOIP, companies like FlashPhone are implementing Video Conference Calls over SIP using H.263.
HD Video Conferencing physical facilities are however scarce at the moment and its very unlikely that companies would invest considering global slowdown. It would take some time for companies like Vidyo, Lifesize, Polycom and Tandberg to actually make a bigger headway in this market. However, this would become a huge market by 2012 and would most likely overtake the Traditional Video Conference facilities.
Innovation is the key. There are Workgroups already working on improving H.264 to H.265. H.265 would be desired to be 50% more efficient than H.264 in delivery a Video Conference. Either way, Video Conferencing would be huge in the coming days.
The annual savings on Travel can surely contribute towards building a in-house Video Conferencing system. The leaders being Tandberg and Polycom for Video Conference Facilities and in Web Based commercial conference systems, WebEx and GoToMeeting has significant share. However don't yet rule out interesting Conference2.0 Products such as DimDim(built by Indians).
Once companies move to Video Conferencing and with the latest craze about HDTV Video, more and more video conferencing companies are looking to make HD Video conferencing a possibility. Companies such as Vidyo claim to offer HD Video conferencing at 60 frames/second over the internet. Of course, all thanks to the latest technology H.264 standard for video compression which allows you tranfer compressed data over Video conference. In VOIP, companies like FlashPhone are implementing Video Conference Calls over SIP using H.263.
HD Video Conferencing physical facilities are however scarce at the moment and its very unlikely that companies would invest considering global slowdown. It would take some time for companies like Vidyo, Lifesize, Polycom and Tandberg to actually make a bigger headway in this market. However, this would become a huge market by 2012 and would most likely overtake the Traditional Video Conference facilities.
Innovation is the key. There are Workgroups already working on improving H.264 to H.265. H.265 would be desired to be 50% more efficient than H.264 in delivery a Video Conference. Either way, Video Conferencing would be huge in the coming days.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
FreeBuzzer offers free international VOIP Calls
It seems once again the FREE VOIP space is heating up with new free international voip calls providers. With Betamax joining the FREE VOIP movement once again, its even more interesting.
VOIPax is a betamax subsidiary(?) has launched FreeBuzzer, a totally free international VOIP calls. FreeBuzzer claims that they offer free international calls to over 40 countries around the world. The best part is it doesn't need a VOIP softphone. Just use it from the web as a Phone to Phone Service.
Enter your phone number and enter other party's number and Click Call. FreeBuzzer will call you phone and then connect you to the other party. However I noticed they radomly limit your call limit, probably based on the destination you call. There is a limit per IP. They also ask you to signup for VOIPax :-(
I only managed to make a few minutes of calls within Singapore. However when trying later, it throws an error that Free Trial calls are limited. It seems they only allow upto 10-20 minutes of free trial calls in a day.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Cheap VOIP International Calls to India at 2.95 Cents
Finally We can confirm that VOIP Providers have started the pricewar in VOIP industry. With every other VOIP service Provider is lowering calling rates,Its the best time for the consumer and we aint complaining :-)
Tringme, VOIP Provider from India has lowered calling rates to as low as 1 cents per minute and you can now call India at 2.95 cents per minute. Possibly the best rate available in the market today. Don't compare Tringme with Betamax, there are many hidden charges with Betamax and obviously the risk of loosing your account :-(
Some new Calling Rates by Tringme, are as follows:
India: 2.95 cents
US: 1 cent
Uk: 1 cent
Singapore: 1 cents
China: 1.3 cents
This offer is applicable to existing and new customers both.
I have also noticed that lately, Tringme has improved a lot on their call quality. Nothing much to say here, Just give them a try, and save some money in this economy. Penny saved is penny earned.
Tringme Calling Rates is possibly a trigger in this highly competitive Cheap International call market, we might possibly see reactions from other providers such as Local Phone etc. Wait and watch and lets hope that calling India will become 1 cents per minute soon.
