"Time to Call" App From Vonage, Call Internationally With iOS Devices

"Time to Call" App From Vonage http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
The Voange Mobile app (which is like three years in the making) is finally on iTunes app store.
With "Time to Call", Vonage (NYSE) is planing to ease the international calling a bit of less pain and tap into the vast market of iOS devices with it's new app for iPhone.
The pricing seems to be a bit difficult to understand. Two countries I call most, Holland (The Netherlands) and Japan costs $1.99 (13.3 Cents a minute) making it not economical for me there are other cheaper ways to call the same countries, using the iPhone, like Skype ot Google Voice. But on the other hand, India is $ 0.99 per 15 minutes and I call our developer team in India a quite a bit. You can make the payments through iTunes, and it will come handy to use it in an emergency (for me) as my iTunes account is always positive. So I will keep the App on my iPhone, just in case.
Calling fees for the 90 countries (not on the $0.99-1.99 list and Vonage can reach can be as high as $9.99 for that same 15 minutes—taxes apply to all calls. (Users can look up country rates on the Time to Call site or on the app.) The service handles calls to landlines and mobile phones at the same rate.
"With the launch of Time to Call, Vonage has simplified the process of making affordable international calls for iPhone users around the globe, Not only does this service offer tremendous value for international callers dialing from their home countries, it also provides a great solution for international travelers who want to avoid the bill shock associated with international calls and roaming charges when they call back home. Time to Call requires far less effort than calling card services and other international calling plan options, and is substantially less expensive than dialing direct through a mobile carrier. It's simple, fast and fair." said Marc Lefar, CEO of Vonage.
With the new app, iPhone, iPad users and iPod users will be able to;

• Pay per call and talk up to 15 minutes to 100 countries for $1.99 or less Plus Tax
  
• For an additional 90+ countries, talk up to 15 minutes for $2.99 to $9.99 Plus Tax
  
• Works on Wi-Fi worldwide
• Also for use on high quality 3G networks(Carrier charges may apply if you have a limited data plan) in the U.S. and Canada
• Significant savings over mobile carrier rates
• App is a FREE download iTunes.

Apple's App Store App Link
Vonage Press Release

Taxing VoIP

Taxing VoIP http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Looks like we will be paying more for VoIP services in the year 2011. Yes cities and municipalities are feeling the pinch, which is much more than a pinch now that with broadband almost everyone going VoIP route. So get ready for paying more for your Vonage, Skype etc.
"Cities rely on the tax revenue generated (by telecoms) to provide critical services to their citizens," says Cheryl Leanza, an attorney for the National League of Cities setting up ways to tax VoIP. (that was in 2005 when US VoIP revenue was some thing like $1.7 billion. the prediction for 2007 was $4.6 but the actual VoIP Revenue for 2007 hit $16.8 Billion), which represents 18,000 cities across the USA. These taxes account for roughly 2% to 21% of your monthly phone bill depending on where you live and I know a bunch of people who does not even have a traditional phone line.
So it is time to catch Comcast and the likes with a yearly contract.
Via VoIP Watch 

Vonage Get A Patent On Virtual Numbers

SIP based Virtual Phone Numbers snapvoip.blogspot.com
Vonage has received a patent No. 7,680,262 – titled "Method and Apparatus for Placing a Long Distance Call Based on a Virtual Phone Number,"
This is basically putting your friends, distant cousins, and others in the same area code as you are, eliminating the distance charge. Virtual Number from Vonage are used for inbound calls, so all features including Caller ID and voicemail assigned to subscribers primary number will continue to work. If the subscriber has a virtual number pointed to one telephone number, all features turned on for his /her telephone number will also work for your virtual number. In the case of multiple virtual phone numbers.they also could be pointing to the same primary number.

HOLMDEL, N.J., March 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Vonage Holdings Corp. (NYSE: VG), a leading provider of high-quality voice and messaging services over broadband networks, today announced the grant of a virtual phone number patent.
The patent -- No. 7,680,262 – titled "Method and Apparatus for Placing a Long Distance Call Based on a Virtual Phone Number," allows consumers to communicate to distant locations without incurring long distance or international calling charges. This is Vonage's second patent related to the use of virtual phone numbers. Vonage's first patent directed to the use of virtual phone numbers -- No. 7,386,111 -- was granted on June 10, 2008.

"We continue to drive innovation that translates into unique products and services for our customers," said Nick Lazzaro, senior vice president of product development and information technology. "This breakthrough takes advantage of our Session Initiation Protocol-based network and enables our customers to save significantly when they communicate with their friends and families across the country or around the world."

