Comunicano

VOXALOT ADDS “VOXCALL” APPLICATION TO FACEBOOK; SOCIAL NETWORKERS CAN NOW CALL THEIR FRIENDS FOR FREE

Facebook Friends Who Use VoIP Can Make Free Calls and Conferences by Clicking Friends’ Faces on Their “CallFriends” Application Tab 

SYDNEY, Australia-Nov. 26, 2007—Voxalot, the global voice applications provider, has announced that it has launched Voxcall, a voice communication application running on Facebook. Voxalot used its recently announced VoxConnect™  API to rapidly develop and deploy Voxcall. The API, in turn, leverages Voxalot’s core telephony platform to add free VoIP calling to the popular site’s applications. Voxcall is open to current Facebook users who sign up for a free Voxalot number or to subscribers of any open SIP-based VoIP service plan.

Voxcall enables Facebook friends to upgrade their interactions from messages, wall posts and “pokes” to real-time spoken conversation, without revealing their own phone numbers or knowing the phone numbers of others. No particular telecom expertise or equipment besides a software or hardware phone is needed, making Voxcall perfect for the wide range of Facebook users around the globe.  They just add Voxcall from the Facebook application list and enter their Internet telephone number (SIP URI). Voxcall validates that number by calling it and requesting a pin number displayed on screen.

Once the SIP URI is validated, all the registrant’s friends who have also added Voxcall show up in his or her “Call Friends” tab.  These friends now can call each other by clicking on each other’s faces; Voxcall initiates calls to both numbers and connects them.  The service also offers free “conference rooms,” where friends can call in and have a private or public chat.  Users can also set their status on the Call Friends tab, so friends can see whether they are available to take a call.

To extend calling beyond on-net calls to traditional PSTN and mobile phones, Voxalot can underpin Voxcall with its upgraded VoxPremium™ service.  Priced at $US15 per year per user, VoxPremium routes calls to or from PSTN phones, delivers voice mail as emailed recordings, and enables users to set call-forwarding rules to any phone, anywhere, depending on caller and time of day. Voxalot users are able to select their own Voice Service providers for off-net calls.

“As used on Facebook, VoxCall is an excellent demonstration of how the VoxConnect API can be used to quickly and easily embed Voxalot’s voice application into any online solution” said Tony Mascarenhas, Voxalot CEO.  “It demonstrates how any site or application can support voice calling within its own social or commercial context, and conversely, how you can put a natural interface – an actual face -- on phone calling or conferencing. Just as important, it shows how phone calls can be made without having to search for and key in telephone numbers.”

Facebook members who don’t subscribe to any VoIP network can still get the on-net, free Voxcall application by registering for a Voxalot Basic account at www.voxalot.com/action/memberRegister.

About Voxalot

Voxalot is a global voice applications provider that offers value-added services and features to existing customers of Internet Telephony Service Providers (ITSPs). Members use their own VoIP providers to make calls, while taking advantage of Voxalot’s free and low-cost advanced IP telephony services.

Voxalot’s basic (free) consumer service, VoxBasic™, includes a free and permanent Internet telephone number, which can reach any device or software-based telephony end-point logged onto the Internet. This makes it very easy for that member to change ITSPs should they desire, because contacts can keep using the same Voxalot-supplied number (the SIP URI) in their address books.  Basic service also expands its members’ range of free calling to the subscribers of more than 2,000 registered SIP domains around the world, and extends access to them through over 200 global PSTN dial-in numbers.

For less than the cost of one month’s VoIP service, a VoxPremium™ annual subscription supplies features that include selectable call routing rules, advanced telephony tools, Web-based voicemail, and Web-based call-back. For more information on these and other Voxalot features, please visit www.voxalot.com.

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Contact:
Sue Huss
Comunicano, Inc.
sue.huss@comunicano.com
+1 619-379-4396

VOXALOT LAUNCHES VOXCONNECT API, LETS WEB DEVELOPERS EMBED ADVANCED TELEPHONY FUNCTIONS INTO THEIR APPLICATIONS

API Embeds Call Initiation, Member Registration and All Other Advanced Calling Features of Voxalot Service into Enterprise Online Applications

SYDNEY, Australia–Oct. 30, 2007—Voxalot, the global voice applications provider, has announced the commercial launch of VoxConnect™, a Web Services API for Web site operators, widget creators and application developers who wish to easily embed new Voice 2.0 calling features into their online services and applications. The API gives enterprises use of all of the Voxalot core telephony functions that are currently available to consumers. It requires very little knowledge of telephony for developers, and no special telecom equipment for end-users. 

By leveraging Voxalot’s advanced telephony functions within their online applications, site operators can customize and monetize different telephony applications for their members. Examples of such applications are limited only by developers’ own inventiveness, and include anonymous calling for dating and social networking sites, click-to-call yellow-page directories, voicemail, as well as user-configured find-me/follow-me settings, which direct calls to reach members wherever they are.

Other embeddable VoxConnect services include:

• telephone number validation via PIN (for fixed line, mobile and VoIP phone numbers);
• inbound call routing, which routes calls by time-of-day, by caller and other parameters;
• voicemail; and 
• call-history information.

