We look forward to seeing you at the the expo in Chicago May 14 – 16.  Click here for more info.

ITW 2012 Chicago

The decision by the world’s two leading VoIP networks to enable calling to +888 is a major step toward making global numbers a viable option for the world’s consumers and businesses. We hope this will lead to other networks opening up to the +888 and +883 ranges faster than expected.  Tell us which carriers and networks you would like to see iNum work on next.  While the ultimate goal is to make iNum reachable from everywhere, your input (and the overall iNum user demand) helps keep the iNum project focused on which carriers it should work on next.

iNum is all about openness and invention.  One of the projects our development team tackled was creating a gateway for interoperability between XMPP networks like Gtalk and SIP based networks like iNum.  Hence Kelpie was developed.

Several iNum provider partners and others in the IP Communications developer community have expressed an interest in the XMPP <=> SIP gateway, so the Voxbone & iNum development team has decided to release Kelpie to the community as Open Source code.

There is now an overview of the Kelpie project on JavaForge where you can download the code, as well as wiki links explaining  how it works, and a quick start guide.

Best wishes from the Voxbone &  iNum development team.

CallMyWay sponsored a Costa Rica number.  CallMyWay is a service provider in Costa Rica offering prepaid calling cards, Auto Attendant, Phone Conferencing and other VoIP services.

CallsTransit,  a Russian VoIP services provider,  has sponsored two numbers in Moscow.

For a complete list of access numbers, visit our page at http://www.inum.net/what-is-inum/voice-reach/

If you are able to sponsor and provide us with a number, please contact us at inum@voxbone.com for more information.

Currently voice calls are enabled via the  Google Voice smart-phone clients.

This is a great milestone for the iNum Initiative’s efforts to encourage service providers and carriers to a) support calling to iNum and b) price it properly , i.e. at zero to low cost.

I tested it on the Verizon mobile network in the USA, just installed the Google Voice client on my iPhone and it worked flawlessly.  Voice quality was excellent.  Please try it from other networks and countries and please share your feedback and experiences via the blog comments and tweets (@inum).

Voxbone’s iNum Initiative provides carriers and service providers with diverse options for free or close to free termination to the +883 5100 and +888 number ranges.  So we hope every carrier or service provider on Earth will follow Google Voice in providing affordable calling to the iNum and UN numbers.

Thanks Google Voice!

Colin started and has managed Voxbone’s US customer support operations since 2006.

Feel free to get in touch with Colin via  inum (at) voxbone.com,  and iNum’s blog, twitter, facebook pages or the iNum forum.

PTC  is held every January in Hawaii, attracting over 1,000 industry professionals representing carriers, mobile operators, ISPs, social media, academics, researchers, journalists, regulators, and others from around the world.

Over three days at the Hilton Hawaiian Gardens, there are conference tracks, keynotes, but also non-stop business meetings going on at the outdoor  ”Tapa Bar” and in private suites in the various hotel towers.

As part of this year’s conference theme of “Harnessing Disruption” Voxbone  organized a conference session titled  ”Will Social Networks become the new Telcos?”  featuring three outstanding panel speakers; Mr. Christian Michaud, SVP Product and Business Strategy of Tata Communications, Mr. Gary Kim, Editor of Carrier Evolution, and Mr. Ari Rabban, CEO and co-founder of Phone.com.

The audience definitely benefited from the experience and insights they generously shared on the evolving business models and symbiotic relationships between different Telco market segments and types of social networks.  One conclusion was the importance of enabling developers to leverage powerful Telco infrastructure and capabilities by exposing APIs.

Along these lines, the iNum Initiative is looking at enabling iNum providers to take advantage of the popular Voxbone API.  More on this soon, and definitely looking forward to seeing the many carriers, mobile operators and cable companies we spoke with open up routing to iNum (+883 5100) and the UN country code +888 in the coming weeks.