Virtual phone numbers allow people outside a Vonage customer's local calling area to call for the price of a local call. Vonage customers can choose a virtual phone number in the calling area of a parent, relative or friend or wherever they want to establish a "virtual" presence. Vonage offers virtual phone numbers across the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and in more than 14 other countries.

xMax System From XG Technology Provides Mobile VoIP System For The Masses

xMax Mobile VoIP System
The completely new Mobile VoIP system that is similar to most popular VoIP service providers like Skype or Vonage but vastly different at the same time. The difference is that the consumers do not need to have a broadband connection nor a computer.
xMax Mobile Switching Center provides switching system for carriers that could be deployed with very low power requirements and similar to wireless switching system.
xMax base stations are used for communicating with xMax handsets and modems operating in the license-free ISM 902-928MHz band.
The xMax Mobile Switching Center allows carriers to own and deploy their own networks without the prohibitive cost of buying spectrum. The system carries following core capabilities;
- Quality of service (QoS) to support long range mobile VoIP
- Deterministic latency on wireless links for voice packets
- Header compression
- Zero latency network configuration
- Soft hand-off mechanism
providing benefits for carriers are the following:

• Substantially lower capital requirements for materially more sophisticated
  product offering;

• No spectrum license costs;

• Exclusive service territories;

• Equipment capital costs financed through xG infrastructure partner Treco International, S.A.;

• Comprehensive, all-IP infrastructure enables fast rollouts and new services;

• Network capacity managed through software-defined radio system;

• Path to 4G performance with a revolutionary battery solution for user devices;

• Ability to offer wide-range of product packages including:
  - low flat-rate unlimited plans to all market sectors
  - flat-rate unlimited international calling plans
  - pre and postpaid options

The consumer portion of system is a product that is designed to provide the calling abilities without calling plans to figure out, minutes to count, or charges to wonder about. Pared with a xMax service provider, consumers will be able to enjoy benefits that include;

• unlimited local calling

• unlimited long distance

• unlimited text messaging

• no contracts to sign

• unprecedented mobility, with global Wi-FI roaming and international calling at low VoIP rates

• bundle options including unlimited home phone service and broadband internet

The system as a whole is something that should provide mo power to carriers like Vonage or Skype should the decide to deploy. I am looking forward for this system as it will be a real good competition to VoIP resistant wireless carriers.


Press Release;

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Resistance by wireless carriers to allowing customers access to VoIP services across their mobile networks has attracted the attention of the regulators, with the US Department of Justice (DOJ), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the European Union all looking into the practice. xG Technology® has developed xMax--an alternative path that allows consumers to benefit from much lower cost mobile calls via the Internet, avoiding the incumbent carriers’ networks all together.

xG Technology developed xMax® an alternative solution that enables consumers to benefit directly using mobile VoIP technology. xMax is similar to Vonage or Skype, but in the form of a fully mobile handset that doesn’t require the use and extra cost of a computer or broadband Internet connection.

xMax offers consumers the prospect of lower phone bills because:

• xMax transmits over unlicensed spectrum—the same as baby monitors and cordless phones. Major national cellular carriers paid billions of dollars for licensed spectrum that they recoup from customers.
• xMax was built as a totally Internet-based digital system from top to bottom—an extremely cost efficient communication approach.

xMax networks can enable communication providers to aggressively compete with national carriers by offering customers unlimited voice and data plans both locally and long distance, extremely low-cost international calling, no contracts, as well as home phone and high-speed Internet service.

Seven-year-old xG Technology is a US based company, but development of xMax is an international effort that involves companies in Europe and Asia. A portfolio of 50 US and 105 international patents and pending patent applications has been developed with the goal of bringing lower-cost communications to consumers.

XG Technology

Tags: license-free ISM 902-928MHz band, Mobile VoIP system, skype, Vonage, XG Technology, xMax Mobile Switching Center, xMax Mobile VoIP System

Vonage On Your iPhone?

Vonage on iPhone
According to a post on Gadgetell, Vonage has acknowledged that Vonage is preparing Vonage Smarphone App. Even though the article and Vonage lacks much information, most Vonage users will welcome the convenience and the oppertunity. We reported about Vonage Mobile App last March which CEO Marc Lefar mentioned in the 2008 earnings call.
While I do not see much trouble with app on other smartphones like BlackBerry and Android, will Apple allow the app on iPhone or will Steve follow AT&T orders? like banning Google Voice On iPhone.
Gadgetell

Tags: Vonage, Vonage mobile, vonage pro, AT&T, iPhone, google voice

Vonage "VOIP Tax" Turned Down Again By Court

VoIP Tax
For over a decade, several states have sought to tax Vonage and other VoIP suppliers, as well as their customers, to states' Universal Service Fund. But all these taxing attempts have been overturned or denied by citing a 2003 landmark ruling by federal Judge Michael Davis of Minnesota.
The latest comes in the way of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals turning down an appeal by the Nebraska Public Service Commission to compel Vonage users to pay taxes on their service.

In his earlier ruling, Judge Davis said, "Congress has expressed a clear intent to leave the Internet free from undue regulation so that this growth and exploration may continue. Congress also differentiated between 'telecommunication services,' which may be regulated, and 'information services,' which, like the Internet, may not."
Source

Tags: VoIP Tax, Internet Tax, Vonage, telecommunication services

Vonage Mobile Application On The Way?

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
According to FierceVoIP, Vonage is seeing itself in the mirror and planing to clean up itself. I would guess by now Vonage should be a clean act but according to it's CEO, they have ways to go. From customer acquisition to customer support and now aiming at the mobile market with an moblie Vonage application.
We have Vonage service in one of our satellite offices and everyone who uses it (for customer support for our products) are pretty happy with the service. I think it is time Vonage lifts its head now that all those Verizon court cases and VoIP patent issues are far behind them and all but wide open market in front.

Tags: Vonage, Vonage mobile, Verizon court cases, VoIP patents, moblie Vonage application