Tringme, VOIP Provider from India has lowered calling rates to as low as 1 cents per minute and you can now call India at 2.95 cents per minute. Possibly the best rate available in the market today. Don't compare Tringme with Betamax, there are many hidden charges with Betamax and obviously the risk of loosing your account :-(
Some new Calling Rates by Tringme, are as follows:
India: 2.95 cents
US: 1 cent
Uk: 1 cent
Singapore: 1 cents
China: 1.3 cents
This offer is applicable to existing and new customers both.
I have also noticed that lately, Tringme has improved a lot on their call quality. Nothing much to say here, Just give them a try, and save some money in this economy. Penny saved is penny earned.
Tringme Calling Rates is possibly a trigger in this highly competitive Cheap International call market, we might possibly see reactions from other providers such as Local Phone etc. Wait and watch and lets hope that calling India will become 1 cents per minute soon.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Voxox offers Free VOIP and Video Conferencing
While lurking around to find the next big VOIP Provider, we noticed a new Free VOIP Calls and Video Conferencing Provider who is giving away 1200 mins of Free VOIP calls.
VoxOx is a Free Phone Service and Video Conferencing Service. A San Diego-based telecom provider, Telcentris, Inc has launched their public beta of a web-based calling service, VoxOx. Interesting they also offer a VoxOx Phone number (USA Phone number) which you can take with you anywhere and forward calls to your regular phone. This service is called VoxOx Reach Me.
VoxOx is aiming for the big fish Skype. They are trying to get you out of the Skype hangover and get your settled within their Free VOIP application. As a part of the beta, they are offering 2 Hours of Free international calls. Please note they are still have issues with their Web Portal Login however their VoxOx application works fine which will let you call and make Video conference calls.
On a whole, Looks like a good application but needs some quick dirty fixes to get it running smoothly. I can say, A long way to go to get Skype out of the market. Many people tried without any luck, you are the next one in the pipeline.
I always Skype won't be beaten by anyone but themselves. MARK MY WORD.
VoxOx is a Free Phone Service and Video Conferencing Service. A San Diego-based telecom provider, Telcentris, Inc has launched their public beta of a web-based calling service, VoxOx. Interesting they also offer a VoxOx Phone number (USA Phone number) which you can take with you anywhere and forward calls to your regular phone. This service is called VoxOx Reach Me.
VoxOx is aiming for the big fish Skype. They are trying to get you out of the Skype hangover and get your settled within their Free VOIP application. As a part of the beta, they are offering 2 Hours of Free international calls. Please note they are still have issues with their Web Portal Login however their VoxOx application works fine which will let you call and make Video conference calls.
On a whole, Looks like a good application but needs some quick dirty fixes to get it running smoothly. I can say, A long way to go to get Skype out of the market. Many people tried without any luck, you are the next one in the pipeline.
I always Skype won't be beaten by anyone but themselves. MARK MY WORD.
No more consolidation in VOIP Industry?
Have you noticed recently no more consolidation, takeover or mergers happening in VOIP space? What is the reason? Where is the Venture Capital Money going?
I have read many post recently who talk about Future of VOIP, VOIP is no more interesting kinda stuff. You hear that from Skype, which makes me mad. Who says there is no more innovation in VOIP? There is indeed and i am confident it won't be coming from the good old VOIP providers like Skype or Vonage. These companies are going to enjoy their retirement time soon.
After the Ribbit takeover by British Telecom couple of months back, we haven't really seen any action in VOIP industry. No more takeover, mergers, buy-outs, its suddenly a quiet space. Besides of course, companies spending more time for technology improvements. For that matter and for a change, lot less news from Jajah (i call them media monster, they release PR more than I write articles lol).
So where is all the money going? Why Venture Capitalist or Large Telecom companies are shying away from buying VOIP companies? Don't give me the obvious answer: Credit Crunch and Recession. I know this time around, Its different. Its all about the Money and it's hurting from bottom up. I spoke to a CEO of large telecom company in India and he said, they are targetting to cut down expediture by 50% by May by reducing employees and ad budgets. I personally think both are wrong choices.
