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Heading North loaded with VOIP options

I have a trip pending for this Sunday afternoon to Iceland on business… I’ve never been and actually will only be there for a night due to a combination of meetings and Thanksgiving week.

This is the first time I’ve been overseas without an international capable phone so I’ve been making a few tech plans to handle matters through VOIP.

I’ve got Gizmo on my Nokia 770 and Powerbook which can also do Skype and iChat. My Nokia E61 can do TruPhone and SipPhone, but since I reset the device last night I’ve only installed Truphone — which is running great btw and automatically is chosen as the callout option when I walk into my house…slick.

Since I’ll be looking to chat with my wife, only Gizmo/Sipphone and Truphone make sense so I can call the home phone and not have her have to be tethered to the computer far from practical with two kids running around…

I’m hoping I’ll be able to get Wifi so I can do things over the E61, but worst case, I’ll have to sit in the room near my computer to call out over a cable connection. Airport access should not be much of an issue either actually as there’s usually Wifi in the international terminals.

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TalkPlus VOIP looks like a cool new service

Om notes the pending release of a cool new Voice 2.0 service … (gotta love the not so new numeric age we are living in now.)

Without actually using this it’s hard to make a real judgement, but I like how it seems to work, which is fully transparent with your mobile device. Your virtual TalkPlus number can both send and receive calls directly on your mobile with the help of a small app… You can choose to keep your mobile number private if you like which is a feature I probably would not take advantage of personally but as Om also notes will be great for the dating scene.

My challenge is getting past initial trial on most of the new VOIP services as tasty as they seem (GrandCentral, TruPhone, etc) is that it’s not that simple to use at the same time as your current phone without having to constantly use a different number for in and outgoing calls. TalkPlus seems like it will simplify matters considerably.

Here is how it works: the service gives you a TalkPlus number that you can pass around freely. The service connects to a TalkPlus server over the data network, and allows you to authenticate your number. All out bound calls from your phone can be made via any of the two phone numbers you have – your cell phone, or this virtual number.

Outbound and inbound calls use the voice channel, and connect to the PSTN network. There is no voice quality degradation, typically a problem with mobile VoIP offerings. Those who are receiving your call can only see your virtual phone ID.

When they want to return your phone call, they can hit call and the call is returned to the virtual number. When they hit send, the call is then routed to the TalkPlus softswitch and then onto your mobile phone. [GigaOM]

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Rebtel – globally local VOIP for your mobile

I stumbled into Rebtel last night while scanning some feeds before bed and think it’s a very cool idea. They assign a local number to you and your calling party in each of your local countries and then you simply call that local number (using your unlimited local calling from your phone plan) and Rebtel flips the call to VOIP and then switches it back over in the respective local international market. While this is not for everyone, if you know someone overseas, this is a great way to still maintain the use of your existing phone system, but save massively on international calls. It’s much easier to explain to a parent or grandparent as well as you do not need a computer to make a call – you simply call a new number for your friend.

Andy notes they’ve just raised some serious cash …

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Nokia E61 VOIP via Gizmo

One of the very cool things about the Nokia E61 is that right out of the box it can handle SIP VOIP calls. Setting this up was surprisingly easy, though manual in nature. To start, you’ll need a SIP phone number which fortunately for Gizmo Project users is already ready for you …Here’s how to get it done:

1. First find your SIP phone number …

2. Then follow these excellent directions from the Project Gizmo support forum.

You will need to replace the XXXXXXX with your actual SIP number. I was pretty dense about things at first myself, but if you enter that you’ll then be able to get the Internet calling option rocking on the E61.

I am pretty sure that NAT causes an issue with older firmware on the E61 but it seems to work for me just fine with the latest update.

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Skype Spam

Yesterday I received a call on my cell listed as Private which a few people call through with — including my manager. I figured I should answer and when I did I found myself talking to a woman with an island accent who said she found me through Skype! Apparently she does odd jobs and was looking for work.

I did not take her info and promply ended the call… pretty random and unwanted.

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Skype Advances

Gotta love Skype!

