We are moving...update your booksmarks [Update]

This is really big news for all you lovely readers. Less than a year ago, when I started this blog, I had little idea about how it would evolve. But with your love and support, we have come a long way!!!

It gives me immense pride and happiness to announce that we are moving TruVoIP to a full fledged site. So for all those great ways to make free international calls bookmark our new address http://truvoipbuzz.com.

The primary motivation for the transition was to have a better control over the site. For all the good things that blogger offers, it has a limited functionality. This meant that I could not do a whole lot of things with the site.

What does it mean for you?

• Most importantly, this transition would mean a better (read user friendly) site. You would see more features on the new website that you did not see here.

However, what will not change is my commitment to provide the same or even better quality content for you. So kindly update your bookmarks. You can access the latest feeds on http://feeds2.feedburner.com/Truvoipbuzz. See you all at TruVoIPBuzz...

ActionVoIP offers ultra cheap calls to India [Deals]

Betamax has raised (or in this case lowered) the bar again by offering ultra cheap calls to India and many other destinations. Betamax's latest offering, Actionvoip, claims to offer the cheapest international calling rates. To be fair, this claim was true to a large extent.

Actionvoip offers some great international calling rates and literally beats the pants off the competition. You can call India for as low as 0.007 US cents (calls to mobile are "little" expensive at 0.013 US cents). You can call Pakistan for 0.066 US cents, China for 0.007 cents, Russia for 0.007 cents, Brazil for 0.007 cents, etc. You can look at the complete rates table to find the rates for your destination. We have seen the calling rates drop steadily, but this is huge. I have been monitoring the Betamax rates, and they have not changed the rates as often as they used to in the past. This makes me a little comfortable with their claims.

You can use Actionvoip using their dialer or you can use your own device using the Actionvoip SIP settings given below:

SIP port : 5060
Registrar : sip.actionvoip.com
Proxy server : sip.actionvoip.com
Outbound proxy server : leave empty
Account name : your Actionvoip username
Password : your Actionvoip password
Display name/number : your Actionvoip username or voipnumber
Stunserver (option) : stun.actionvoip.com

Actionvoip clearly offers one of the best rates to several destinations and I would encourage you to avail the offer. If you want an even cheaper calls, find out how you can make unlimited free international calls to India, China, Phillippines, Canada, United Kingdom and Singapore.

We now have several providers offering less India calling at less than 3 cents. This is a welcome trend and hopefully this should force some of the bigger players to lower their rates as well. We have already seen Rebtel lowering its calling rate to India from 5.8 cents to 4.9 cents. Let us hope others catch on this trend fast...

Welcome Google Voice, Goodbye Grandcentral [Review]

Google is getting ready to recreate its magic with its new service Google Voice. Google wants to change the way you use your telephone, much as it revolutionized email usage with Gmail. Google Voice is the new version of Grandcentral, which Google acquired in July 2007. Read on to find out what to expect from Google Voice.

The basic philosophy behind Grandcentral remains unchanged in its new avatar. Like Grandcentral, Google Voice lets users centralize and control their telephone services, screen callers, make calls, transfer calls to multiple phones, etc. But Google has made significant changes to the Grandcentral, laying to rest all the complaints about ignoring Grandcentral.

• Look and feel: If you already have used Grandcentral, the first change you will notice is that the new site is very similar to the other Google sites, especially Gmail. All your Gmail contacts and groups are available in Google Voice.
  
• SMS: Google Voice has added the much needed SMS support. Now you can send, receive and store text messages, like you do on your mobile phone. This is interesting!! On one hand Google disabled third-party text messages on Google Talk citing financial constraints, on the other hand the company has allowed free text messaging on Google Voice.
  
• International Calling: This is probably the most important feature of Google Voice (at least for me). Google Voice now allows you to make cheap international calls. Calls to USA numbers are free, while those to other countries are charged. The international calling rates are not the cheapest, e.g. call to India is 7 cents per minute, Pakistan is 9 cents, China is 2 cents, etc. But given the (expected) reliability and the brand name, lot of users would start using the service. Google Voice also provides a $1 free calling credit to test their service.
  
