Unlimited calls to 40 countries - € 2.5/month [Deals]

This is another biggie for people who love to talk endlessly. Betamax has just launched yet another VoIP service - VoIPzoom. VoIPzoom offers unlimited calling to 40 countries for a monthly subscription of € 2.5 or aproximately $4. The list of countries include:

Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, China (+mobile), Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guam, Hong Kong (+mobile), Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Singapore (+mobile), South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States (+mobile).

Note that € 2.5 is a subscription fee and you cannot use this value to make calls to other countries. If you are wondering why should you pay a monthly subscription fee when most Betamax services offer freedays (free calls) if you put credit in your account, here's the reason.

• The free calls offered by Betamax are governed by the fair-use policy.
• Under most services, the free calls are limited to about 300 minutes per week, per account, per IP.
  
• If you exceed this limit, you will be charged at normal rates.

So, if you like to speak for long hours you may end up paying money if you were to rely on other Betamax services. VoIPzoom offers UNLIMITED free calls to these countries to satisfy your calling needs. Moreover, the list of free countries is bigger than other Betamax services. Also, VoIPzoom offers some great rates to countries not included in the list. You can call India, for instance, at 2 Euro cents per minute.

VoIPzoom does not offer SIP and so you can make calls only using their client. This service appears to be targeted at Skype's unlimited plans. Skype's Unlimited World plan offers unlimited calling to 36 countries for $9.95 and there is a limit of 10,000 calling minutes per minute. People using Skype's unlimited plans would find VoIPzoom's offer attractive. And considering that there is no long term commitment, this may not be a bad deal for all you chatterboxes.

Technorati Tags: Betamax, Cheap Calls, Unlimited Calls, Skype, VoIPzoom, Untimed Calls, Free Calls

As predicted, Fizzcall party over [News]

Fizzcall launched its per call VoIP offering recently, offering 25 pence per call to various countries. I was not too enthused about the offering and I went on to say that as an investor I would not be comfortable investing in the company. You can read the earlier post here.

I posted the earlier article on Sep 10 and in less than 20 days the observations are coming true. Fizzcall is terminating its services from October 10. The company website mentions that their supplier (BT) is ceasing to provide services to them and hence they cannot offer services. Obviously, they have stopped accepting new registrations. But if you have credits in your Fizzcall account, you could still use them till October 10.

This event highlights two important points:

1. Business Continuity Planning (BCP) - It highlights the lack of BCP at Fizzcall. Relying overly only on one supplier was not the best idea from the beginning. This is the price you have to pay if you rely too heavily on one supplier.
2. Business Model - It also attests the weakness in the business model of the company. If the business model was sound enough, Fizzcall would have managed to find an alternate supplier. I am sure before making this decision to terminate services, the company would have tried its best to find an alternate supplier. The fact that they could not find any other supplier indicates that the offering was not financially sound.

It definitely is disheartening to see a VoIP service go down, but it provides important lessons to be learnt for the others. I hope the others learn from these mistakes and evolve stronger.

Technorati Tags: Business Model, Fizzcall, Deadpan, VOIP, Unlimited Calls, Untimed Calls, BCP

Are you excited about Fizzcall? [Views]

Don't we all hate counting minutes while calling?

Fizzcall, a UK based VoIP service provider, seeks to put an end to this by charging per call instead of per minute or second. Fizzcall charges 25pence (approx 50 US cents) per call irrespective of wherever you call. Each call lasts 60 minutes and you are free to call again to the same number. You can try Fizzcall for as low as 1.5 GBP and determine if it is for you.

On the face it looks like a decent offering and so we should expect decent numbers for the company. But the more I thought about it, the less convinced I was about the company's business model. Here's why...

• Fizzcall charges a flat rate of 25 pence as long as your call is less than 60 minutes. How many (in percent) of your calls are greater than 60 minutes? I would be really surprised if the figure is in healthy single digits. From my own experience, it is difficult to talk for that long on a regular basis. Not to forget calls lost, guests arriving, and wrong timing of the calls.
  
• So looks like Fizzcall may not target the vast majority of phone users, but would rather concentrate on a select few (heavy users). There is nothing wrong with this, in fact it is a great strategy if the company can make profits out of this segment.
  