Today they are more public with both the SkypeIn and Voicemail services I’ve been using for a while now. I honestly have not had much use for SkypeIn other than the coolness factor that I can have a 415 and now a 646 number so I am covered on both coasts with local numbers through the same telephony service – at a ridiculously low cost.

The SkypeIn call I tested today with my new NYC number sounded good on my end and other than the occasional flicker (common actually on all VOIP I’ve used). You simply cannot beat the cost. For about $10 for 3 mo you get a number anyone can call you on (to your computer) from any phone. Voicemail is still being tested. I can’t figure out how to personalize my message with my voice. For now it’s simply a generic message which is not horrible, but is certainly not ideal.

I think Skype has much greater potential out of the US where inter-country is bigger and carries greater cost. Here, the flat rate pricing structures have killed long distance anyway and on cellular we are used to simply buying minutes rather than paying for incoming or even outgoing calls based on where you call. Regardless, the Skype pricing even on outbound (which I have yet to use) is amazingly cheap.

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AT&T Net phone disappoints

That’s the headline at News.com… and something of an massive understatement when you read the report. Somehow, AT&T CallVantage has only attracted 53,000 customers yet they’ve spent millions of dollars on high powered mass media – remember the TV last fall?

I’m not sure why people are not choosing AT&T over say their cable company or Vonage amongst others, but it’s fascinating.

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Mac Goes SkypeIn Beta

Thanks to a tip at Skype Journal I now have a fully activated skype voicemail and skype in number with a 415 area code. I was unable to actually find a NYC metro (I did not want 718) number this past weekend so I decided to go for San Francisco…. Pretty cool stuff! I have a bluetooth headset paired with my laptop (as well as my Treo) and can make and receive calls from any kind of system now.

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AT&T softphone coming soon?

SIPthat.com reports on the alleged pending AT&T Softphone. I hope they actually offer it as a value-add rather paid add-on as Vonage currently does. Ideally you’d be able to utilize the softphone as an extension on your existing account. We’ll hopefully see soon …

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Adventures in Skype

Stuart Henshall is on the bleeding edge of the Skype curve but his usage and observations are certain to pass on quickly to a more mass oriented market. He’s lucky enough to be using SkypeIn (in early beta on Windows) as well as SkypeOut (available to all now) and sums up the experience pretty simply:

….when call quality all the time is better than the PSTN, it is simply dead.

VOIP is here to stay. It’s only a matter of time until the costs of competing force all voice to go this way. Vonage, ATT, Time Warner and Cablevision are pushing it as broadband phone service, while the Skype P2P model takes it a to another level. Now that they are beginning to rollout a more complete product with a static number and voicemail, the market is going to get an even more serious boost.

Keep watching the Skype Journal for more interesting developments. I’ll be especially interested to learn what happens as Stuart’s daughter pulls her friends in through IM to Call usage. I personally like the integrated IM as well… though I am not a teen or tween for that matter.

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CallVantage gets the 411

Surprising as it may have been, CallVantage did not offer 411 services until now. Adding 411 goes a long way towards completing the vision of making VOIP a consumer service. My wife never understood why we had to use the computer to do quick look-ups. Sure we saved a buck at the time, but the convenience and consumer friendly nature of using the phone to get info and connect can’t be beat.

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AT&T Beats Vonage to SOHO

Andy notes AT&T’s push into SOHO with CallVantage…

AT&T Begins Marketing VoIP to the SOHO Community

The SOHO market represents a very large, and really untapped marketplace for VoIP. While I half expected Vonage to come out with an offering, it seems that AT&T beat them to the punch.

On the surface the new product offering appears to be very well thought out, and leverages the already existing infrastructure AT&T has for VoIP. [VoIP Watch]

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Google going VOIP?

According to this piece at The Times Online, you would certainly believe it to be the case…

Julian Hewitt, senior partner at Ovum, a telecoms consultancy, said: “From a telecoms perspective there is a big appeal in the fact that Google is a search operation — and of course the Google brand is a huge draw.”