• Conference calls: Google Voice also has added another useful feature, free conference calls. Now you can easily add multiple parties to your current call to create free conference calls.
• Voicemail transcription: Transcription is one of the most talked about feature of Google Voice. Google uses advanced speech to text technology to convert voicemails to voice emails, that you can read quickly and decide whether you need to respond or not. Although the speech to text technology is not perfect, it is good enough to give you a context of the message. To be fair, Google Voice uses bold text for part of the message that it's more certain of.
• Call Widgets: Google Voice also provides you with call widgets that can be put on any web page, allowing people to call directly from the web page.
  
• Other features: Other features include, call recording, mobile interface, group handling, personalization, etc.

You can also have a look at the video demonstration of these features. While these are some great features, there are some obvious missing elements:

• Gmail integration: Google voice is not perfectly integrated with Gmail. There are no filters, rules, etc. Also, when you upgrade to Google Voice, all your Grandcentral contacts are replaced with your Gmail contacts. So, if you have important numbers in your Grandcentral contacts, please back them up to ensure you do not loose them. Given that both the services are geared towards simplifying communication, a closer integration is inevitable. Mind you, the service is still in beta, so this may come up in the future.
• SIP support: This is something, I would sincerely hope from Google Voice. We do not want another Skype.
  

In summary, Google Voice is nice service and would greatly benefit users. It would be interesting to see how it evolves and how the other providers react to this. Google Voice is currently available to GrandCentral users, however, Google assures that the service will be ready for new users in "few weeks". Meanwhile you can put your name on the beta request.

Technorati Tags: free text messages, voip voicemail, google voice, grandcentral, free calling credit, free conference calls, voicemail, call widgets, sip support, grandcentral update, free text message, free sms

Unlimited Free calls to USA and Canada [Free Calls]

Today we have for you another VoIP service that offers free calling within US and Canada. IonLogix joins the growing list of providers offering free calls to USA. IonLogix launched FreeVoiceLine that offers free calling within USA and Canada.

FreeVoiceLine is probably the simplest VoIP service you have ever seen. But make no mistake, it has a lot to offer for a free service. List of services include:

• Free Calling: The core service is offering free calls. To make free calls, you just need to enter your number and the number of the person you want to connect. There are no registrations, no credit cards, no downloads, nothing!! You can also use this service to make free long distance calls.
• Widget: It also offers widget that you can embed in your website or blog to enable your visitors to call you for free. This is similar to the free calling widget provided by Qttel. FreeVoiceLine also has a Facebook application enabling you to call your Facebook friends directly from Facebook for FREE.
  
• API: Finally, it also offers APIs to incorporate FreeVoice platform into your website of applications.
  

If you are not in the US, don't worry. You can still use these services by getting a free US local number and using it to make unlimited free international calls to USA/Canada.

Technorati Tags: free international calls, international calls, unlimited international calls, free calls to US, unlimited calls, free long distance, long distance dialing, free voip call, cheap USA calls, freevoiceline, voip api, voip widget, website widgets

Say NO to anonymous calls - Trapcall [Review]

Telemarketers have become a smart lot. Earlier you could simply use services like PhoneSpamFilter to prevent those pesky calls. But, telemarketers are increasingly using sophisticated technology to mask their phone numbers. The call appears from "Unknown number" or "Restricted number", thus preventing the use of the earlier solutions. Not anymore, Trapcall is here....

With Trapcall, you will always know who's calling. Trapcall is extremely easy to use. During the setup process, Trapcall provides the instructions on how to reprogram your phone to send all rejected, missed or unanswered calls to Trapcall. After the setup process, when you receive a call from an unknown or restricted number, just reject the call and the call will be forwarded to Trapcall. The call is then unmasked and sent back to your phone as a normal call with the phone number of the calling party. The caller hears a normal ring tone during the process.

