Talkster opens beta VoIP service for cellphones

Monday, December 11, 2006

As reported almost daily by internet reports, VoIP is becoming a major player in the communication market. So its no surprise that Talkster Inc is dedicating a lot of resources to this technology. The last move by the Canadian company was a demonstration of the functioning of their newest VoIP network.

It is a unique solution that combines the new technology with the old one. The network, in fact, allows the customers to use the current mobile phone technology to interface also with the next generation services.

The customer will just continue using his/her cell phone as usual, but will also be able to call his IM buddies using VoIP services like Google Talk, Gizmo and MSN. Talkster said that Skype cannot be used with this service because of the unavailability of details on the protocol used by Skype. Talkster COO James Wanless said that the only solution would be to reverse engineer the protocol but the company will not do that.

Talkster also announced an open beta that will be available worldwide for mobile phone users. Accessing the Talkster website it will be possible to sign up to start testing the service. This is a free beta program that will fine tune the offer until its commercial launch (scheduled for mid 2007).

As for the internal details of how the system works, the COO said that the first mile of the VoIP call will use the cellular network. Then Talkster triggers the phone to dial into a local access gateway of the company. Or, in some cases, Talkster will have our network dial you back on your phone and will then connect you to our network.

There are some interesting things about this VoIP service apart from being able to use together two technologies. The network is based on open standards (like XML) so transparency and integration with other technologies will not be a problem. Besides the transition between the regular network and the VoIP network is done seamlessly, without the need to change numbers or install extra software.

About Talkster

Talkster, the first service to let people place free calls from their cell phones to instant messaging services like MSN, Google Talk and Gizmo Project, consolidates the many voice-based communications services people use every day into an easy-to-use service that works from a single familiar device: the mobile phone. The Talkster beta service showcases Talkster's Web services-based technology, the foundation for Talkster's enterprise service offering, available March 2007.

The Talkster beta service is open to users worldwide at www.talkster.com. Enterprises interested in Talkster's forthcoming enterprise service should contact enterprise@talkster.com. Resellers and system integrators interested in adding the Talkster Enterprise Service to their portfolio of top-selling solutions can contact resellers@talkster.com for partner / reseller opportunities.