Let me tell you why? I personally do not believe in the so called concept of "Cost Cutting by the way of employee lay-offs and Ad budget curbing". You lose the asset in either way. If you stop spending ads during recession, You will most likely to lose customers when the markets comes back to normal, coz the brand awareness is washed out. The best way to look at it is by buying ads when the rest of the market is doing the obvious. Venture Capitalist on the other hand waiting for the right "investment", which they will mostly likely not to find :-)
Unfortunately, you will see more fallouts in the VOIP industry than ever. There are many VOIP firms who will actually do well if they know how to exactly promote their services to consumers. It doesn't matter if its recession or not, every market has its potential and you need to understand it well.
I hope some of the younger companies actually focus more on building better technology during this tough time and expect to reap rewards when the market is back-up. Either way, VOIP is destined to replace your good old telephony line and even GOD can't stop it. PERIOD!
I have read many post recently who talk about Future of VOIP, VOIP is no more interesting kinda stuff. You hear that from Skype, which makes me mad. Who says there is no more innovation in VOIP? There is indeed and i am confident it won't be coming from the good old VOIP providers like Skype or Vonage. These companies are going to enjoy their retirement time soon.
After the Ribbit takeover by British Telecom couple of months back, we haven't really seen any action in VOIP industry. No more takeover, mergers, buy-outs, its suddenly a quiet space. Besides of course, companies spending more time for technology improvements. For that matter and for a change, lot less news from Jajah (i call them media monster, they release PR more than I write articles lol).
So where is all the money going? Why Venture Capitalist or Large Telecom companies are shying away from buying VOIP companies? Don't give me the obvious answer: Credit Crunch and Recession. I know this time around, Its different. Its all about the Money and it's hurting from bottom up. I spoke to a CEO of large telecom company in India and he said, they are targetting to cut down expediture by 50% by May by reducing employees and ad budgets. I personally think both are wrong choices.
Let me tell you why? I personally do not believe in the so called concept of "Cost Cutting by the way of employee lay-offs and Ad budget curbing". You lose the asset in either way. If you stop spending ads during recession, You will most likely to lose customers when the markets comes back to normal, coz the brand awareness is washed out. The best way to look at it is by buying ads when the rest of the market is doing the obvious. Venture Capitalist on the other hand waiting for the right "investment", which they will mostly likely not to find :-)
Unfortunately, you will see more fallouts in the VOIP industry than ever. There are many VOIP firms who will actually do well if they know how to exactly promote their services to consumers. It doesn't matter if its recession or not, every market has its potential and you need to understand it well.
I hope some of the younger companies actually focus more on building better technology during this tough time and expect to reap rewards when the market is back-up. Either way, VOIP is destined to replace your good old telephony line and even GOD can't stop it. PERIOD!
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Sify Talk offers unlimited Calls to USA UK Canada
While reading Earnings Report as part of my daily reading, I noticed that Sify has a interesting VOIP service called Sify Talk which seem to be offer unlimited Free international calls to USA, UK and Canada.
Sify Talk is part of Satyam-Sify venture and monthly VOIP plans. For about Rs.499, you can make unlimited calls to one number in US, UK (LandLine only) or Canada. In USA and Canada, you can call mobile phones as well. In addition to the inlimited calls, You will also get Rs.300 worth calling to other international numbers.
Don't yet jump all over, You MUST read the fine print before you signup for this service.
1) You can make unlimited calls ONLY to 1 number, which you must choose while signing up.Request to change the "unlimited number" can be made only after 30 days .
2) SifyTalk at present can be used for only outgoing calls to international destination. However if you know their SIP address, you might as well be able to receive calls. Hint: Check ATA configuration which should technically have SIP address, then try making calls via any other SIP provider. Just use SIP URI to make the calls to verify the SIP service is working, then expriment with other mechanism such as ENUM.
3)Sify Talk is only available in Chennai, Bangalore, Vizag, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Chandigarh,Hyderabad and Ludhiana.
4)There is a one time Fee for ATA Rs.1599/-. Try finding out if they allow you to use your own ATA, i doubt
5)Rs. 499/ is a recurring fee in order to continue to use the service.
If anyone is currently using Sify Talk, your feedback is appreciate so readers can make a proper decision.