Trapcall takes advantage of the loophole in the US telecommunication laws that allows toll-free numbers to receive caller ID information even when the caller ID information is blocked by the subscriber.

Before you jump at the service, please note some of the issues you may have:

• Trapcall sends text messages everytime. So if you are charged for receiving text messages, remember to disable text messages in your account.
  
• Your carrier may charge you for forwarding calls, so confirm with the carrier.
  

TelTech Systems seems to have mastered the Caller-ID technology. First they offered Spoofcard to change the number that is displayed. Spoofcard is similar to Telespoof that allows you to make prank calls for free. Now the company is offering another Trapcall to recover the blocked numbers...

In my tests, Trapcall worked quite nicely digging out blocked numbers. The time takes was usually around 5 seconds, which is barely noticeable. If you have been troubled by those restricted numbers, you definitely want to try Trapcall.

Trapcall currently works with AT&T and T-Mobile only. The (basic) service is free and you can disable it easily by pressing ##004# and then the Call button on your phone. So do not hesitate to try it out!!!

Technorati Tags: Trapcall, Spoofcard, Call Forwarding, Teltech, Caller Id, Telespoof,

30 minutes free calls to India!!! [Deals]

Here's another great deal to make free calls to India. Dialsimple is another new VoIP provider seeking to get some share of the VoIP market. And what better way than to offer free talk time to let users evaluate their service. Dialsimple is currently offering 30 minutes free calling to India. Here's what you need to do:

• Create a new account by signing up.
• Enter the gift code "g-call-ind" (without the quotes).
  
• Click the Sign Up button and you would see 30 free minutes in your account.
• You can signup using all the numbers you own to get more free minutes. So dig out your Grandcentral numbers, if you have them.
• In addition you get recharge bonus when you recharge your account. For example, you get $5 bonus when you recharge with $10.
  

Dialsimple offers multiple ways of making calls, regular dial, direct dial, and speed dial like most other services. It also offers other standard features like PIN less dialing, access number, auto recharge, call recording, voice recording, etc. Dialsimple is currently available only in the US.

Dialsimple charges 3.3 cents to India, but with the recharge bonus the effective rate is only 2.2 cents which is one of the better rates to India (even better than lot of Betamax rates). I would encourage you to give Dialsimple a try and see if it suits your requirements.

Technorati Tags: Dialsimple, Voucher, Save Money, Grandcentral, Free international calls, Free Calls, Deals, Coupon Code, Cheap international calls, Cheap calls, Call India, Betamax, Access number

Skype's next arena - Mobile [News]

Having cornered vast majority of PC based VoIP communication market, Skype is getting ready to extend this domination in the mobile sphere. Skype is trying to liberate its users from the PC and enable them to make calls from mobile devices.

Skype already had a mobile version which allows users to make call to their Skype contacts using WiFi connection or 3G/2G data connection. Users can download the mobile client on their handsets and could use Skype to save on long distance and international calls.

Skype, as a part of its three pronged strategy, is now taking this forward, by developing partnerships with mobile manufacturer to tightly integrate and pre-install Skype on mobile handsets. Recently, Skype announced a partnership with Nokia at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to incorporate the Skype client in the company's flagship N series smartphones. Nokia is by far the biggest handset manufacturer and this partnership could be a big move in making Skype available everywhere through mobile devices.

Skype, however, is not alone in this quest to capture the mobile VoIP market. Truphone already has client for Apple iPod, iPhone and the G1. Jajah is also trying to get its share of the mobile market. It will be interesting to see how this VoIP segment evolves, will keep you posted!!!

If you have used or are using any of the VoIP services on your mobile devices, share your experiences.

I also wanted to take a minute to introduce the latest additions to the blog and seek your opinion about it. Most of you would have already noticed the little search box in the left sidebar. Now you can search TruVoIP using the search box and find the desired results. Also, TruVoIP feeds seem to have moved to Google's server and so the feed address has been updated. Please ensure that your feed reader refers to the updated address.