Mr Hewitt said that a Google telephone service could be made to link with the Google search engine, which already conducts half of all internet inquiries made around the world. A surfer looking for a clothes retailer could simply find the web site and click on the screen to speak to the shop. []

It was only a few days ago that Andy suggested Google buy Level3 and get into the space as a major player.

Om shoots this down stating it’s really about infrastructure…

Google is growing, and it is adding data center capacity pretty much all across the planet. (Because it wants to be the Internet OS!) Europe, Asia and US and it needs to link these together with a dedicated backbone, like most smart companies do. In order to do that, they have to build a global virtual network.

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Skype Voicemail Standing By…

I just updated my Skype client and browsing the prefs I came across an interesting thing…

Skype Voicemail

Hopefully in the next update. Voicemail will hopefully work when you are not connected like a regular phone, making skype low-cost and useful for more than just the occasional call.

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Comcast Launches VOIP

The WSJ reports on the launch of Comcast’s VOIP service today. Initially the service will be promoted to up to 15 Million homes and within 18 months to the 40 Million homes will have access. They are looking for about 20% adoption within 5 years which would give them 8 million customers. VOIP is hitting the big time and the new phone wars are on!

“This is a growth engine we’re counting on for the next five to 10 years,” said Steve Burke, Comcast’s chief operating officer. Comcast decided that it would wait to roll out phone service until it could offer features such as call waiting and operator assistance, as well as 911 emergency service. The cable modems used in the phone service will have back up batteries so the service won’t fail in a power outage, a feature not offered by some early cable-based phone service.

Telephone companies have responded by offering discounted packages of services including television through alliances with satellite-TV operators. Over the past few months the two largest Bells, Verizon Communications Inc. and SBC Communications Inc., have announced multibillion-dollar plans to lay their own fiber-optic networks to deliver interactive TV and even faster Internet service. But those plans are only just being launched. Cable companies spent $65 billion upgrading their networks in late 1990s.

“The telephone companies are way behind the curve,” said Glenn Greenberg, managing director of Chieftan Capital Management Inc., a money-management firm owning over 20 million shares in Comcast. “It’s going to cost them a bundle of money to be the third one in the market to offer the same channels.” [WSJ]

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Skype from your landline

This is totally cool… You can use Skype directly from your existing phone courtesy of this helpful device.

Actiontec is touting something called the Internet Phone Wizard which apparently enables your existing landline to make and receive those free internet phone calls via Skype Technologies. Previously you would have needed two separate phones. The company claims that the device also improves on the somewhat wonky sound quality of internet made calls and that if you have two phones you can make an internet call on one and additional landline call on the other at the same time. [Tech Digest]

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The Broadband Phone Company

I just caught the tail end of a Vonage TV ad, the first I’ve seen. If you’ve got broadband, you’re ready to go. Nice, quick and simple. Strong use of the 800# and URL. No confusing techo-speak.

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The Potential of SIP

There’s a great new post by Chris Holland at The Broadband Daily on the potential of SIP or Session Initiation Protocol. SIP is currently being used by some VOIP providers and can provide a path for IM, Voice and Video as well as file transfer. The beauty is that it’s realtime unlike email. However just like email, it’s quite easy to use.

A SIP address looks just like an e-mail address. It uniquely identifies an Internet user, and encapsulates all information needed to attempt to get in real-time touch with them.

The ramifications of this protocol are far reaching.

Until SIP came along, it was only possible to easily get in real-time touch with somebody within closed, proprietary ecosystems: the traditional telephone system, ICQ, AOL Instant Messaging, Yahoo Instant Messaging, MSN Instant Messaging, Skype, CU Seeme, to name a very few. Each one possesses its own separate concept of a user%u2019s identity and proprietary communications protocols. Users of those closed systems can only communicate with other users of the same system. As a result, entering the real-time communications field was only restricted to a small resourceful elite.

Thanks to open standards and protocols such as DNS, SIP, and SRV records, just about anybody can now become a provider of real-time communications while enabling their members to be globally reachable on the Internet.

SIP allows real-time communications to follow the same adoption path as e-mail. [Broadband Daily]