Sify Talk is part of Satyam-Sify venture and monthly VOIP plans. For about Rs.499, you can make unlimited calls to one number in US, UK (LandLine only) or Canada. In USA and Canada, you can call mobile phones as well. In addition to the inlimited calls, You will also get Rs.300 worth calling to other international numbers.
Don't yet jump all over, You MUST read the fine print before you signup for this service.
1) You can make unlimited calls ONLY to 1 number, which you must choose while signing up.Request to change the "unlimited number" can be made only after 30 days .
2) SifyTalk at present can be used for only outgoing calls to international destination. However if you know their SIP address, you might as well be able to receive calls. Hint: Check ATA configuration which should technically have SIP address, then try making calls via any other SIP provider. Just use SIP URI to make the calls to verify the SIP service is working, then expriment with other mechanism such as ENUM.
3)Sify Talk is only available in Chennai, Bangalore, Vizag, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Chandigarh,Hyderabad and Ludhiana.
4)There is a one time Fee for ATA Rs.1599/-. Try finding out if they allow you to use your own ATA, i doubt
5)Rs. 499/ is a recurring fee in order to continue to use the service.
If anyone is currently using Sify Talk, your feedback is appreciate so readers can make a proper decision.
How to Call RingPlus Free VOIP International Call Gateway
Ring Plus is definately the most read post on VOIP Guide last week, primarily because they offer the best free international voip call anywhere in the world. However I noticed some people are confused about How to use Ring Plus from outside USA or call their USA number via one of the free international call program to save on local call cost.
Let's look at various options to call RingPlus Access numbers:
1) Gizmo5 Backdoor Dialing: Gizmo5 has one of the best feature which keeps me with them, the backdoor dialing. Its just like good ol' VOIP hacking, well sorta. Since there are lot of Digital home phone providers like PhonePower, Lingo etc which run on VOIP and obviously there are numbers are ported on the VOIP network, easily accessible for In-Network calling or SIP-SIP calling. Gizmo5 uses this loophole (or should i say technology) to dial these numbers out for FREE, coz SIP to SIP is always a free call.
However not all ?USA numbers are not under backdoor dialing, there are about 11% phone provider in usa are covered under Gizmo5 backdoor dialing. We need to find out which Ring Plus number is always for backdoor dialing. You can check it out at Gizmo 5.To give you one quick ready number which works on Gizmo5 is +12024460316. Wait, you need to dial with a prefix like call this number for free by dialing 0101-2024460316. This way you can call this number without any restriction and it does not have any limit on time. Once you are connected to Ring Plus Gateway, validate your login and start making calls.
2) DukaDial: This works only for americans. If you don't have unlimited USA phone plan with your home phone line, you would end up paying some money while calling Ring Plus. Let's avoid it, I am assuming there are no cost for receiving calls.
Use DukaDial to make free calls to any usa number, its a phone to phone service. Enter your number and then enter destination number (Ring Plus Gateway). DukaDial will first call you and then call ringplus number this way you would save on the local call cost as well :-)
3)EarthCaller: Works for anywhere in the world. However you need IE7 for earthcaller to work. Extremely simple, login and start making calls to Ring plus gateway.
4)Mediaringtalk: You need to download their softphone. Gives you 10 min per call, you can dial the same number again and again upto 4-5 times max within a day.
Let me know if i missed out a VOIP Provider which can possibly give free calls to ring plus gateway.
Now it doesn't matter where you live you can use Ring Plus and make calls anywhere in the world including India. The call quality can make some of the large VOIP provider think twice about their infrastructure :-)
Let's look at various options to call RingPlus Access numbers:
1) Gizmo5 Backdoor Dialing: Gizmo5 has one of the best feature which keeps me with them, the backdoor dialing. Its just like good ol' VOIP hacking, well sorta. Since there are lot of Digital home phone providers like PhonePower, Lingo etc which run on VOIP and obviously there are numbers are ported on the VOIP network, easily accessible for In-Network calling or SIP-SIP calling. Gizmo5 uses this loophole (or should i say technology) to dial these numbers out for FREE, coz SIP to SIP is always a free call.