For more interesting updates, follow us on Twitter!!!

Technorati Tags: Skype, Truphone, Jajah, Mobile VoIP, Nokia, WiFi, N series, Mobile World Congress, MWC

Rebtel's Valentine Gift - Call India for 2.9cents [Deals]

Do not let these bad times stop you from connecting with your loved ones this Valentine! Close on heels of Jaxtr announcing its Valentine offer, Rebtel just announced its Valentine deal. If you want to call India, this is yet another good deal...

Rebtel's regular rate to India is 4.9 cents, but if you add $50 or more to your account, you could call India for just 2.9 US cents for the next 60 days. After 60 days, you will be charged the regular rates applicable at that time.

About Rebtel: Rebtel has one of the best customer service, they actually listen to their customers. The voice quality is extremely good, no delays or static. Making calls is also very easy, Rebtel gives you a local number for every number that you want to connect. You can save these local numbers on your phone and dial them like any other number. No PINs, no passwords, no access numbers, etc.  Rebtel also offers free calls between several countries. They also have a nice referral program, wherein you get $10 calling credit for every referral. Overall, it is a great service and I would heartily recommend it.

So, if you have been on a look out for a good calling solution, you should definitely consider Rebtel.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Technorati Tags: Rebtel, Valentine, Free Calls, Cheap Calls, India, Jaxtr

Jaxtr's Valentine Day Gift - Double talk time [Deals]

Love is in the air...

Jaxtr is planning to make this Valentine special by offering free talk time. Jaxtr is offering double the talk time throughout this month.

For every paid call that you make until the end of this month (February) using a local Jaxtr number, Jaxtr will give you the same talk time in March, absolutely FREE. This effectively reduces your rate to half. Jaxtr already has some very decent rates, but this deal makes it a killer. Under the current offer, you can make calls to India for 1.2 cents, Pakistan for 4.4 cents, China for 0.4 cents (under the premium subscription plan). Jaxtr also charges a connection charge of 1.6 cents for each call. Although I am not a big fan of connection charges, in this case the deal is still good enough.

To make a call, follow the steps:

• If you do not have an account, sign up for an account.
• Login to your account and add credits.
• Generate a local number for a number that you want to reach.
• Dial the local number to be connected to the desired number.
• Talk!!!

So connect with your loved ones and start earning!!!

Technorati Tags: Cheap Calls, Cheap international calls, Deals, Jaxtr, Save Money, Valentine,

Smartvoip offers low cost VoIP calls [Review]

Betamax has added another name to its ever expanding list of VoIP services, SmartVoIP. SmartVoIP offers one of the lowest cost international calls and SMS around the world. Read on to find more...

SmartVoIP offers some great rates to popular destinations around the world. You can call India for 0.15 Euro cents, Pakistan for 0.085 Euro cents, etc. It also offers free calls to a few destinations including Canada, USA, UK(Landline), Singapore, Taiwan, China, Portugal, Thailand, Spain, Russia, France, Germany, Spain, Hong Kong, and Japan. Although as compared to some other Betamax services, the list of free countries is rather modest. You can find the complete rate list here.

You can make calls using their dialer. SmartVoIP also offers SIP support, so you can use it with your VoIP hardware or software. The SIP settings are:

    SIP port : 5060
    Registrar : sip.smartvoip.com
    Proxy server : sip.smartvoip.com
    Outbound proxy server : leave empty
    Account name : your SmartVoip username
    Password : your SmartVoip password
    Display name/number : your SmartVoip username or voipnumber
    Stunserver (option) : stun.smartvoip.com

It also provides local access numbers in a lot of countries, thus allowing you to use the service anywhere like a calling card. You can add your mobile number to the account so that you do not have to enter the PIN numbers. You could even use this trick so that you can dial the destination directly without listening to any prompts.

