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Category: voip

  • Nimbuzz Strikes Deal With Spice Mobile


    Nimbuzz has agreed a distribution deal with Indian telecoms company Spice Mobiles.

    As a result Spice Mobile handsets will now have the Nimbuzz application pre-installed.

    Nimbuzz is a mobile instant messaging, (geo) presence and VoIP provider whose software allows users to chat, message and send files on the go.

    The deal also includes Spice Mobiles becoming a major distribution partner to join Nimbuzz’s global Manufacturer Affiliate Program.

    Spice Mobiles has approximately 25,000 retail outlets.

    Nimbuzz CEO, Evert-Jaap Lugt, said they had subscribers in over 200 countries and were growing at a rate of 20,000 new users per day.

    Nimbuzz CEO Evert_Jaap Lugt

    The Spice Mobiles deal is a global contract. In addition to India, pre-installed Spice Mobiles devices will be sold in other APAC territories.

    "This deal ensures significant market penetration for Nimbuzz across the APAC territories and we will be working closely with Spice Mobiles to encourage future shipment of new handsets,” said Lugt.

    Gartner expects India’s mobile user base of around 300 million to reach 737 million by 2012.

    Price Waterhouse Coopers reports the Indian mobile VAS market will reach USD $2 billion by the end of 2008 and expect it to account for 18 per cent of operator revenue by 2010.

    Spice Mobiles CEO, Kunal Ahooja, said the Indian market was experiencing soaring mobile usage and penetration.

  • Vyke Launches Mobile VoIP For Blackberry


    Vyke has released a beta version of its Mobile VoIP software and service for Blackberry devices using RIM software.

    The addition of the Blackberry software now means Vyke’s VoIP solution is available on the three most used mobile operating systems in the enterprise market – Symbian, Windows Mobile and RIM.

    Vyke says its Blackberry solution is unique as it uses a variation of VoIP which enables users to make VoIP calls over the Vyke network at any time their phone has GSM coverage, not only when the phone is in range of Wi-Fi or 3G mobile data coverage.

    The software supports most Blackberry devices dating back as far as 2003.

  • Phone.com Offers US Businesses Foreign Numbers


    Voxbone is to supply Phone.com, a hosted IP PBX provider for small businesses, with international DID (direct-inward-dial) numbers.

    The deal allows Phone.com users in the US to select telephone numbers in foreign countries that when dialled will ring to their Phone.com Virtual Office.

    An automated receptionist then asks for the called person’s extension number and completes the call.

    Such calls are local to the caller. Voxbone carries them over its managed IP network to Phone.com, which routes them to its end customer.

    Phone.com customers pay a flat monthly rate for each DID. The numbers can also be directed to ring home phones or cell phones, and to change routing by time-of-day rules.

    DIDs can be ordered for all included cities and countries through Phone.com’s self-service web site.

    Ari Rabban, CEO of Phone.com, said theVirtual Office enabled small business customers to look big by running big-company voice applications like automated attendant and conferencing.

    Voxbone leases international DID numbers and toll-free numbers via VoIP to organizations in North and South America, Europe and Asia/Pacific regions.

  • Gizmo5 Introduces Browser-Based VoIP Application


    Gizmo5 has launched a web-based VoIP app that allows users to call 800 numbers and SIP addresses for free.

    GizmoCall is Flash-based, so it only requires a browser to use the service rather than having to download a software client.

    Users go to the Web site, sign up for a username and password, and start making calls.

    The service can also accept inbound calls to the login user name, so long as the app is running in a window or browser tab.

    You can also drop one line onto a webpage to do inbound calling from GizmoCall.

    To make outbound calls, users require a GizmoCall account.

    The Adobe Flash client should work on Mac, Windows and Linux platforms.

  • OnePhone VoIP Client Coming To Blackberry


    Devoteam is to release a Blackberry version of its VoIP client OnePhone that runs on mobile platforms enabling voice calls over an IP network.

    It is expected to be available for the RIM handset in the first quarter of 2009.

    OnePhone is a SIP-based, dual mode GSM-WiFi solution that is able to interwork with public and private WiFi hot spots, and with mobile networks.

    The application, which effectively turns mobile devices into extensions of employees’ desk phones, is also being made ready for Android and the iPhone.

    Christoph Wernli, business development manager at Devoteam, told voip.biz-news that legal requirements meant the application would have to be modified to comply with Apple’s legal requirements for services such as VoIP functionality.

    That aside, he said the aim was to expand beyond the current offering for Symbian and Windows Mobile handset to provide its clients – and in particular operators – with a wider choice of devices on which OnePhone can be used.

