Jajah, in its effort to become a backend platform for VoIP services, has started offering call termination, billing and other such services to one and all comers. They got a big boost when they signed up Yahoo! Now, the Sequoia Capital-backed company has signed up SIPphone, the company behind Gizmo and will handle their call termination. Does this mean Gizmo’s call quality will increase? I certainly hope so - I have stopped using the service because of poor quality of voice.
Instead, I have opted for RingCentral, which recently introduced a Mac OS X soft client (in addition to a PC version) and it is doing a might fine job for me. I was highly skeptical of RingCentral in the past but they have won me over with their high quality service. (Full review, pending!)
Soft phones - whether they are from RingCentral, Vonage, Gizmo or Skype extremely useful. I almost never am close to a landline, but an internet connection is always handy. Using soft phone, I can make quick calls without really breaking away from the computer screen. I am not alone in professing a liking for Softphones. A Frost & Sullivan report says that as a percentage of total IP-telephone market soft phones share will increase from 5 percent to 20 percent by 2014. Softphone sales rose to 416,000 units, worth $18.9 million in 2007, up 30% over 2006.
6 trackbacks so far
12:39 AM PT
[...] Willi sent me the link today of yesterday’s post by Om Malik . [...]
1:11 AM PT
[...] Om Malik of GigaOm reports that Jajah now has a deal to terminate calls for SIPphone. [...]
11:41 AM PT
[...] posted about his VoIP experience and the fact that Jajah has started offering call termination, billing [...]
11:30 PM PT
[...] posted about his VoIP experience and the fact that Jajah has started offering call termination, billing [...]
6:51 AM PT
[...] VoIP service provider JAJAH is also getting into the interpreter game, starting with English-to-Mandarin Chinese. Their new JAJAH Babel service, developed in conjunction with IBM, lets users dial their local JAJAH number, say an English phrase, and hear it played back in Chinese or vice-versa. The software combines voice recognition and translation, but getting it to understand what you’re saying can be a challenge even on a clear phone line. [...]
7:27 AM PT
[...] VoIP service provider JAJAH is also getting into the interpreter game, starting with English-to-Mandarin Chinese. Their new JAJAH Babel service, developed in conjunction with IBM, lets users dial their local JAJAH number, say an English phrase, and hear it played back in Chinese or vice-versa. The software combines voice recognition and translation, but getting it to understand what you’re saying can be a challenge even on a clear phone line. [...]
14 comments so far
8:38 AM PT
I too enjoy softphones as they are very convenient. I’ve been using Skype over Gizmo lately as I noticed SkypeOut call quality has been improving year over year.
For me, Gizmo5 (formerly Gizmo Project) quality has never been all that great when dialing mobiles or fixed line phones.
9:10 AM PT
Have yet to try Jajah’s softphone. Though I’ve been quite impressed by the traction they have gained in recent months. Another reason the nine figure valuation rumor put on the company may have some truth to it.
The best softphone in the market was Counterpath(Xten) when we looked at all the players to embed for a business softphone offering.
Perhaps Counterpath still has the best softphone, but, it goes to show that many times you need to have a tier 1 VC like Sequoia and your headquarters located in Silicon Valley.
As stated before their appears to be a collision course developing between two Sequoia companies; Ringcentral and Jajah. However, at this point the pr spin will be around the target markets being different (consumer versus small business).
9:11 AM PT
Jajah doesn’t make a soft phone, they are powering the back end for many softphones.
Ring central is more for small medium businesses. They are entirely different markets. Jajah is now a wholesale platform.
9:45 AM PT
Om,
Thought you were going to be off today…couldn’t resist a good post ehh?!
9:47 AM PT
I still rely on skype.
Configuring Gizmo-SIP was frustrating on the the Dlink DVG-1402S VoIP router. Incoming calls on Gizmo is a pain too; I have tried SoftPhone(PC) to SoftPhone(PC or cellphones)you name it.
I have been trying to configure it on an ipod touch using Fring and other soft clients but it just won’t work. I can make out going calls and then I cannot receive incoming calls.
The SIP number shows up on Caller ID but what’s the point when the receiver cannot call back on that number. Even if you sign-up for the free 775 area code virtual number it is of no use, because the stupid SIP# shows up on CID instead of the 775.
So what’s the point of jahjah? All that hype of gizmo running down skype has not even scratched the surface of fixing their technical and business glitches.
Follow a simple philosophy. Don’t overdo your client without researching business needs. I need Call Quality w.r.t hearing someone and that someone hearing me for extended periods of time. Get that right first.
O btw the new Xten sucks too.
9:57 AM PT
still rely on skype.
Configuring Gizmo-SIP was frustrating on the the Dlink DVG-1402S VoIP router. Incoming calls on Gizmo is a pain too; I have tried SoftPhone(PC) to SoftPhone(PC or cellphones)you name it.
I have been trying to configure it on an ipod touch using Fring and other soft clients but it just won’t work. I can make out going calls and then I cannot receive incoming calls.
The SIP number shows up on Caller ID but what’s the point when the receiver cannot call back on that number. Even if you sign-up for the free 775 area code virtual number it is of no use, because the stupid SIP# shows up on CID instead of the 775.
So what’s the point of jahjah? All that hype of gizmo running down skype has not even scratched the surface of fixing their technical and business glitches.
Follow a simple philosophy. Don’t overdo your client without researching business needs. I need Call Quality w.r.t hearing someone and that someone hearing me for extended periods of time. Get that right first.
O by the way I am not a fan of the new Xten either.
10:37 AM PT
@ Shiva… you got it buddy! I think off doesn’t seem to work for me :-)
Best
1:25 PM PT
As much as I love RingCentral, outbound calls still go through Skype due to its far superior call quality, easy conferencing abilities and integrated chat (which works only for computer:computer, of course).
RingCentral’s message handling and inbound call routing are very good, through. They show clearly where the Skype gang has been in neutral for a few years. GrandCentral doesn’t seem to have progressed much under Google, either.
Someone should purchase both Skype and RingCentral. Their combined feature set and market reach would, as Emeril might say, kick the VOIP/SIP market up several notches.
1:32 PM PT
@ Paul, Good tip. I will try it out. If it is the best way as you suggest, well then I am going to take that up.
5:11 PM PT
If you do try Skype, the Logitech USB desk mic is an improvement over many a webcam microphone.
(link)
8:16 AM PT
I ditched SKYPE to move to Gizmo, because its one of the best integrations for Asterisk. We use it daily for both incoming and outgoing calls.
That said, we use a different provider for UK calls, but i love the way Asterisk you can easily choose your provider.
3:15 PM PT
Sorry but you compare different things. call quality rely more on the softphone quelity than the PSTN gateway.Gizmo is a softphone , you could use it with any SIP provider, When a SIP softphone does not fit you , the best is to use ….. another one , there plenty of SIP softphone on ALL platforms. All other stuff like skype will always keep you away from your freedom to choose how you will place your calls & chats. Nevertheless , I always hear that skype is a great reliable service so I guess it’s true.
8:28 PM PT
I think the 20% of all VoIP use being softphone by 2014 is a little high. I think by that date VoIP will be the dominant voice medium and, that being the case, I can’t see a fifth of all users going with a softphone - folks like the tactility of a hardphone - I can’t see that changing this generation….
5:39 PM PT
I agree with Ben. Softphones have a place, they’re appropriate in call centers and for business travelers but I can’t see them as an alternative to the primary handset. We should also see the cost of SIP hardphones coming down in the next few years that will increase pressure on Cisco, Avaya et al to get real with their pricing.
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