• Even this looks unlikely to me. Assuming that most calls do not last for 60 minutes, this offer would appeal to people living in countries where the VoIP rates are still steep. For example, SMSDiscount charges $0.997 per minute for a call to Cuba. So if you want to call Cuba, you would greatly appreciate this offer, even though your call length may be about 15-20 minutes. Note that the call volume in these countries is anyways low (read smaller customer base).
  
• But if you are in the US and want to call India, you may not be very excited about this offer or at best you would use it for those really long calls (read a minor fraction of your calls).
• So, most of the customers using Fizzcall will have at least one more VoIP providers for their regular calls.
  
• In essence, Fizzcall's target population is very narrow and even within that population the likelihood of it getting 100% share is very slim. It will share the booty with other VoIP providers.
  

What is the implication?

The rate charged by Fizzcall is based on some assumption of the traffic pattern. The belief is that customers from the profitable countries will cross subsidize the customers from the not so profitable countries. What happens if their assumptions go awry and they attract all the "non profitable" customers (which is a possibility as per my arguments above).

Thus the small target base and the possibility of attracting the not so profitable customers can spell doom for the company. So if I am an investor, I would not be comfortable putting my money in Fizcall unless the company can convince me about their assumptions. It would be interesting to get a word from the company officials about this aspect.

Technorati Tags: Business Model, Cheap calls, Fizzcall, Unlimited calls, Untimed calls, VOIP

Jaduka launches Dukabar - Automated One-Click dialing [News]

Jaduka seems to be on a roll! Close to the heels of launching dukaDial, the company has launched another browser based VoIP product, dukaBar. Just like the Skype Click-to-Call feature, dukaBar allows you to call any number on a web page by just a click. Some details about dukaBar:

• dukaBar allows you make the call without any headset or microphone. It first connects your number and then dials the other party's number.
  
• dukaBar currently supports only North American numbers.
• This is yet another offering from Jaduka that allows you to call a US number for FREE. Yes, you can call any North American number for free using dukaBar. The only restriction is that both the numbers have to be US numbers. But as explained earlier you can use this feature to call any US phone for free, even if you do not have a US phone number.
  
• Unlike their other products, dukaBar requires you to install a browser
  toolbar. Firefox 3 is currently not supported, but should be supported
  soon (the company claims so).

If the number you want to dial is not listed on the world wide web, you can use the inbuilt contact manager to enter the number you want to call. In essence, dukaBar seeks to eliminate the need to remember and dial numbers.

Jaduka seems to be getting ready for a major show. Currently they are concentrating on their products and are only servicing the North American geography, but my guess is that they will move out soon. The other possibility is licencing their products to a VoIP provider. Whatever the case, Jaduka is the company to watch out for!!!

Technorati Tags: dukaBar, DukaDial, Free Calls, Jaduka, Save Money, Skype, Unlimited calls, VOIP

Unlimited free calls to US [Free Calls]

Calling to the US just got cheaper (or free)!!!

Jaduka has just launched dukaDial, which allows you to make calls to any US number for free. Similar to other web based calling services such as Nonoh and Rebtel, you enter your number and the party you want to call and Jaduka completes the call. Note that both parties need to have a US number, i.e. it connects calls within the United States only. Do not fret if you are not in the USA, you can still use dukaDial to call within the US. Here's how:

1. Sign up for a SIP account. You can get one for free at Voxalot.
2. You can access the SIP service using one of the 6 methods detailed here.
   
3. Get yourself a free US DID number from Ipkall.
4. Forward the Ipkall number to your SIP account.
5. If you do not have an account, signup for a new account at Jaduka
6. Now go to dukaDial and enter your Ipkall number and the number you wish to call.
7. Jaduka will first dial your number and once you pick up, it will complete the call by dialing the other number.

Earlier, the company acquired Earthcaller that allows free calls to any US number using the browser alone. So, if you do not want to go through the above hassle and are comfortable calling using a headset and microphone then you can use Earthcaller to make free calls to the US.

This is one more addition to the list of things students applying for admissions should consider to lower their expenses.

