TheVOIPGirl.com’s had another nice welcome from PhoneBoy (no, we’re not related), a prolific VOIP, telecom and technology blogger with an affable writing style. He explains things…

Check out his review of GotVoice and you’ll see what I mean. GotVoice is an interesting service that takes voicemail messages from different voicemail services (including VOIP ones) and sends them to your email inbox. You get convenient access to all your voice messages in one place. He also points out a few shortcomings of TheVoipGirl.com that I hasten to address. Thanks PhoneBoy!

Iristel is the first to bring HD VOIP to Canada.

Whoa…I don’t think I can handle this. We just recently enduring a long and arduous process of researching and purchasing our first “big” screen TV with…heaven help me…HD-high definition. You see in Canada it’s important to actually see the puck when the Canucks are playing. Apparently this is impossible on a 21″ tube TV with a pink stripe across the top of the screen. (Who knew?)

Maybe fellow bloggers can help me out here, but is HD VOIP something that consumers should consider when choosing a VOIP service, or is it more marketing lingo to work through? As I understand it, HD, high definition, or wideband VOIP refers to voice sampling at 16 kHz rather than at the measley 8 kHz supported by the PSTN and just about everyone else. If you capture voice with a wider spectrum of frequencies, the quality is better. They say it’s like comparing the quality of AM and FM radio. (See this article from voip-info.org).

Sounds good to me, but the catch is you have to have HD end to end in a VOIP call. It’s no good having 16 kHz at one end and 8 kHz at the other. In fact, 16 kHz downsampled to 8 kHz (which happens if you are calling a landline) may sound worse than 8 kHz from start to finish.

So I guess you can make the argument that HD or wideband VOIP is wasted on the masses when most calls travel partially over the PSTN or use VOIP networks using an 8 kHz voice capture process.

Did you know that for the year 2006, “J” was the most popular letter of the alphabet? Okay, I made that up. I have no idea if it’s true, but three out of ten most popular baby names last year started with J….

I had a comment a few days ago from Eric C. wanting to know about Jaxtr, Jangl and JaJah. What’s the difference? What indeed! People (like me) are starting to ask questions like this because…who can remember what these guys do! They sort of sound alike, they’re in the same industry space, they appeal to the same type of folks. Eric then wanted to know how the Js relate to GrandCentral. Oiy!

Jaxtr:

• Provides a click-to-call widget (button) for social networking sites like MySpace, web sites, and blogs. Visitors to your page have the option to call you, send you a text message, or leave you a voice message. They don’t need a microphone or headset. They call you by entering their phone number in the widget, Jaxtr then provides a local number for them to dial.
• Free registration, then you buy jax credits to forward calls to your phone. 100 free credits per month.  You can send unlimited calls to voice mail for free and unlimited text messages for free. Calls to other Jaxtr users are also free.
• No software download required.
• Unique feature is Voiceblast. You can record your own message or greeting that’s played automatically or on mouse-click when a someone visits your web page. I’ve added my voiceblast to my About page here.
• Like Jangl, Jaxtr has privacy options that allow you and the person calling to hide your phone numbers or email addresses.
• Like GrandCentral, you can block incoming calls or forward calls based on caller ID. Unlike GrandCentral, Jaxtr does not give you a 10-digit phone number that can be dialed from any phone. People calling you are given a special 10-digit number they can use, but they must use the same phone every time. If they call from a different phone, Jaxtr provides a different number.
• I like it.

Jangl:

• Provides a click-to-call widget (let’s call this widget dialing) for social network sites, web sites and blogs that masks the incoming and outgoing numbers. It’s a way for people to make and receive calls without giving out phone numbers. I guess the advantage here is privacy. For example, you can post the Jangl widget on MySpace without revealing your personal phone number.
• When you register, you receive a Jangl ID that people use to call you. Someone enters your Jangl ID in the online widget, Jangl then gives them a special number to call you on a regular phone. Your number and the calling person’s number are never exchanged.
• Registration is free, then you pay per call based on telephone company charges.
• You can choose from several cool looking widgets
• Not really like GrandCentral at all, except in that they both have widget dialing (GrandCentral recently introduced web buttons).
• Sounds a lot like Jaxtr but I still found Jangl a bit confusing and not a lot of info or online support. I haven’t used it much.

