Take a Sip

VoIP telephone TerraSip S.A. has announced the development of a standard which provides VoIP users with a method of making CRM systems, address books and other applications CTI compliant. The new function of Sip Telephony allows the user to initiate a telephone call with “URL dialing,” i.e. by following a link to an internet address. This address can be configured as a link from other applications or internet pages. This implies practically unlimited ways of implementing the new function including linkage to a CRM system or implementing a telephone link on one’s own website. TerraSip’s ‘Sip-Free’ Button – reportedly the first toll-free VoIP number – provides a way of accessing a VoIP account at no cost to the caller.

By going through a web page, a return call from the customer’s provider is triggered. As with a normal free call number there is no charge to the customer and the provider pays the standard TerraSip VoIP rates of approximately 1 US cent per minute for inside Germany or 1.4 US cents for non-German Europe. The provider can keep full control of his costs through a prepaid account, and the marketing investment can be anywhere from €10 to €500 monthly. Accrued costs are claimed to be approximately ninety percent less than those of conventional calls or shared cost numbers.

The product is pushed by TerraSip for small- and medium-sized businesses. Tailor-made solutions can also easily be created for inbound and outbound call center calls. It can be used wherever internet access is available and at the same cost as normal VoIP use. TerraSip recently launched a pilot project in Germany and Austria together with two WiFi network providers with the aim of testing mobile internet telephony in the German-speaking region. The object of the test is to prove the interoperability of the billing systems as well as various mobile IP cellular telephones and access points implemented by different manufacturers.

TerraSip is especially interested in testing its billing system for WiFis with the cooperation of both partners to ensure in-field reliability and accuracy. After the conclusion of the pilot project, TerraSip plans rapid expansion in Germany and Austria. By the end of 2006, TerraSip plans availability of more than 100,000 WiFis in the German language region. This object of installing this mobile VoIP service will is to challenge regional giant GSM. TerraSip is a company offering free internet international telephony for community members using international SIP standards and fifty-six country-specific rates.