Scrappy irish entrepreneur Pat Phelan is back. His newly resurrected free calling service, Yak4Ever, lets you make as many free long distance calls as you want to overseas friends and family. He's added a couple of new twists, compared to his previous AllCallsFree service.
- Users must register, and then create a short address book of up to 10 names and numbers that they wish to call with the service.
- Now, instead of dialling the access number, followed by the desired number, users simply dial the access number and then an extension (sent via email, after registration) which corresponds to the previously registered number in the address book.
It's reminiscent of the friends and family calling plans that have been so popular in the US, or the new Rogers MyFive here in Canada. "Pick the people you call most often, register them with us, and we'll give you a break on the calls." Pat's very clever. To me, it looks like an attempt to blur the line between this likely-to-be-popular service, and the services offered by the big guys… it might even sway a jury.
Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry maker Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.