I have personally used SmartVoIP and other Betamax services and am completely satisfied with the service. I have never faced any billing issues, although some people have complained about such issues.

This is besides the point, but it appears that Betamax is learning from the user feedback. SmartVoIP actually has the complete contact information on its website. It also has the telephone number (+49-221-3549565) where you can reach the company.

So if you are looking for cheap calls, I would recommend that you to give SmartVoIP a try!!!

Technorati Tags: Betamax, SIP, Free calls, Access number, Cheap calls, Cheap international calls, SmartVoIP

Jaxtr offers unlimited free calls India and more [Tips]

If you are looking for low cost or free calling solutions to India, China, Philippines, Canada, United Kingdom (UK) or Singapore, this is a must read. The troubled VoIP startup, Jaxtr, recently introduced its FreeConnect service in a bid to attract new users and increase its popularity.

About FreeConnect: FreeConnect allows Jaxtr members to make unlimited free calls to other Jaxtr members. Note that this will work only if both the phones that are being used are linked to Jaxtr accounts. To place a call using this service, just follow these simple steps:

• Log in to your Jaxtr account
• Enter the number of the person you want to call. Although you can enter both landlines and mobile numbers, FreeConnect works best with mobiles (you will see why in a while).
  
• Jaxtr then generates a local number that you can use to reach your friend.
• Meanwhile, you continue to When you initiate a call by dialing this number, Jaxtr notifies your friend via email and SMS along with a number that they need to dial.
  
• Your friend then needs to dial that number to be connected with you. Please note that both parties pay to dial the respective local numbers.
• If you do not want to wait for your friend to call back, you can connect directly using Jaxtr's low rates.
  

FreeConnect is currently available to users in India, China, Philippines, Canada, UK, and Singapore (Jaxtr can provide local numbers only in these countries). There is no restriction on the call length, no credit card requirements.

FreeConnect is different from other VoIP providers offering free calls to various countries in that it does not bear the temination cost. The costliest element in completing a call is the termination cost. By making the users dial the local numbers, Jaxtr can eliminate these termination costs and still offer free calls. We hope that this helps Jaxtr get the visibility and growth it needs desperately.

I have tried the service for a while and I must say, I am very satisfied with it. The call quality is very good, no noticeable delays, no disturbance. Try it yourself and I am sure you would not be disappointed.

So now you can make unlimited free (OK, you pay the local charges) calls to India, China, Philippines, Canada, UK, and Singapore. It does not get any better than this!!!

Technorati Tags: Unlimited Free Calls, Jaxtr, FreeConnect, Free Calls, SMS, Save Money

Trueroots offering upto 1000 free minutes [Deals]

Here at TruVoIP, we have been following Trueroots closely (read our earlier posts here and here). Trueroots is back with another promotional offer. This time it is not their regular double your credit offer, but they are offering free talk time.

The offer is to commemorate the 60th year of the Indian Republic. Under this offer, Trueroots is offering free talk time when you sign-up for a new account or recharge your existing account. The number of free minutes depend on the number of minutes you buy. For example, if you buy 72 minutes ($5), you get 50 free minutes. The free minutes go up as you buy a bigger block of minutes, if you but 1449 minutes ($100), you get 1000 free minutes. You can find the details of the free minutes here, but in summary this offer will lower your effective calling rate to India from 6.9 cents to around 4.09 cents.

Given their regular rates at 6.9 cents, I am not really surprised at this offer. Trueroots has been coming up with offers very regularly that effectively lower their calling rates and makes them comparable to some other providers. At 4.09 cents, I would definitely recommend you to try it out (if you have been sitting on the edges). At this price, you get great quality, reliability and service. Trueroots offers PIN less dialing, speed dial, no hidden fees, great customer service, toll free access numbers in UK, USA and Canada), and some other great features.