Technorati Tags: Application, ATA, DID, DukaDial, Earthcaller, Free Calls, Free DID, How To, IPKALL, Jaduka, Rebtel, Save Money, SIP, Tutorial, Unlimited calls, VOIP, Voxalot

No international roaming with Skuku [Exclusive interview]

One thing which is really annoying about VoIP is the inability to retain your number while making and receiving VoIP calls. Not having your number flashed on the screen is not a great idea. EIM Telecom, an Israel based company, is planning to change all this. The company has launched a product, Skuku, enabling users make and receive VoIP calls using their own cellular number. It is an interesting idea and is likely to have some influence on VoIP industry. We had the opportunity to have an exclusive interview with Mr. Lior Tzabari, VP Marketing at EIM Telecom, about Skuku. Find the interview excerpts below (my comments in italics).

Alok: For the benefit of the readers, can you provide an overview of your service?
Lior: We currently have two products, (1) Skuku stick, and (2) Skuku phone. [Skuku stick is a flash drive like device similar to Magicjack. Skuku phone is similar to a PC based IP phone]. Both are USB devices that allow you to use VoIP while using your own mobile number. Both the devices accept your existing SIM-card and convert your computer into a mobile phone. Skuku puts the power of VoIP into your SIM card. It allows you to keep your mobile number and pay only local rates [your home country] while making or receiving calls from your home country. With Skuku, you never pay any roaming charges!!!

Consider, for example, you are user from India and you have an Airtel (an Indian telecom firm) connection. You can use Skuku in two possible ways. When you are in India, you can use Skuku to make international calls at low IP rates. When you are out of India, you can use Skuku to make calls to India and receive calls from India, like you have never left India. You could also make low rate international calls when you are overseas. Further, Skuku to Skuku calls are always free, irrespective of the destination.

Alok: Can Skuku stick or phone use Wi-Fi?
Lior: The current Skuku hardware is not Wi-Fi enabled, but you will see Wi-Fi enabled Skuku devices in the near future.

Alok: Will users have to activate international roaming to use Skuku?
Lior: No, they do not have to do anything extra to use Skuku.

Alok: How do you achieve this feat?
Lior: Once the user puts in the SIM card in the Skuku device, the device reads the data on the SIM card and is able to communicate securely to the server in the home country. The server in the home country establishes contact with the telecom company in case of any calls and completes the connection.

Alok: What are the problems that Skuku solves for the customers?
Lior: Skuku provides the convenience of carrying your personal cellular number anywhere while eliminating the roaming charges associated with it. No other company offers such a solution at this point in time.

Alok: What are the charges for the Skuku service?
Lior: The hardware costs are €15 for the Skuku stick and €30 for Skuku phone. Users then have option to select between two plans. The monthly plan requires a one time activation fee of €30 and a monthly payment for €10 for unlimited usage.The annual plan is for €120 for unlimited usage.

We do not want our users to keep looking at their watches while making calls!!

Alok: Which are the markets that you are targeting?
Lior: In terms of customer segment, we are targeting business class customers, students, first time travelers, tourists, etc.In terms of geography, we will soon be present in Turkey, UK, and Italy. We are also looking to reach at least 15 countries by the end of the year, including Netherlands, France, Spain, India, Russia, China, and Ukraine, among others.

Alok: Any threats from the telecom companies, considering you are targeting their elite customers?
Lior: We will try to work with the telecom companies as much as possible. Customers are any ways using VoIP to save on roaming costs and there is little that the telecom companies have been able to do about that. We are only reading data from the SIM card and we do not require any other support from the telecom companies to offer our services.

Alok: Do you see any threats from the Google Android platform?
Lior: We will rather work along with the Android platform to offer our services. We are also working on offering our services on smart phones.

Alok: Talking about the VoIP industry in general, what are the challenges facing IP companies?
Lior: The industry is evolving at a little slower pace. People have not changed their habits. Using VoIP still requires substantial technological sophistication. We are trying to make things as simple as possible for the user. The decision to control the manufacturing process is aimed at providing control over the user experience.

Skuku is looking for your comments, suggestions and feedback. So feel free to provide your inputs. Skuku would be glad to incorporate your comments in their products.

Technorati Tags: Call India, Cheap calls, Exclusive Interview, Free Calls, Free calls to India, International Roaming, Interview, IP Phones, No international roaming, Roaming charges, Skuku, Unlimited calls, VOIP