JaJah

• Provides web-based dialing, or dialing from a web page, without a microphone or headset. All calls are made phone to phone, whether landline or mobile. This means the person you’re calling does not have to be connected to the internet.
• You log in to your Jajah account, enter your friend’s number, and click the CALL button. Your phone will ring, you pick up, then your friend’s phone will ring.
• No software download required.
• Other Jajah services and tools include conference calls, call scheduling, access to Jajah phone book from the web browser on your mobile phone, Jajah plugins for Google, Outlook, Mac OS X Address Book, Firefox, and Plaxo
• Registration is free, you get 5 minutes free calling anywhere, then you pay as you go. Calls to Jajah users are free.
• I have an account but haven’t used it.

I’ll leave TalkPlus, Talkster, and Talk-Now for another time….”Tango of the Ts” perhaps? 

In an announcement today, UK-based Truphonelaunches free calling from mobile Truphone customers in the US to landlines everywhere (well, 40 countries worldwide actually). This program is an extension of their UK launch promotion and will be in effect until the end of June. So if you really want give a great mobile VOIP application a whirl, now’s your chance. US customers have always been able to talk to other Truphone users for free but now they can call regular landlines too.

You can download Truphone for your Nokia handset here:
http://www.truphone.com/downloads/downloads.tru

Watch a YouTube video of this press release here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK9wuSFoSqQ

And finally, read the whole press release:

March 27th 2007 – Orlando, FL & London, UK - Owners of Wi-Fi-equipped Nokia smartphones will be able to make free international calls from the USA to landlines in 40 countries throughout April, May and June, mobile internet telephony pioneer Truphone announced today. The announcement extends and enlarges Truphone’s current price promotion [ending on March 31st], during which customers have been able to make free mobile Voice over IP (VoIP) calls across the USA and Canada.

“We’re delighted to be making it so attractive for people to try internet telephony on their mobile handset, instead of being tied to their computer,” said James Tagg, Truphone’s CEO. “The convenience of a normal, mass market cellular handset and free international calls is an unbeatable combination for the consumer.”
Countries to which any on-net Truphone user worldwide may now make free calls to landlines include China (landlines and mobiles), Mexico (Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey), Russia (Moscow and St. Petersburg) and most European Union countries.

Tariffs to some paid-for numbers may have changed from the previous promotional period. Truphone’s full tariff document is available at www.truphone.com.

Under the terms of the new promotion, free Truphone calls can be made to the following countries (applies to Truphone calls to landlines only, unless otherwise stated): Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil (Rio de Janeiro & Sao Paulo only), Canada, Chile, China (Landline and Mobile), Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Guam, Hong Kong (Landline & Mobile), Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Korea (South), Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico (Guadalajara, Mexico City & Monterrey only), Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama City, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Russia (Moscow Central & St Petersburg only), Singapore (Landline & Mobile), Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, US Virgin Islands and USA (landline & mobile).

About the Truphone service
Truphone enables Wi-Fi equipped mobile phones to make 100% VoIP calls at either zero or very low cost to the caller, by using the SIP standard and the Internet to route network traffic, rather than traditional mobile phone networks. Truphone-to-Truphone and Truphone-to-SIP number calls are always free, with Truphone calls to other numbers charged at cheaper rates than those charged by mobile operators and often at lower cost than even a conventional fixed line.
There is no monthly subscription, no inbound charges and billing is via pre-pay. Sign-up and top up are done via the web site. Customers get Truphone by downloading a small piece of free software over the air to their phone. When a Truphone-equipped handset is not in Wi-Fi range it reverts to being a normal mobile phone, with calls routed over GSM as usual.

The newest release of GrandCentral has some great (and useful) features. I’m doubly excited becuase GrandCentral is available to me now as a Canadian. They’ve added web buttons to their line-up. Not a breakthrough feature, but one that has come to be expected. Basically, you add a button to your website or blog that visitors to click to call you (on your GrandCentral number of course).

What’s great is that you can connect with people this way OR you can send them to a voice recording. Like this:

GrandCentral gives some other examples:

• eBay auction: GrandCentral button can send callers to a voicemail with a description of the item on sale. Callers can leave a message and the GrandCentral user can decide whom to call back.
• MySpace page: profile can let people calling without sharing GrandCentral user’s phone number

Time and time again, web marketers show that if you can get your vistors to interact with you (your site), like answer surveys, click a button, answer a question, you’re more likely to make sales, or whatever else your site goals are.

I’ll be adding oneto my About page on this blog, and to my info site www.quickstartvoip.com.

You’ve seen a few posts already announcing SightSpeed’s Peter Zottolo debut as DirectTV host for Fizz Newzz. Personally, I think that anyone who can move his or her eyebrows independantly of one another (and in complete control) deserves a shot, so way to go SightSpeed Guy. And how about a company (SightSpeed) that actually pays their employees to come up with this stuff!