“With VoxConnect, developers can produce a whole new generation of voice-enabled Web sites,” said Tony Mascarenhas, Voxalot CEO. “Social networking and online dating sites, for example, are naturals for voice integration. With embedded telephony capabilities, site members can upgrade their interaction from IM chat to spoken conversation, without giving their phone numbers away to as-yet unknown people. For site operators, this anonymous calling feature opens up a new revenue stream.”

As a Web-based service, VoxConnect easily integrates an online event with both simple and complex voice applications. VoxConnect’s phone number verification (fixed line, mobile and VoIP telephone number), for example, provides site operators with the ability to validate phone numbers entered on their site, ensuring that the person/member registering the phone number is in fact the true holder of that number.

Voxalot invited FWD International, a free, standards-based IP communications platform established by IP innovator Jeff Pulver, to test the the new API. "FWD looks forward to taking advantage of the capabilities enabled by the VoxConnect API," said Daniel Berninger, CEO–FWD International. "We are happy to support companies helping to deliver on Jeff Pulver's vision of 'purple minutes.' VoxConnect moves the VoIP ecosystem forward by adding a wholesale dimension."

About Voxalot

Voxalot is a global voice applications provider that offers value-added services and features to existing customers of Internet Telephony Service Providers (ITSPs). Members use their own VoIP providers to make calls, while taking advantage of Voxalot’s free and low-cost advanced IP telephony services.

Voxalot’s basic (free) consumer service, VoxBasic™, includes a free and permanent Internet telephone number, which can reach any device or software-based telephony end-point logged onto the Internet. This makes it very easy for that member to change ITSPs should they desire, because contacts can keep using the same Voxalot-supplied number (the SIP URI) in their address books.  Basic service also expands its members’ range of free calling to the subscribers of more than 2,000 registered SIP domains around the world, and extends access to them through over 200 global PSTN dial-in numbers.

For less than the cost of one month’s VoIP service, a VoxPremium™ annual subscription supplies features that include selectable call routing rules, advanced telephony tools, Web-based voicemail, and Web-based call-back. For more information on these and other Voxalot features, please visit www.voxalot.com.

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Contact:
Sue Huss
Comunicano, Inc.
sue.huss@comunicano.com
+1 619-379-4396

VOXALOT LAUNCHES PREMIUM SERVICE, ADDS MORE ADVANCED CALLING FEATURES TO ANY SIP PLAN

 

·       VoxPremium^TM Includes Inbound Access from PSTN, Selected Routing,More On-Net Calls, Free Calling

·       Users Now Have Freedom to Switch Carriers Without Changing Contact Info

SYDNEY, Australia–Oct. 29, 2007—Voxalot, the global voice applications provider, has announced the commercial launch of VoxPremium^TM, a service plan that adds a wealth of sophisticated calling features, as well as inbound calling from PSTN phones, to its basic offer of value-added services, expanded free calling range and management tools.

At the same time, the company has redesigned its Web site with a completely new interface to enable easier access to both basic (free) and premium (paid) services.

“We’re excited about the upgrades and new features we’re now able to offer Voxalot members,” said Tony Mascarenhas, Voxalot CEO. “They were developed based largely on community feedback and input—so we know they’re features our users want.”

Voxalot is designed for users who subscribe to one or more SIP-based Internet voice service (or VoIP) plans, enabling them to switch plans without changing their published contact information. Users also have the ability to route outgoing calls through any one of multiple providers, choosing the best-quality or least-cost provider for different destinations. Members make these choices by setting up “Smart Call Rules” on Voxalot’s Web site. The service’s free features include advanced telephony tools and free calling not only to Voxalot members, but to subscribers of 2,000 other SIP-based voice services.

Included in VoxPremium  (US$15 to US$40 per year) are the following features and services:

• Web Call Back: Accepts phone numbers entered on a Web site, calls out to both parties and bridges the call together. 
• Access to DID (Direct Inward Dial) PSTN phone numbers: Members can assign one or more of these to their Internet telephone numbers, enabling them to receive incoming calls from any PSTN phone as well as VoIP phones. 
• Voxalot Call Connection Rules: subscriber can create Call Connection Rules to route incoming calls to any PSTN, mobile or VoIP number based on time of day and caller.
• Web-accessible voicemail: Messages can be played in any order, saved or deleted direct from the Voxalot Web site. Calls can be returned right from the Web Call Back page with one click.

About Voxalot

Voxalot is a global voice applications provider that offers value-added services and features to existing customers of Internet Telephony Service Providers (ITSPs). Members use their own VoIP providers to make calls, while taking advantage of Voxalot’s free and low-cost advanced IP telephony services.

Voxalot’s basic (free) consumer service, VoxBasic™, includes a free and permanent Internet telephone number, which can reach any device or software-based telephony end-point logged onto the Internet. This makes it very easy for that member to change ITSPs should they desire, because contacts can keep using the same Voxalot-supplied number (the SIP URI) in their address books.  Basic service also expands its members’ range of free calling to the subscribers of more than 2,000 registered SIP domains around the world, and extends access to them through more than 200 global PSTN dial-in numbers.

For less than the cost of one month’s VoIP service, a VoxPremium^TM annual subscription supplies features that include selectable call routing rules, advanced telephony tools, Web-based voicemail, and Web-based call-back. For more information on these and other Voxalot features, please visit www.voxalot.com.

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Contact:

Sue Huss

Comunicano, Inc.

sue.huss@comunicano.com

+1 619-379-4396

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