5 Leading VOIP Services That Are Skype or Gizmo5 Alternatives
There has been a lot of talk about Skype and now Gizmo5 this week, so we thought we would let everyone know about 5 new VOIP service that are on the rise.
Truphone (www.truphone.com), London, became the first true Internet calling application in Apple’s App Store when the company introduced Truphone for the iPhone a year ago; it’s now available for the iPod touch, BlackBerry, Nokia and Android devices. Truphone enables free to low-cost mobile calling over available Wi-Fi or local wireless networks for owners of iPhones and other smartphones who travel out of their home service areas. It’s especially advantageous for international travelers who want to make inexpensive calls from their mobile phones wherever in the world they may be. Further, Truphone eliminates the uncertainty of expensive roaming charges altogether, so people who call using Truphone know what they’re paying and what they’re getting. And calls between Truphone users are always free. The company’s Truphone Local Anywhere service, coming later this year, aims to eliminate the high cost of calling other countries by making all calls “local.” Truphone Local Anywhere will become the mobile service of choice — delivering cost savings and convenience — for anyone who travels, or lives abroad and needs to stay in touch with family, friends and business colleagues, wherever they may live.
ShoZu (www.shozu.com), London, is an intelligent social media hub currently used by people worldwide to enrich connections with the people in their lives by effortlessly exchanging video, pictures and commentary between mobile devices and favorite social networks, photo sharing sites and information resources. The company’s patented technology provides fast, easy, one-click uploads of photos and video clips from the mobile to the Web, full-resolution photo and video delivery without compression, an emerging suite of services that push content to the phone, the ability to work in the background even if a connection is dropped, and other unique features that simplify and enhance the user experience. The company was founded in 2000 and has formed partnerships with some of the leading players in the mobile ecosystem, including Motorola and Samsung.
Boingo Wireless (www.boingo.com), Los Angeles, is the global market leader in Wi-Fi. Boingo makes it easy for consumers to enjoy Wi-Fi access on their laptops or mobile devices at more than 100,000 hotspots worldwide — including airports, hotels, cafes and metropolitan hot zones — with a single account. Through its Concourse Communications Group, LLC subsidiary, Boingo operates wired and wireless networks at 20 of the top 100 North American airports.
Hi Def Conferencing (www.hidefconferencing.com), Hoboken, N.J., from Citrix Online is a multi-party communication service that delivers crystal-clear quality and realism in audio get-togethers. The service uses advanced audio processing of up to 5 times the bandwidth of legacy telephone systems, making it easy to hear the subtleties of participants’ speech, accents and inflection – dramatically improving comprehension. Hi Def Conferencing also brings clarity to what users pay. As a predictable, fixed-fee service, it eliminates the billing surprises typically associated with other conferencing services. For a flat monthly fee, high quality conferencing is within the reach of everyone – encouraging ad hoc group collaboration with family members around the world. Participants access Hi Def Conferencing easily over traditional landlines, mobile carriers or broadband VoIP services, such as Skype.
iotum (www.calliflower.com), Ottawa, is a Voice 2.0 company that aims to reinvent business conversations and shape a world of relevant communications where devices, social networks and Web services work seamlessly together to let people communicate with whom they want, when they want and on the device they want. iotum’s business is to design and provide a simple, supportive and intuitive environment to enrich business conversations. iotum’s products and services bring greater meaning and productivity to typically stale and static multiparty communications and meet the growing teleconferencing needs of a broad range of customers across many industries. Iotum’s flagship service, Calliflower, makes it easy for people to plan and participate in engaging and meaningful conference calls that bridge business and social networks.







7 Comments
These definitely are all great alternatives to Skype or Gizmo5, and thank you for sharing these options. I thought your readers might also be interested to know that there is another up-and-coming VoIP calling service – http://www.friendcaller.com, that is also worth looking at.
FriendCaller.com offers reliable, browser-based VoIP communications, running on a Java applet. Users don’t need to download any software, plug-ins, etc., and it doesn’t tax system resources.
Browser-based VoIP is the wave of the future, and it will be interesting to see how this industry progresses.
I have tested most of the best VoIP apps and must say that Vopium, Nimbuzz and Jajah are the best compititors of skype and Gizmo.
As an individual who travels extensively, I have come to rely totally on Truphone when out of the UK. I use the service on my Nokia E71 pricipally on WiFi when abroad – I can find WiFi just about anywhere I go these days. Truphone allows me to make outbound calls as part of a flat rate plan and alows my colleagues ti cakk me for UK prices.
Without it I would be severely challenged from a telephonic perspective!
Hi,
Sorry if this sounds like a shameless plug, but I just thought your readers might like to know about a competition that we are running at Truphone at the moment.
To celebrate Truphone Local Anywhere launching early next year, we are giving away over £5,000 of prizes, including lastminute.com travel vouchers.
It is free to enter, and anyone who likes spending less on international calling should take a look.
Find out more at http://www.truphone.com/local-anywhere/register.html
Thanks for the mention of Truphone in your post.
Kind Regards,
Heath at Truphone
I have to echo the sentiments of Bob M… I would be extremely challenged without the functionality, ease of use, convenience, economics and quality of Truphone (on the Nokia N or E Series).
I have tried most of the services mentioned, and especially when traveling internationally, Truphone on their first implementation on Nokia N or E Series – just can’t be beat. Ability to receive, make, voicemail, background notification, always on, clarity – all on your wifi mobile… you could not do this with Skype on iphone, nor any of the other products mentioned. My only complaint, Truphone seems to be paying most of it’s attention and development efforts on the iphone, unfortunate but understandable.