    "What we are aiming to do is create this same kind of convergence platform for all operating systems out there," he said.

  • VoIP Business Phone Systems Made Simple


    As VoIP increasingly shifts into the mainstream more businesses are going through the process of selecting the best phone systems for their needs.


    VoIP.biz-news asked Terry Martin, CEO of Coms PLC, to explain some of the options surrounding business VoIP and offer some basic guidelines for SMEs.

    Voice over IP (VoIP) telephony uses the internet to make and receive phone calls using a broadband connection instead of standard phone lines.

    As broadband bandwidth increases, call quality and reliability has also greatly improved, making VoIP a realistic option for every business.

    However, as with all technologies, the options and choices can be just as confusing as the technology itself. There are four primary types of internet telephone system:

    • Free IP-PBX: Download free software and setup your own VoIP IP-PBX server
    • Managed IP-PBX: A vendor will install and manage an IP-PBX server on your premises
    • Hosted IP-PBX: A supplier delivers a VoIP service without a server on your premises
    • Add a VoIP Gateway or Card to your existing, traditional PBX.

    By far, the simplest, and most flexible options is the Hosted IP-PBX service which is centrally monitored, updated and managed.

    This means that the customer pays a monthly bill and the day to day management of the service is taken care of by the service provider.

    A hosted service provides all the benefits that might be expected in a VoIP solution but takes away the stress and confusion.

    Terry Martin, CEO ComsPLC

    But how can small and medium sized businesses benefit from a hosted VoIP service?

    Firstly, customers are immediately updated when new features are available. This means there is no expensive equipment upgrade a few years down the road.

    Scalability is an important point for ambitious, growing companies as customers only pay for the seats they need on a monthly basis. With a hosted service, extra network members can be added to a system at the click of a button without the cost of a new line.

    With a hosted VoIP service, the customer can integrate teleworkers and customer service lines through their own broadband connections. In addition, features such as an automated switchboard, voicemail to email, and conference calling for example, come as standard with most business packages.

    A hosted VoIP service is very mobile and lends itself well to remote working. Using a dual mode mobile, such as the new Nokia e Series range, the customer can access their network via a Wi-Fi connection and continue to make VoIP calls at the same minimal cost as they would in the office.

    Companies can choose which number they want to use wherever they are in the world. Businesses can take an ‘020’ number and adopt a virtual London presence. This means that companies have the freedom to move premises or even countries and keep the same contact number.

    The most notable advantage, however, is the dramatic financial savings available. Calls to other network members, for instance other regional offices, teleworkers, stockists or special clients, are free of charge. Also customers save substantial amounts on maintenance, line rental and upgrades as it is all centrally managed.

    What should SMEs consider when implementing a VoIP service?

    There are a number of questions that companies should consider before implementing a service:

    • Does the provider offer the whole range of geographic, non-geographic and International numbers?
    • Does the provider have any technology to compress more calls down a standard DSL line? Most SMEs use a standard ADSL broadband line and VoIP calls take up a lot of bandwidth. If the service uses technology to cut down the amount of bandwidth used on each call, then more calls can be made at the same time.
    • What are the disaster recovery systems in place if your IP connection is down? Should disaster strike and the broadband connection fail, what emergency processes are in place as back up.
    • What does the service provider offer in terms of quality, reliability and scalability?
    • Does the provider offer number portability to ensure you keep your existing numbers?
    • What support services are offered?
    • How competitive are the rates?
    • Can the provider support mobile devices and provision them over the air?

    About Coms Plc

    Coms Plc was founded by Jason Drummond in 2000. Coms.Net is the core service of Coms Plc, which provides a VoIP business telephony service.
    The Coms.Net solution is based upon the industry standard SIP protocol, which enables the widest possible connection of customers, devices and integrated Web 2.0 applications.
    Coms Plc is an OFCOM authorised Public Electronic Communications Network (PECN) and a member of the Internet Telephony Service Providers Association (ITSPA). Coms Plc is also listed on the London Stock Exchange AIM market (LSE:COMS).

  • VoIP in India: An Interview With TringMe CEO Yusuf Motiwala


    VoIP in India is very hopeful and is witnessing a number of players. This is being said across plausible internet sources and is now supported by the thoughts of Yusuf Motiwala, CEO, TringMe.

    TringMe’s range of diverse services: Call Widget, Mobile VoIP and use of web-based messengers, has won them a strong consumer base in the last 2 years.

    biz-news.com blogger correspondent Jolsna Rajan spoke with Yusuf Motiwala about TringMe’s success, its ongoing initiatives and a lot about the status and outlook of VoIP market in India.

