The Call 3 - 4/5/2004
From Michael Robertson, CEO and founder,
SIPphone.com
*psst* We just added ONE BILLION numbers you can call FREE with SIPphone
VoIP and particularly SIP has really developed in the last year. SIPphone's service is not even a year old and the product has seen amazing change since its launch. Along the way you have sent us your ideas on how to improve the service, hardware, and My.SIPphone. We work hard to incorporate as many of the suggestions as we can, like our new Call-in-One adapter that routes both SIP and PSTN calls to the same phone. But by far, the most popular request is to make calls to non-SIP phones (aka, the PSTN world). I, like you, wanted to extend SIPphone to call "the rest of the world", but I didn't want a lame me-too flat-rate service charging 35 bucks a month. What I really wanted was free calling to the old phones out there, or as close to free as I could get.
So here it is, the first big step. Today we *unofficially* launch 5 Free 1 and Minutes. Both of these new features are in beta and, for now, available only to hardware customers. Like any beta program, we want your feedback. Head to our Forum to let us know what you think.
Five Free Minutes! Free International Calling to 10 Countries!!!
All our hardware customers can now make 5 free, one-minute calls to 10 countries everyday. This is the first time any company has offered free international calling to the PSTN world on an ongoing basis. These calls are not to other SIPphones, which are always free, but to the over one billion other existing traditional phones in these countries.
Currently, you can call the following ten countries with 5 Free Minutes (but about a billion more people will soon be added ;)
| North America (landlines only) | Europe (landlines only) |
Asia (landlines only) |
| USA | UK | Singapore |
| Canada | France | Hong Kong |
| Germany | Taiwan | |
| Italy | Australia |
You dial the number just as you would any number on your regular telephone. For example, to call Singapore Airlines, you simply dial 011 65 6223 8888. For those of you outside the US, you can use "00" and "001" instead of "011" for the international access number ("+"). We will be adding more countries to this list, so keep an eye out for the next billion or so people you can call around the world.
SIP Minutes: Call ANYONE in the World, Super-Cheap
Forget all the terrible international calling plans out there. SIP Minutes lets you call any number in the world for amazing per minute rates, with absolutely no hidden fees. Of course, SIP-to-SIP calls (in-network) are still free. Unlike most other low rate options, with SIP Minutes there are no monthly fees, no connection fees, and simple one minute billing. So that 3 minute call to Hong Kong cost just 12 cents, like it should. Your SIP Minutes expire after 180 days, so there is no rush to use them before the end of the month, either.
SIP Minutes are the easiest and most affordable way to make digital quality, fast and reliable calls to any one in the world, all from your SIPphone. To add SIP Minutes to your account, login to My.SIPphone and click on the value you want to add in the top grey bar. Check out the rates.
Of course, if you want to receive calls from the rest of the "old" world, you can add a US PSTN number to your SIPphone with Virtual Numbers, announced last month. As I said, things are just starting to get interesting with SIP and SIPphone, in particular. Together, we push a new wave of telecommunications, where you don't have think twice to pickup the phone and call next door or across the globe.
To discuss this topic or other realted topics, please visit our new SIPphone Forum.
Michael Robertson
CEO and Founder
SIPphone.com