However not all ?USA numbers are not under backdoor dialing, there are about 11% phone provider in usa are covered under Gizmo5 backdoor dialing. We need to find out which Ring Plus number is always for backdoor dialing. You can check it out at Gizmo 5.To give you one quick ready number which works on Gizmo5 is +12024460316. Wait, you need to dial with a prefix like call this number for free by dialing 0101-2024460316. This way you can call this number without any restriction and it does not have any limit on time. Once you are connected to Ring Plus Gateway, validate your login and start making calls.
2) DukaDial: This works only for americans. If you don't have unlimited USA phone plan with your home phone line, you would end up paying some money while calling Ring Plus. Let's avoid it, I am assuming there are no cost for receiving calls.
Use DukaDial to make free calls to any usa number, its a phone to phone service. Enter your number and then enter destination number (Ring Plus Gateway). DukaDial will first call you and then call ringplus number this way you would save on the local call cost as well :-)
3)EarthCaller: Works for anywhere in the world. However you need IE7 for earthcaller to work. Extremely simple, login and start making calls to Ring plus gateway.
4)Mediaringtalk: You need to download their softphone. Gives you 10 min per call, you can dial the same number again and again upto 4-5 times max within a day.
Let me know if i missed out a VOIP Provider which can possibly give free calls to ring plus gateway.
Now it doesn't matter where you live you can use Ring Plus and make calls anywhere in the world including India. The call quality can make some of the large VOIP provider think twice about their infrastructure :-)
Thursday, October 30, 2008
FreeRinger offers Free International Calls to 30 countries
Today we discuss about a VOIP Servicee called FreeRinger which basically hijacks into Talkster's Free international calling platform.
Whats the difference between FreeRinger and Talkster? The only difference is the caller now is not tied to the Phone. Talkster needs you to use their service via Phone but now FreeRinger allows you to bypass the Talkster gateway and connect directly to your party. However the rest of the communication is still carried on the Talkster platform that means the other party still needs to call into talkster to be connected to your call.
I see Free Ringer as a good altenative if you are already using Talkster and confortable with their platform and the way they work. FreeRinger is powered by Gtalk2VOIP and Talkster. We always said that Gtalk2VOIP is a strong VOIP platform which can hook into anything and we have successfully designed many hacks using their forwarding platform.
For newbies, Lets understand how you can possibly make free international calls using FreeRinger:
1. Enter your friend's phone number in international format: country code followed by area code followed by local number. Examples: 16502345678 is for USA/California, 442012345678 is for UK/London.
2. Press Call button. If this phone number is not yet listed on your roster, a subscription process will be initiated and new contact created.
3. Upon success a new Talkster number will be allocated for your friend to reach you back on the web. A phone call will be placed to your friend's phone number and you will hear a voice prompt informing you on call progress.
4. Once connected, you will have 10 seconds to tell your friend to call you right back to their Talkster number, while you are staying on hold and waiting. Your friend will learn their Talkster number from: a) SMS message sent during subscription, b) CallerID displayed to them, c) you can tell them their Talkster number.
5. After your friend calls you back, the system will connect you both again and you may talk as much as you want.
6. Press Hangup button at any time to terminate your call.
7. Click on a contact and press Call to initiate another call to same number.
Besides this, You can now also call other SIP URI. 1. by entering SIP address in phone number input box, or 2. by providing SIP URI in the URL, like: http://freeringer.biz/?callto=echo@gizmoproject.com
Of course, Free Ringer will only allow you to call 30 countries which fall under the Talkster allowed country list, mainly USA, Canada and most of the european countries.
Overall, I would qualify Free Ringer as add-on service to talkster platform than a stand alone VOIP service.
Whats the difference between FreeRinger and Talkster? The only difference is the caller now is not tied to the Phone. Talkster needs you to use their service via Phone but now FreeRinger allows you to bypass the Talkster gateway and connect directly to your party. However the rest of the communication is still carried on the Talkster platform that means the other party still needs to call into talkster to be connected to your call.
I see Free Ringer as a good altenative if you are already using Talkster and confortable with their platform and the way they work. FreeRinger is powered by Gtalk2VOIP and Talkster. We always said that Gtalk2VOIP is a strong VOIP platform which can hook into anything and we have successfully designed many hacks using their forwarding platform.
