TringMe Mobile: Embrace Mobile VoIP

Update:  TringMe MobileVoIP Application is now available at http://blog.tringme.com/tringme-announces-the-availability-of-mobilevoip-application/

We are extremely excited to share that one of the most asked features on TringMe, the ability to use it from a mobile device, is now available. To be precise, TringMe now allows one to receive calls and voicemails using the underlying cellular internet/data connection (e.g. GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, EVDO or even Wi-Fi) for FREE. For most of the phones which have a built-in SIP stack (e.g. most of the recent smartphones), absolutely no download is necessary. One can merely use the internet browser to use TringMe right away.

TringMe’s mobile VoIP doesn’t require any hardware upgrade, works on mobile devices of from operators and best of all, doesn’t eat into your airtime charges.

Please note that one can make worldwide calls at an extremely low price once we have the credit management system in place. With this capability, TringMe users can make free phone-to-phone calls to other TringMe users.

To top it all, not only can you receive calls from the web but also from phone and Gtalk as well. The ability for someone to reach me on my mobile from several communication devices like Gtalk and Phone throughout the world and in a cost-optimized way makes it a compelling solution - this is what true and cost efficient mobility should perhaps be.

Even though we are in early stages of development, we couldn’t resist ourselves from opening this feature to a limited alpha testers. Initially, we plan to activate it only for users from those countries where we do not support phone termination yet. However, we will also enable for key testers and other VoIP enthusiasts.

If you would like to try this functionality, please send us a mail to get your invite for TringMe’s Mobile VoIP.

TringMe’s Personal Toll-free and Intelligent Call Routing Solution

[ “This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.” – Western Union, internal memo, 1876
“I think it’s going to be a huge interconnection of all of these system, including, over time, some derivative of cable TV and some derivative of the current public telephone system.” - Marc Andreessen – in recent years ]

Our world is growing connected by the day and the need for people to stay connected with each other is only increasing. Gone are the days when a whole family shared a phone. Now, each of us has multiple phone numbers, instant messenger IDs and other forms of connectivity options.  While that gave us flexibility in terms of more connection points, it also increased the complexity in the overall system wherein someone interested in reaching me might need to know all these connection points (notice a typical email signature with all kinds of phone numbers listed there). To make it more complicated, my availability on all my connection points could be time-varying and place-varying (for e.g. I am available on my office-phone from 9:00AM-6:00PM).  When home, I may prefer to be reached on the landline instead of cell-phone to save my cell-phone airtime. If I am working on my PC, I would prefer to be reached on Gtalk instead of phone since it’s convenient for me to converse from my PC while I continue to work.

It would be ideal if the caller can be spared from knowing the complexity of calle’s reachability matrix of connection-points. In other words, if the caller could call only one connection point and the call can be intelligently routed to a the calle’s best availability device, it eases the burden of establishing a connection from the calle to the caller’s end – that exactly is TringMe’s ‘Intelligent Call Routing’. Now imagine if the caller can use a toll-free mechanism to reach to the caller on any of the above-mentioned connection-points, regardless of either’s geographic location.

This is where TringMe can help. TringMe already offers enterprise toll-free solution at much lower cost and many additional features not found in traditional telephony or toll-free solutions. Although toll-free service is generally associated with enterprises, TringMe’s toll-free solution can be applied very well to implement personal toll-free solution for an individual or a family’s need.

A few of my friends who live in US often buy skype credits for family members back home so that the family members can reach them. In one case, the family members are spread in various cities of India (Parents in Bombay, Sister studying in Delhi and some close cousin in another part of the country). My friend ends up buying separate skype credits for parents, sister and the close cousin. He was instantly able to see value in TringMe’s toll-free offering. All his family members can use TringMe to call him using single widget and he can mange the credit on single account rather than maintaining multiple. On top of that, he can use credits for other TringMe features as well  and control dynamically where he or she can be reached. Sounds Interesting?

TringMes’ toll-free solution is flexible enough to be applied to other scenarios as well:

These are just a few of the scenarios, but the possibilities are endless. Let the creativity flow and tell us how you (would like to) use TringMe. Do let us know what’s missing to make your scenario work ..

OpenSocial Application Update - Orkut, Ning, MySpace and more …

Two minor updates based on feedback we received on our OpenSocial Orkut Application.

As usual, we look forward to your feedback.

TringMe Rolls Out OpenSocial Application for Orkut

TringMe Rolls out Orkut application using today announced Google OpenSocial API (here, here & here). TringMe’s orkut application will allows you to add TringMe to your orkut profile in just two simple steps.

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