Ted Wallingford cites his favourite SightSpeed Guy moment. I like the freestyle dance routine for Halloween (c’mon Sightspeed Guy, give us the link for that one!) 

 What’s yours?

Over at Digital Media Update, Sightspeed’s Peter Csathy blogs about a deal inked between Google/YouTube and Digital Music Group Inc. DMGI will supply YouTube with  a bzillion hours worth of classic TV shows and video content and YouTube will, of course, make their money back through advertising on the “watch” pages associated with the DMGI content. Peter says this is a deal that will be closely watched by all major content providers and distributors. Could movies, music, and prime time be in our not too distant future? Show us the money!

I was following the thread started by PhoneBoy and SightSpeed’s Peter Csathy about the obvious advantages of communicating with someone in person. Facial expressions, hand gestures, and body language are huge non-verbal cues that say a lot. But, when face time isn’t an option, then real-time video calling (using SightSpeed of course) is the next best thing. Peter himself runs his Berkeley-based  team from San Diego, and couldn’t do so effectively without SightSpeed. PhoneBoy agrees and thinks that SightSpeed rocks, “Almost like being there”.

But, I’m curious to know if the folks who use SightSpeed today are making spontaneous or pre-planned calls. I confess that when I use it, it’s usually a planned thing. I’ll email or text someone and say, “OK to SightSpeed you now?”, or I pre-arrange a call at a certain time.

My guess is that live video from the desktop is still so new that people hesitate at “surprising” someone with a video call. Unless of course you’re The SightSpeed Guy. You may want to check out his latest blog post. He’s wearing a tie. Must be the staff Christmas lunch.

In an article this week on TMCnet, the research firm TeleGeography reported that US subscribers using VOIP services rose 18 percent in the last quarter to 18.2 million with Vonage being the largest provider with 1.95 million subscribers. Why are they still the biggest?  Massive media campaigns on the web, TV, radio, and sporting events helps…a lot. And don’t forget the catchy jingle and celebrity endorsements. But all that stuff just gets the consumer to the web site (retail sales excluded). What happens after that?

Of course once the consumer turns into a subscriber, keeping them is a whole other story. This blog, as well as many others, has touched on what appears to be widespread customer service problems. In fact, I still get responses to a post back in September on the runaround I received when I wanted to cancel my Vonage service. And my story wasn’t even one of the crazier ones. (Check out Tom Keating.)

Since cancelling Vonage in August, I’ve been keeping busy blogging about the a wave of emerging voice over Internet services. I haven’t applied for any other national broadband phone service, like Primus or Shaw Digital Phone, in my area. I’m happy trying various softphones and of course my PhoneGnome.

But, I decided to take a fresh look at the Vonage web site and see if they are doing anything differently. In my opinion, for all their faults once they’ve got you, Vonage does a lot that’s right.

1) Clear description of services/plans above the fold, with enough text to explain what the plan is all about without clicking 

2) Site navigation is SIMPLE: tabs to products, services, availability and features are clearly identified

3) Upfront explanation of device bundles, including what’s free, what’s extra, and information to help figure out which device is right for me 

4) Special promotions, deals, and other creatives are below the bread and butter products. This is important (I think). To me this says that our products are the most important thing we have to offer, not the limited time sweet deal.

Packet8, Lingo or SunRocket just don’t communicate as well. These three providers all had the basic residential and business plan info above the fold, but I found it took more clicks and more reading to find the additional information I needed. Comcast Digital Voice was the most annoying. Perhaps because they are basically an entertainment company, they feel they have to “entertain” me while selling phone service. A whole bunch of flash nonsense. Stupid. And they won’t tell me anything about their products/services until I tell them my address and zip code.

I guess my point, to make a long story even longer, is for emerging products and services to learn a few lessons here. Speak clearly to your audience. Communicate your product and services upfront. Explain what’s included (device bundles, software) and what’s extra BEFORE the sign up process. I don’t want to see a small asterisk footnote that says the service works with the purchase of $75 VOIP adaptor right at the very end. And finally, don’t hide behind walls of flash animation and annoying forms that make users type a bunch of stuff.

I received a nice note from the SightSpeed Guy to try the SightSpeed video calling and blogging service. There’s been a lot of blog buzz about this product so I was happy to give it a go. (Check out the video blog post from Andy Abramson that got things going and the aftermath according to Dina Kaplan of BlipTV).

I downloaded, installed and made my first test call all in about 9 minutes. Then, “Does my hair really look like that?” Next 5 minutes trying to fix it. Yowza…