British company takes on tech giants with the launch of the UK's simplest VoIP service
British telecoms company Switch Call is launching a simple, low-cost VoIP service to consumers and small businesses which it believes will start to replace landline services in the UK. The company is launching its VoIP service for GBP5.00 a month, combining the simplicity of a landline service with the low cost of a VoIP service. VoIP has recently attracted the interest of the world’s largest technology companies including Microsoft, Google & eBay.
VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is a technology that allows people to make telephone calls using their internet connection. In contrast to more complex services available through some rivals, the Switch Call VoIP service provides normal ‘geographic’ telephone numbers (eg with normal area codes 020, 0118 etc), a free telephone handset and a simple, 5-minute set-up.
2005 has been the breakthrough year for VoIP, with media interest reaching fever pitch. Now, Switch Call believes that with the quality of voice calls available and the simplicity of services such as theirs, VoIP is ready for the mass-market. The Switch Call service will put it head-to-head against VoIP services such as SkypeOut from Skype, recently bought by eBay, as well as services from US-based Vonage. Microsoft & Google have also both recently made some steps to compete in the VoIP market.
The company's approach is based primarily on simplicity, despite being feature-rich. Many VoIP services in the market require complex technology work-arounds or do not allow you to call normal landlines and mobiles, which drastically reduces the usefulness of the service. Unlike some other VoIP services, Switch Call’s service allows subscribers to call any telephone number in the world.
Entrepreneur Nick Kaulbach founded Switch Call in 2003. Seeing the potential for mass-market VoIP services, Switch Call began investing in VoIP equipment and systems over 18 months ago.
Bristol-based Switch Call is undaunted by the interest in VoIP being demonstrated by technology giants such as Microsoft, Google & eBay. Managing Director Nick Kaulbach commented “You can never write off players such as Microsoft, Google & eBay. Nonetheless, we believe none of those companies have a true landline replacement service and that's where the real market is.”
Kaulbach continues: “Technologies tend not to become truly mass-market until they become simple as well as beneficial. Many people fully understand that VoIP services are beneficial to them based on their low-cost. But until now, I think that there has not been a service simple enough to break through into the mass-market.”
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