On Monday, Gizmo Project intro’d Gizmo Call, a super easy way to make calls from your browser. They say no traditional software download and installation is required, but you do have to install a Flash plugin (that’s kind of software isn’t it?) But, to get people using it, they’re offering five FREE minutes of calling anywhere. If you register with Gizmo, you get 10 minutes free. After your 10 minutes are up, you switch over to CallOut credits (roughly 2 cents/minute within North America). Pretty darn cheap.

See these other reviews from:

Andy Abramson, VoipWatch

Garrett Smith, Smith on VOIP

GigaOm, Om Malik

Luca Filigheddu

Russell Shaw

Here’s some other tips I dug up about using GizmoCall.

- If you are calling another Gizmo user, which is technically a free call anyway, the “timer” will count down and the reset itself to the original value after the call so you won’t be using free minutes for free calls.

- Two-number Caller ID costs $4 per year. Once you’ve paid for this service, make sure you are still logged in and click the Caller ID tab. The page should reload after a few seconds to show the Mobile and Home fields. Enter the numbers (either one or both) you want to use for caller ID.

- To have a call history, you must register with GizmoCall. Registration is free and you receive 10 minutes free when logged in (only 5 minutes when not logged in).

More info about Gizmo Call can be found here.

 

GrandCentral works like a charm forwarding to my Gizmo number. I am also lucky enough to be one of the first to beta test a Canadian GrandCentral number, which means this service will be even more practical for me to use. I’ve been wanting a local number for awhile; Gizmo only offers Canadian area codes in Manitoba and Ontario. Skype offers none at all.

So when you call my GrandCentral number (778-785-6755), I’ve set up GC to forward to Gizmo. What I haven’t quite figured out yet is the voicemail. My Gizmo calls that are ignored/unanswered are bumping to GrandCentral voicemail, which is fine. However, I also have Gizmo voicemail activated, so I get an email and WAV file from Gizmo with nothing “in” it so to speak.

I think this a little bit of the untidiness you see when one app is not fully intergrated with another. See Alec’s post. For more reviews on GrandCentral and Gizmo, see Andy, Garrett Smith, Ken Camp, and Paul Kaputska.

Jeff Pulver started it, Andy Abramson followed, etc. etc. I was tagged by Peter Csathy and Ken Camp. Here are my five fascinating facts.

1) My hobby is cardmaking. Like I’m nuts about it. I have literally spent a small fortune on stamps, ink, paper, doo-dads, embellishments (that’s card lingo, you guys). I’ve even driven down to Seattle to attend a paper crafts conference. Yes, such things do exist.

2) I really really hate peas.

3) I grew up sailing with my family. A 34-foot trimaran my dad built. He still sails it today!

4) I worked for a company called Xinex in the early 90s. We built a “CTI” phone and buisness phone system based on a flavor of ATM (who needs IP, we scoffed). Imagine, voice AND data on the same wiring. Remarkable. Tom Keating’s post on CT/CTI got me reminiscing.

5) I harbor a longstanding promise to myself to write a novel.

Okay, so next I tag  Carolyn Schuk, Garrett Smith, and David Beckenmeyer.

One of the things I try to do on this blog is try things–new consumer VOIP products, downloads, etc. You can get commentary on industry news like who’s buying who, or who just closed shop, in places like GigaOm.

Admittedly, I don’t get to try a lot of hardware, just software mostly, but if you’re looking for that kind of thing, VOIP and Gadgets or Smith on VOIP are good bets.

But this week Andy Abramson, in Living with Softphones, posted a neat-and-tidy roundup of some VOIP tools he’s been using, and I like it because he lists only what he’s used (or experimented with), and explains how he uses them. I think this kind of post is really useful. Don’t you really wanna know just how you’re supposed to use all this stuff in the real world? I know I do. Thanks A. Alec Saunders also posts quite often on VOIP adventures with his Blackberry, and Phoneboy writes about handsets he’s using (because all other hardware is just too boring). Check them both out too.

For my part, I use on a regular basis:

Skype: for chat and calls to Skype buddies
Gizmo: for general softphone calling
PhoneGnome: for long distance calling to reg phones
SightSpeed: for video calls
GrandCentral: for simplifying inbound calling. I’m using it to funnel calls through my Gizmo account.
Fring: for mobile calls to Skype buddies (still experimenting mostly)

Since I cancelled Vonage in August, I haven’t signed on with another subscriber service. However, I’ll be trying one soon.