    Biznews: Firstly, VoIP is a very young market in India. Potential seems to be high despite the recession. What would your opinion be on VoIP s outlook in India? Will we see any continual change in the offerings like the way TringMe has – no phone or a landline but just a microphone with Gtalk?

    Yusuf: Yes, VoIP is a nascent market in India, but a lot is happening around it including, as you know, the guidelines from TRAI to legalize VoIP. VoIP has a lot of potential and the recession is not going to hurt it since the need to communicate is only growing. The continued penetration of Internet, the increasing need to integrate voice over IP and the need to provide telephony to the masses for even better prices than what exists today will only help VoIP in Indian market.

    We strongly believe that as the means of communications increase (Phone, Internet, Instant Messenger, Mobile), the need to unify them will become a key to manage them. The caller does not need to know all the forms of communication devices/IDs that I carry/have. Instead, the caller should only know my one and only one ID to reach me and I should be able to receive calls on any device that I choose to. Isn’t it more intuitive?

    Yusuf Motiwala, CEO, TringMe

    To be precise, TringMe is not just microphone with Gtalk, but a lot more. As captured in our product offerings (TringMe products), we were the first ones to demonstrate web-based (Flash-based) telephony. TringPhone and our Push-N-Talk widgets enable anyone to call directly from the web. Our MobileVoIP intelligently uses any available data network including WiFi, GPRS, 3G networks to make and receive calls for next to nothing. Our SMS-based calling "brings VoIP to the masses" on the lowest end phones which are meant for only Voice and SMS. Coming to Gtalk, our platform enables Instant Messengers like Gtalk to do telephony. When you are calling from PC (Gtalk,TringPhone, Push-N-Talk widgets), all you need is microphone/speaker and when using a phone, you will not need to learn anything new. The idea is to leverage current devices and integrate them in an intelligent way. With TringMe’s platform, one can use any of the above mentioned ways of calling to call on any device. So, for example, one can call from Gtalk to a mobile device, from browser to a landline, from mobile device to a browser etc.

    Biznews: Very recently, has TRAI made VoIP in India to be legal. However, usage of VoIP has always been high and therefore with it being made legal can we expect an exponential shift in the usage of the service?

    Yusuf: To be precise, TRAI has made the recommendation to DoT (Department of Telecommunications)) to legalize VoIP. This is a big "key" step for VoIP in India. Although VoIP is being used in several forms, there has been some notion of it being not completely legal and hence we haven’t seen services that utilize VoIP to the fullest. Officially legalizing it will open the gates for usage that were potentially in the "gray area" with regards to the legality of VoIP.

    Although, it’s tough to say, predict the quantity of increase in usability, there is no way, but up for VoIP to grow. We believe that any technology that can be used to bring services to the masses is the technology that wins. VoIP is one such service since it now enables the bottom of pyramid – the common man – to make worldwide calls for a few paisa. This has never happened and as a lot of potential. Only time will tell the extent in which VoIP affects each and every one of us.

    Biznews: There are many players in the VoIP segment, so it seems. Do you agree with the statement? Is it a very competitive environment? Are players forced to reduce costs of their offerings because of competition or is the market purely driven by the customer level support / convenience?

    Yusuf: Yes, there are many players in VoIP segment and it is a competitive environment. But if you look closely, there is a major difference when compared them with TringMe. Most of the companies are "VoIP providers" – i.e. the ones which sell VoIP mins – and VoIP mins is becoming a commodity and hence you see cut-throat competition and price-wars amongst them. TringMe is in a different league – we have built technology that is used by those providers and hence we eventually benefit because of price-wars amongst the "VoIP provider". Our technology and algorithms to utilize VoIP and provide a unified way to communicate across the web and mobile has created quite a disruption in the market space given that we were the first ones to demonstrate web-based (Flash-based) telephony.

    Given the competition in the market, customers have a choice and they will not accept mediocre products for an extended duration. For a brand, it’s important that certain quality be maintained. We believe in it whole-heartedly. Infact, although VoIP has usually been associated with "not-so-good-voice-quality", Andy Abrahamson, a noted VoIP expert has commented that TringMe’s voice quality is even better than Vonage, a leader in VoIP services ( TringMe Conversations – Phweet, Aircell & TringMe Traffic Patterns). Customers and Companies are quick to "understand" such usability aspects and hence today, we are proud to say that TringMe is serving millions of customers. Big companies have embraced TringMe’s products and services which only underscores our belief that quality and the right way to use technology sells.

    Biznews: We also hear that VoIP prices are not regulated in India. Does TringMe see this as an advantage when every competitor is trying to fight their own space in the low cost market?

