A few days ago I wrote about Voxalot's new VoxCall application for Facebook. Since then, a number of people have contacted me using VoxCall. Invariably, the quality has been superb. For example:
- Yesterday, Andy Abramson called me. He called from the Nokia N810 via WiFi. WiFi SIP to VoxCall SIP to Truphone SIP and then onto the cellular network.
- The day after I wrote my original piece, Dan York called. He called from a Polycom IP Phone to Asterisk to VoxCall SIP to Truphone SIP and then onto the cellular network.
Despite the convoluted routing, the calls were of excellent quality.
The real value in VoxCall, however, may be something more subtle. None of us actually knew where the others were. SIP registration took care of attaching each of us to the network, and then IP took care of the rest. For all the fuss that gets made about find-me / follow-me services, it's nothing special in the IP world. In IP, identity is separated from the address space, which makes find-me / follow-me a happy incidental rather than a service that a telco can charge big dollars for.
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.
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Although I guess in many cases your IP address will still be revealing something about your geography. There are a number of services that can render an IP address into a rough geographical area, perhaps within 10 miles.
Agreed Martyn, but the issues of privacy and geography are different from the issues of find / follow.