Disclaimer: I have not used or tested any of the three services I discuss below. Therefore any information regarding the three services has been taken from their websites and / or any other related articles.
VOIP has really taken off in South Africa since it became legal in February 2005. A lot more companies are implementing VOIP solutions into their existing environment and home users are certainly starting to follow suit by using the likes of Skype and Google Talk.
I am not the only person who believes that mobile technology is crucial in reaching out and communicating throughout Africa. I am aware of MXit and its impact on mobile instant messaging, however I would like to focus on mobile VOIP. There are three new mobile applications on the scene, they are:
Yeigo
Yeigo is a South African start-up which has developed South Africa’s first mobile VOIP solution. According to it’s blog, the venture started around June 2005 and launched its product this month (March 2007), which is still in beta phase.
What It Offers:
- Free VOIP, Yeigo to Yeigo
The more friends you can get using Yeigo the more free calls you can make, all you will pay for are the data costs that your network provider charges.
- Charged VOIP, Yeigo to Landlines, Mobile & International
If you wish to call people without Yeigo you will have to purchase credits from them. Yeigo rates, their prices seem reasonable. Maybe they will drop as more users start using the service.
- SMS Out
This allows you to sms to none Yeigo users, however you are charged for this. They claim savings of up to 90%. (Yeigo rates)
- Yeigo Instant Messaging – Coming Soon
The sooner this feature becomes available the sooner Yeigo will start to see their user base start to increase at a rapid rate. Combining VOIP and Instant Messaging is a sure winner. This will also bring some competition to MXit. Nothing like some healthy competition to get people innovating.
- Variety of Handsets Supported
They support phones from Nokia, i-Mate, HTC, Motorola and more.
- Works on Wi-Fi, GPRS/EDGE and 3G
Wi-Fi connectivity, now that is impressive. This means if my phone is Wi-Fi enabled I do not even need a SIM card to use Yeigo.
What It Doesn’t Offer:
- Integration With MSN, Google Talk or Skype
If I could talk to my other contacts on MSN, Google Talk and Skype from Yeigo then my mobile phone would become even more mobile since all my email is routed through GMail which already has a mobile client.
- Voicemail
If I really started using Yeigo as a communication tool often I would be more than willing to pay a monthly fee for voicemail, unless they were willing to offer it for free. Perhaps they could even create something like MTN’s i-Mail.
- File Transfer
If I needed to get a document on my smart phone to a contact really quickly I could use Yeigo’s file transfer feature, I could send family members photos or even video clips.
Fring
Fring is an Israeli start-up which strives to combine the benefits of the internet with the mobile phone. So far it seems they are doing just that and was recently featured on Sky News. Just in case you are wondering, they are also still in beta.
What It Offers:
- Free VOIP, Fring to Fring
Using their patent pending P2P Mobile VOIP technology, Fring allows you to call other users on Fring. All you will pay for are the data costs that your network provider charges. Talk and chat over Wi-Fi are completely free.
- Charged VOIP Using Skype Out
This is very interesting, Yeigo makes money through their outgoing calls to none Yeigo users. Fring however allows Skype to make the money. Fring merely uses their API. Where does Fring generate income from? An article on The Register answers that question.
- Integration With MSN, Google Talk and Skype
In my opinion integration with other instant messengers is very important. Having all your contacts from all networks in one central place is really great, it is also time and energy saving.
- Instant Messaging, Fring to Fring
Chat to your Fring contacts and only pay for the data costs, just like MXit.
What It Doesn’t Offer:
- SMS Out
I could not determine whether they have an sms out feature but if they don’t I am sure it would not be hard to implement as Skype already offers sms at very affordable rates. They are already using Skype’s API for outgoing calls to landlines and mobiles, they might as well implement this if they haven’t already.
- Voicemail
Once again, Skype offers voicemail functionality, they should take advantage of this. Even though it comes at a cost to the user.
- File Transfer
As I mentioned above, file transfer is really handy and often over looked.
- Handset Support is Limited
Currently they only seem to support Nokia handsets, you can take a look at the supported handsets here.
Barablu
Started in 2005, barablu was the first company to provide free calls between Wi-Fi enabled mobile phones (according to them). Based in the UK, barablu is also still in beta.
What It Offers:
- Free VOIP, barablu to barablu
Just like the two services above, barablu also offers free VOIP calls to other users on barablu. Once again all you pay for are the data costs set by your network provider.
- Charged VOIP using barablu Out
Like Yeigo, barablu generates income from VOIP calls to none barablu users such as landlines and mobile phones.
- Integration With Google Talk and Skype
With barablu you are able to chat and talk to your contacts on Google Talk and Skype. They are currently working on integration with Yahoo Messenger.
- Free Voicemail
I like voicemail, I think it is really nifty because we aren’t always available. I am really glad to see barablu offering free voicemail. You can personalize your voicemail as well as download it to your PC.
- File Transfer
This is really useful as I mentioned above.
- Free Video Calling – barablu to barablu
Would you like to see who you are talking to? Sometimes we would all like to, so barablu allows you to make free video calls to other barablu users. All you pay for are the data costs charged by your network provider.
- SMS Out
A wonderful feature to have if you need to contact someone who doesn’t have barablu.
What It Doesn’t Offer:
- Integration With MSN
Although they already provide integration with Google Talk, Skype and soon to be Yahoo Messenger, MSN is also a very popular instant messaging application. If barablu offered integration with MSN they would once again set the bar higher for its competitors.
Note: Skype is also going mobile.
Can We Use VOIP On Mobile Phones?
There is a lot of confusion around whether VOIP on mobile phones is legal or illegal. I still cannot find a clear answer on that myself, however here are some articles of interest which should shed some light.