Technorati Tags: TATA, Trueroots, Calling Card, Deals, Call India, Cheap Calls, Save Money, Free talk time, Free minutes

Unlimited free calls to US & Canada [Review]

Today we review yet another VoIP service provider providing free calls to US & Canada, CallingAmerica.

CallingAmerica has a very simple and clean interface. All you need to do to make free calls is enter the number that you want to be connected and press FreeCall. No registration, no payments, no credit cards!!!

The calls are limited to 2 minutes without registration, i.e. you can make unlimited number of calls of 2 minute duration. However, if you register, you can increase this duration to 15 minutes. Just click on the Sign Up Now button and register yourself. Once you have registered, you can make unlimited free calls (even to the same number) of 15 minute duration. The service is currently restricted to only US and Canada (which is the case with most VoIP applications).

Free calls at CallingAmerica are supported by advertisements. But unlike some other ad-supported calling services that insert advertisements before the call, CallingAmerica does not interfere with the call. The advertisements are displayed before the call is connected. If you do not want to be disturbed by the advertisements, you could use dukaDial, which also offers free calls to US. If US is not the destination that you want to call, your destination may be covered by Qttel.

I made a few calls using CallingAmerica and was quite satisfied with the call quality, especially for a free service. These was occasional delay or static, but on the whole it is well worth a try. For all the students applying for for their admissions, this could be a great option to keep in touch with the schools during this admission season.

Technorati Tags: Free Calls, VoIP, Qttel, Save Money, CallingAmerica, Unlimited Free Calls

Unlimited Free calls to over 50 countries (including India)[Deals]

First the good news, this is probably the ultimate free call deal!!!

The bad news, however, is that you can use this only if you are in Australia (or if you can dial Australian mobile numbers). So for all those who are in Australia read on...

Readers in Australia can call host of countries for the cost of a local mobile call. FreedomCalls is providing unlimited free calls to many destinations, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Argentina, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, Finland, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kuwait, Malayasia, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Thailand, UK, Vietnam, etc. For a complete list of countries that you can reach for free, click here. This is probably the first few VoIP service that is providing free calls to India.

There is no registration, payment, credit cards, configuration, etc. To make a call, all you need to do is:

• Dial their access number 0424 215 152.
• After the prompt, dial the destination number in international format, i.e. 011 + country code + Destination Number.

Turns out that Freedomcalls is not the only service for this purpose. You could also use SmartCalling or ComfortCalls for the same purpose. Both follow the same model as FreedomCalls. The access number for ComfortCalls is 0424 215 048 and those for SmartCalling are 0424 215 150 and 0424 215 151. The rest of the process remains the same.

Too good to believe...

Well there is one catch, the access number is a local mobile number. The charges for calling a mobile number are very steep in Australia. This probably has something to do with the free calling service. However, many cell phone carriers have already blocked these services to prevent loss of revenues. The Freedomcalls website has a notice that says that customers of Optus, TPG and VIRGIN may not be able to use thier services.

Public and regulatory pressures may force these companies to allow their customers access to these services, but if you can reach their access numbers, this is a great deal. Make the most of it....

p.s. If you are not in Australia, read some of our earlier posts to get free calling deals (read here, here, and here).

Technorati Tags: Access Numbers, Deals, Free Calls, Free international calls, Freedomcalls, ComfortCalls, SmartCalling, Australia

VoIP 2.0 - VoIP is far from dead [Opinion]

If you have been following the VoIP industry, you would have noticed the recent debate about the death of VoIP. Probably, it all started with Alec Saunder's entry, which was followed by Ted Wallingford's 10 points about the death of VoIP. On the other hand we have Jeff Pulver firmly believing that the true promise of VoIP is yet to be realized, but then he highlights that VoIP buzz is down by 47% using Google trends. To me both are extreme positions, the truth is somewhere in the middle.

I had commented earlier that VoIP is not a breakthrough or a radical innovation. It is an incremental innovation, changing the way voice is transmitted between two parties. One of the important result of this is lower cost of communication. But this is not what VoIP is all about, we need to think beyond prices/cost when we think about VoIP. VoIP provides the structure to build powerful voice based application.