For newbies, Lets understand how you can possibly make free international calls using FreeRinger:
1. Enter your friend's phone number in international format: country code followed by area code followed by local number. Examples: 16502345678 is for USA/California, 442012345678 is for UK/London.
2. Press Call button. If this phone number is not yet listed on your roster, a subscription process will be initiated and new contact created.
3. Upon success a new Talkster number will be allocated for your friend to reach you back on the web. A phone call will be placed to your friend's phone number and you will hear a voice prompt informing you on call progress.
4. Once connected, you will have 10 seconds to tell your friend to call you right back to their Talkster number, while you are staying on hold and waiting. Your friend will learn their Talkster number from: a) SMS message sent during subscription, b) CallerID displayed to them, c) you can tell them their Talkster number.
5. After your friend calls you back, the system will connect you both again and you may talk as much as you want.
6. Press Hangup button at any time to terminate your call.
7. Click on a contact and press Call to initiate another call to same number.
Besides this, You can now also call other SIP URI. 1. by entering SIP address in phone number input box, or 2. by providing SIP URI in the URL, like: http://freeringer.biz/?callto=echo@gizmoproject.com
Of course, Free Ringer will only allow you to call 30 countries which fall under the Talkster allowed country list, mainly USA, Canada and most of the european countries.
Overall, I would qualify Free Ringer as add-on service to talkster platform than a stand alone VOIP service.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Ring Plus offers free international calls
Just in time for your festive calls need, we found a provider who would let you make absolutely free voip international call in lieu of advertisements.
I mentioned this many times that VOIP Providers are now moving towards the advertisement based model to cover up cost and if possible make some profit out of the free international calls service.
Ring Plus is one of the latest entrants in the free international calls space. They provide totally free international calls service to any country in the world (assume that some premium numbers are blocked, most likely calls to africa/UK mobile would be blocked). It's not one of those quick start scam free calls services like evaphone. Evaphone is probably the biggest scam ever hit the Free VOIP space. Seriously their 5 secs of free international calls is a joke.
Ring Plus however allows you to make calls to many countries and each call can last upto an hour. Ring Plus basically replaces the ring tone with advertisement, so when you make calls with Ring Plus. Ring plus tries to connect to your calling party but instead of you hearing a ring on their phone, you hear the advertisement which is basically replacing the ring, thereby cutting down the wait time for you. The call is then connected and you can talk for upto 1 hour. I am sure this varies with destination.
However there is a catch. You need to literally open your personal information to Ring Plus. Very similar to Plumble which hijacks your conversation. Ring Plus asks for personal information in order to personalise your Advertisement. If you are a college student, be ready to listen to College Loan Consolidation Service Ad.
Ring Plus is only available in the USA and I would say they would restrict to USA only. We strongly suggest you give them a try and let us know your experience with Ring Plus.
I mentioned this many times that VOIP Providers are now moving towards the advertisement based model to cover up cost and if possible make some profit out of the free international calls service.
Ring Plus is one of the latest entrants in the free international calls space. They provide totally free international calls service to any country in the world (assume that some premium numbers are blocked, most likely calls to africa/UK mobile would be blocked). It's not one of those quick start scam free calls services like evaphone. Evaphone is probably the biggest scam ever hit the Free VOIP space. Seriously their 5 secs of free international calls is a joke.
Ring Plus however allows you to make calls to many countries and each call can last upto an hour. Ring Plus basically replaces the ring tone with advertisement, so when you make calls with Ring Plus. Ring plus tries to connect to your calling party but instead of you hearing a ring on their phone, you hear the advertisement which is basically replacing the ring, thereby cutting down the wait time for you. The call is then connected and you can talk for upto 1 hour. I am sure this varies with destination.
However there is a catch. You need to literally open your personal information to Ring Plus. Very similar to Plumble which hijacks your conversation. Ring Plus asks for personal information in order to personalise your Advertisement. If you are a college student, be ready to listen to College Loan Consolidation Service Ad.
Ring Plus is only available in the USA and I would say they would restrict to USA only. We strongly suggest you give them a try and let us know your experience with Ring Plus.
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