    Yusuf: Given that we are a technology platform provider, de-regulated VoIP prices is only a boon for us. Our technology leverages VoIP providers and hence we only benefit from such a competition. In general, competition is always healthy and we welcome competitors who want are looking to enter the same domain as ours.

    Biznews: With the increase in the market potential, can we expect a greater focus on marketing initiatives? In other words can we expect a lot of advertisements (online/ print/ TV)? Is TringMe planning on it?

    Yusuf: We have been lucky that our users have been our best marketing campaign. Almost all the market that exists for TringMe today are as a result of work-of-mouth marketing from our users. We have allocated some marketing budget for the near future to propel TringMe to the community which hasn’t yet tried TringMe. So, yes, you can expect marketing initiatives from our end. At this point, we cannot disclose the details of marketing plans since some of it is still in the works.

    Biznews: We did a quick user perception about VoIP and the question asked was: what is the first thing that comes to your mind when one says VoIP? It was interesting to note that there were no much diverse opinions. Most of them said – Skype and cheap calls. And some said low quality.

    Yusuf: Skype has been a big revolution to make Internet calls common-place. Given the precedence of calls over internet when compared to the PSTN calls, associating "cheap" with it is understandable. Since Internet was never designed to carry voice, the early attempts have yielded low/bad/not-s-good quality at the end-points.
    It’s reassuring to hear these comments since we started with similar thoughts when building TringMe. The idea was to definitely change the "low quality" perception and we have successfully demonstrated that quality can be improved with algorithms, even in the low bandwidth scenario.

    Biznews: If you could convey a message about VoIP to the same audience, will it be cheaper calls or would you like to better the perception in the minds of people?

    Yusuf: Everyone has realized that with time, the call rates have dropped and they will continue to do so. It’s important for folks to realize that TringMe’s call quality is much better than what they may perceive. Andy Abrahamson, a noted VoIP expert has commented that TringMe’s voice quality is even better than VonageAs you may seen or heard, Alec Saunders’s Calliflower replaced the PC calling solution from multi-million dollar funded Truphone to TringMe’s flash widget for convenience and quality.

    TringMe is like talking on regular phones. This, we believe will go a long way in making users realize that TringMe has taken the VoIP calls to the next level, to a place where cheap calls need not be low quality calls.

    Biznews: Also, does TringMe view the market as a challenge since most of the users rely on Skype, Jajah and Jaxtr?

    Yusuf: That’s no longer true. TringMe platform is serving 4 and half million customers everyday and hardcore Skype users moving to TringMe indicates emergence of new player. To give you an example, Phweet founder is Skype veteran and adapted to TringMe’s technology when he founded Phweet (and now skype – Phweet & TringMe connection), meet8 is an old Jajah customer now moved their entire network to TringMe, the quality speaks.
    Why? TringMe’s platform is much more diverse and covers a diverse range of spectrum than the competitors including the ones you have mentioned. We offer all of what any of our competitors provide and more. You can look at our portfolio to get a better idea of our offering which will help you better understand the overall competitor’s space and our position.
    Creating a website like Jajah, Jaxtr or Grandcentral is a matter of few minutes using TringMe’s powerful API (TringMe Blog – Roll-out your own click-to-call service). Complete source code is available.

    Biznews: A last question which is again on TringMe – If the large audience could know about TringMe what would it be?

    Yusuf: For a common man, TringMe is easiest way to stay voice reachable from anyplace in the world using any device and at anytime. For developers, integrating voice and telephony to any web-application is just a matter of few minutes.

    Biznews: Can we expect more? Will we see more features and any ongoing change?

    Yusuf: Yes, innovation is one of the core hallmarks of TringMe. As you may have known, we have released a lot of products/features in the last one year of our existence. New features, innovative solutions and interesting applications built on TringMe’s platform will definitely keep us busy and we will bring some of these applications to the market soon. Our goal is to establish TringMe as the de-facto voice platform of the web and empower everyone from a small developer to a big organization to easily deploy voice enable solutions. We have several patents (for e.g. Enhanced Click2Call) and the team is encouraged to file patents for novel ideas and algorithms. . TringMe is a small focused team with an ability to be amongst the top players in this industry.

    About TringMe: TringMe is based out of Bangalore, India & having marketing presence at San Diego, US & Singapore. TringMe was launched in October 2006. They offer call widgets, web based SIP phone, mobile VoIP and connects IM users. These solutions are offered to enterprise and home based users. The company website gives a clear message that the company is set to make calls simpler and easier; a VoIP service for the next generation.

    About Yusuf Motiwala: Yusuf Motiwala carries with him 14+ years of experience in communication and multimedia industries and is the Founder and CEO of TringMe

  • US VoIP Calling Rises By 32%


    It may still not enjoy the popularity found in other parts of the world but there’s no doubt that Internet telephony is rapidly gaining ground among consumers in the US.