Probably, people are suggesting that the innovation in VoIP is dead. But I am not sure, whether this is a legitimate point. The problem, I feel, is that people are viewing VoIP as an end in itself, which is not the case. VoIP is a means to an end, a tool to facilitate communication, a tool to empower voice, etc. So the innovation may not be in VoIP itself, but the real innovation will come about in the applications developed using this technology. Let me use Alec's example, where he compares VoIP with TCP/IP. The technological revolution is facilitated to a large extent by the TCP/IP protocol and not not by the protocol itself. Just to borrow from Andy, VoIP has (or will) become the building block for the 21st century communication.

We are currently in VoIP 1.0 and setting up the stage for the next phase of evolution, VoIP 2.0.

Lastly, just to dig deeper in the results shown by Jeff (VoIP buzz is down 47%), I decided to look at the trends for some other commonly VoIP keywords. These are some of the keywords that I tried: incoming number, unlimited calls, unlimited free calls, make free call, free calls, Rebtel, Truphone, Fring, iPhone VoIP, Free calls India, Mobile VoIP. Not surprisingly, all of them showed healthy growth during the above period. This just shows that the awareness of VoIP has increased. Instead of searching for "VoIP", people are now doing a more focussed search.

What do you think about this debate, share your thoughts...

Technorati Tags: Google Trends, VoIP 2.0, Death of VoIP, VoIP innovation

Voike - Voice to Web Social Networking [Review]

Social networking is the flavor of the season!!! Voike Inc., a Florida based start-up, has launched an interesting VoIP application that combines (or seeks to combine) the power of VoIP and social networking. As Jaime Jaramillo (CEO, Voike Inc.) explains, "...the core application is to use the Voike dashboard as a blog and message center to disseminate spoken word messages, comments, and other content to Blogs and social networking sites." This is what Voike can do for you...

In terms of functionality, Voike (in its current form) allows you to add audio to your blog or profile using just your telephone. Users can also e-mail, forward, redistribute, re-play, reply, comment, and relay these interactive voice messages. All you need to do is register with the phone that you will use with Voike. Then call the Voike number using the registered phone and follow the IVR for instruction on how to use it (it is relatively straight forward). This is a nice way of communicating with a large group, just record your message and send it to the entire group. Although not as efficient as DialMyCalls that delivers the message directly to the phones, it is a nice option.

Another interesting functionality, is the ability to make free conference calls. You could also use Voike to create free telephone conference sessions. The process is similar to other conference services where you can create a conference session and invite the other participants. Once again, you could save the conference and email or forward it to other users.

The company is planning to roll out advanced aplications such as product reviews, live performances, complaints, etc. The idea seems to replace the written format with audio. The idea is great, however, I am not sure to what extent this goal will be achieved. Some basic questions need to be addressed:

• What is the best content for such a format? I am not sure whether all the blogs will jump on to this platform.
  
• What about content indexing by search engines? Media files have a big issue of searchability, limiting their widespread usage (at least till audio searching matures). Search engines are limited in their ability to index the content of the media files. Not many would not want their  site to be not indexed by the Google bots.
  
• What is the unique offering? How does the technology compare with existing technologies like Text-To-Speech (TTS) or speech recognition?

All said, this is an interesting service and worth trying out. You could become a "Voiker" right now by signing up for your account here. If you have already tried this service, share your opinion. Also let us how could this service be improved to make it really useful...

Technorati Tags: Voike, VoIP applications, Audio blogs, Blogging, Free conference calls, Audio Search, Voiker

Double your talk time this holiday season [Deals]

Trueroots is back with its promotional offer during this holiday season. The offer is similar to their earlier promotion, wherein you get double the credit or effectively half the rate. You also get credit when you autorecharge before Decemeber 29th. Finally, you can earn additional free minutes when you refer friends. Read our earlier post for more details about Trueroots or the promotion or head straight to Trueroots to sign-up.