Three years ago,  iNum Initiative beta was officially launched with altruistic and idealistic goals in mind:  to create a unified telephone area code for the planet Earth  - combining social IP communications with the traditional telephone number.

To achieve this, Voxbone has been providing free iNum numbers and free iNum SIP and ENUM based interconnection to service providers, NGOs and enterprises.

We need your help to make iNum numbers universally reachable.

1.  Send a text message to +883 510 000 000 094 and include your email address in the body of the SMS. If the test is successful you will receive an email confirmation. If +883 510 000 000 094 does not work you can also try 011 883 510 000 000 094.

2. Call +883 510 000 000 091 (it terminates on an echo test)

3.  Share your results on the iNum Forum, or via twitter (hashtag #inum or #inumambassador) , the iNum facebook page

4.  Let the customer service departments of your telephony providers know you want iNum calling and messaging.

Thanks for your help and feedback!

How did Svanto.net get started?

I’m into VoIP since 2003, starting with the Alcatel-Lucent PBXs. We have implemented site to site VoIP via different MPLS solutions. I also started working at Belgacom (Belgian Telecom Operator) where I had the opportunity to grow and learn how to operator a public network.

Svanto.net evolved out of that job. I found that Belgacom (as a traditional operator) was not giving the full service. There was a need for small operators who give their customers what they want at a low-cost price. Traditional networks (PSTN) are less cost sufficient than the new VoIP networks.  There is no longer a need to maintain a large analog network.  Sure you still need your cables, but as the technologies evolve, they are becoming less and less expensive.  So why not pass on to the consumers the cost savings the operators are experiencing.  There is no justification for high prices while the world is in an economic crises.

Where is your headquarters and what markets do you focus on?

My headquarters are in Belgium, Stokrooie (Hasselt). It is located in one of the growth poles in Belgium.  We focus mainly on the residential customers (as well prepaid as postpaid) as on the SME customers (with hosted PBX solutions) as on the large enterprises and wholesalers (SIP Trunking to traditional PBXs, A-Z termination, international number porting etc…).

We also deliver cloud based Unified communications to large enterprises.As for country based markets, I mainly focus on the European market.

My customers vary between the residential customer as well as SME’s. But what they all have in common is that they don’t like to overpay their communications.

 What are the unique challenges in your market ?

The unique challenges in the market are mainly to offer cloud based communications with the highest flexibility. It doesn’t matter any more if you would be located on this end of the world while your colleague is in the other part (except for the time zones off course). you still need to communicate when and how you’d like it. You shouldn’t be feeling like a slave to your cell phone, while having lunch with your friends. For instance, divert when you’d like it.  Take calls when you’d like it.

 When did your company first start to offer VoIP?

The company started offering VoIP in 2010.

 What are your predictions for the future of VoIP?

VoIP is the next level of communication where communication is on an Internet basis. VoIP together with Video will be the future as broadband access is becoming more and more a right instead of a privilege.

 Concerning iNum, when did you start to offer it to your clients and what kind of feedback have you been getting?

The first reaction of the customers is that they don’t know what it is. I started offering iNum just recently. But when you’d explain them that they could be reachable from an external access, they are all willing to take the number.

 Why do you want to offer iNums and tell us about how you think your customers will use it. 

I want to offer the iNums to the customer as they all should be reachable from any classic phone. I think my customers will use it as a social (like Skype) number. Where there is one network (social) where they all can reach each other without having to think what the cost will be. So they can focus on the main goal of communication, to achieve their objectives and reach their partners.

 Are there any unique services you enable with the iNum numbers?

I will enable Unified Communications with the iNum numbers. So they can be dial-able as like a social network would do. This with their own domain name and iNum number.

 Do you plan to work with the incumbent phone companies in your home market to enable iNum calling?

The main operators in Belgium are already working with the iNum, so I think I will work with them in order to achieve the bigger international picture.

If you would like your firm included, please let us know!