    According to responses from Mediamark Research & Intelligence (MRI) just released Fall 2008 Survey of the American Consumer, four per cent of respondents reported they had made an online phone call in the last 30 days.

    While this leaves VoIP calling still far from mainstream – especially compared to other Internet-related activities such as emailing – it does represent a year-to-year increase of 32 per cent.

    It also gives online phone calling one of the the biggest year-to-year per cent increases among adult Internet users, along with downloading TV programs and watching online videos.

    E-mail, news gathering and paying bills online continue to be among the most widely used Internet activities by US consumers.

    MRI began measuring Internet activities in 1997 and continually adds new Internet behavior questions to its survey.

    The fall 2008 data include four new Internet activities: sharing photos (done by one in four adults in the last 30 days); sending electronic greeting cards; watching a live TV program online; and uploading or adding video to a Web site.

  • Security tool for VoIP solutions released


    A new tool which allows enterprises to assess if their VoIP solutions are vulnerable to targeted eavesdropping has been released.

    UCSniff, from Sipera Systems’ VIPER Lab, is a free application which allows network managers find out how easy it is to imitate an enterprise VoIP phone, download a directory and then listen in on confidential calls.

    "UCSniff is an assessment tool that helps demonstrate vulnerabilities in VoIP design and implementation," said VIPER Lab director Jason Ostrom.

    "It was born from the concept of combining targeted attacks against VoIP users along with the corporate directory, intelligent VLAN support, and man-in-the-middle features."

    The results of a survey released last month revealed that security was one of the top-five concerns for respondents when investing in VoIP solutions.

    The security and regulatory compliance implications are significant for VoIP eavesdropping, especially given the ability for outside hackers to access corporate directories.

    Once done they can use that information to target and automatically record conversations between anyone from CEOs, CFOs, corporate counsel and outside law firms to accounts rReceivable dealing with customer credit card payments.

    The UCSniff tool is available now for SIP and SCCP signaling protocols. A future version will allow testing VoIP Video calls on the Windows OS.

  • VoIP Market Down 8% in 3Q08 as Telcos Scale Back


    A two-year "pause" in the overall carrier VoIP space is being forecast as the effects of the economic downturn spread globally.

    Large RBOCs and ILECs are scaling back on VoIP equipment purchases, helping bring down the worldwide service provider VoIP market 8% sequentially to $816 million in 3Q08, says market research firm Infonetics Research in a new report.

    The overall market weakness in 3Q08 was led by a steep decline in the high density media gateway segment, as well as a dip in the softswitch segment, according to the report, Service Provider VoIP and IMS Equipment and Subscribers.

    On the positive side, sales of session border controllers and media servers were up in 3Q08, although not enough to offset losses in other segments in the next gen voice market.

    Stéphane Téral, principal analyst for VoIP and IMS at Infonetics Research, said third quarter service provider VoIP equipment sales confirmed what was had already been seen in the previous quarter.

    "In North America, carriers were already slowing their VoIP investments after completing major projects; in Western Europe and some parts of Asia, such as South Korea, inventories were already high," she said.

    "The quarter also reflects the global economic downturn, which is turning the expected VoIP deployment dip into a drop.

    "New VoIP projects will be postponed at best, and some may be cancelled altogether, as more consumers ditch their fixed lines, thus cutting the need for wireline upgrades.

    "As such, we are predicting a 2-year pause in the overall carrier VoIP space, with a pick up expected in 2011."

    Other highlights from the report:

    • Year-over-year (from 3Q07), softswitches, SBCs, and media servers are up
    • Cisco shook up the worldwide trunk media gateway market with a 37% sequential jump in revenue in 3Q08, propelling them to the #1 spot, followed by GENBAND and Huawei
    • Nortel maintains its #1 position in the worldwide softswitch market
    • Cable MSOs are likely to postpone PacketCable 2.0 deployments for residential VoIP due to tough economic conditions
    • Given how bad the current economic turmoil is, the 5-year outlook for service provider next gen voice is decent
    • Voice over broadband (VoBB) will continue to be the big driver across the board

    Infonetics’ report tracks VoIP subscribers and carrier VoIP equipment, including high-, mid-, and low-density trunk media gateways, SBCs, media servers, class 4 and class 5 softswitches, and IP Centrex/hosted IP PBX, IP trunking, and residential voice application servers.

    The report also tracks fixed-line and mobile network IMS core equipment, including HSS, CSCF servers, media resource function, breakout gateway control function (BGCF), application servers, and PSTN gateways.