We covered Trueroots earlier during Diwali. Trueroots is a VoIP offering from the house of TATA. The TATA group has significant interest in the telecom industry through various companies. Trueroots is the calling card service of the group, targeting the Indian diaspora.

So enjoy the promotion while it is still on and make cheap international calls!!!

Technorati Tags: TATA, Trueroots, Calling Card, Deals, Call India, Cheap Calls, Holiday, India, Save Money

Airtel Callhome not working [Update]

I had written earlier about why a complete (or even a large scale) switchover to VoIP is not a plausible option under the current scenario. That belief is continuously being reinforced.

I had signed up for Airtel Callhome and have been using it for some time. Although their rates are not the best, I use it as an emergency VoIP service and I have been satisfied so far. But it suddenly stopped working yesterday. Some investigation revealed that this could be due to the breaking of the undersea cable. Although Airtel cannot be blamed for the breaking of the cables, but the fact that the company was not prepared for such an situation left me unimpressed. A similar cable break happened earlier this year and companies relying on such service could have had a backup option so that their services are not disrupted. Ever heard of Business Continuity Planning (BCP)!!!

It is very easy for company to blame the cable breakage for the disruption of their service, but they cannot hide the fact that they were not prepared for this. Customers relying on their services were left high and dry. Imagine the fate of business customers due to such a disruption.

Communication is the most basic need, at least in today's world. Just because VoIP is cheap, companies cannot take it for granted. We obviously will not complain if this was Betamax, we do not expect 100% uptime from them (considering the price that we pay). But when the customers are paying premium prices, they should expect a premium service.

I only hope, that Airtel and other VoIP companies take a lesson from this episode and have a backup plan for the future.


Technorati Tags: BCP, Airtel, India, Undersea Cable, India

Make free Spoof calls [Tricks]

Telespoofing is the ability to change the number that is displayed on the caller ID of the person you called. In normal situations the caller ID shows the number that you dialed from. For some reasons (and I will not enlist the reasons here), you may want to change the number that is displayed on the caller ID of the receiver. If this sounds interesting, read on....

Telespoof offers the ability to change the number that appears on the caller ID of the receiver. Apparently, this service is completely legal (in large part of the world). To try this service, go straight here. Enter your number, the number that you want to call, and the number that you want to be displayed on the caller ID and have fun!!! I guess this is where they can keep a log of things, in case of legal issues. Telespoof currently offers services within the United States. So now you can easily "fake" your caller ID.

You can also use Telespoof to make free calls within the United States. Just enter the numbers and get ready to make free calls within the US. Once again, if you are outside the US, you could use the steps listed here to use this service.

Technorati Tags: Telespoof, Caller ID, Unlimited Free Calls, Free calls, VoIP application

Get over 100 minutes of free calls [Deals]

I wrote about 28TEL's mobile 2 Skype offering yesterday. If you have still not tried it, here is one more reason to give them a try.

28TEL is offering USD 1.5 credit for every new sign-up. You can use this credit to make free international calls. Although their regular rates are not very exciting, you can get free calls of over 100 minutes to certain destinations. Assuming you are calling from US/Canada, you can get around 20 minutes to India, 12 minutes free calls to Pakistan, 80 minutes free calls to Singapore, etc. Remember, calling your online Skype contacts is FREE. You can find the rates from other countries here. Should you decide to recharge your account, they are offering 10% extra on recharge as well (if you recharge before 15 Decmeber).

If you are in one of the 9 countries (Brazil, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Taiwan, USA and Canada) where 28TEL is offering local numbers, you must not miss this. Register multiple numbers or even your Grandcentral numbers for more free international calls. If you are not in one of the 9 countries, you can try using the method detailed here. I have not tried it myself, but I guess it should work.

Technorati Tags: 28TEL, Free Calls, Free calls to Skype, Free international calls, Grandcentral, Save Money, Skype