August 30, 2006
Webacall Per-Second Web Calling
A few years back, some cellular providers in North America decide to offer per-second billing to their customers. It was great for anyone who felt that they were being overcharged for excess seconds in a minute. Webacall is doing the same thing for VoIP. What's your shortest phone call? Fifteen seconds? Imagine getting a phone bill for that. Coupled with already low rates, you're going to save a considerable amount over time - but really only if you are a hardcore gabber.
Webacall has a feature called missed call callback (aka ANI callback) which basically lets you use your account privileges from any phone anywhere in the world, without extra dialup charges. You have a variety of choices for making phone calls, including "triggers" for web and WAP (mobile browser).
This service is similar to Jajah in that it doesn't involve downloading any software. You're just using a regular or mobile web browser, so you can use Webcall with any computer or any WAP-enabled smartphone or connected PDA. But unlike Jajah (if I recall correctly), Webacall also has pc2phone and even (IP) device2phone calling, with the latter basically using any suitable plug'n'play PSTN2VoIP adapter. Pc2phone calling does require a soft client.
I've downloaded the X-lite softphone - it's extremely sexy looking, but the account setup seems overly complicated. You do need to register (free) from the Webacall website first, although anyone who downloads the software might miss that detail and get confused. Note that you need to download the Webacall SIP dialer to use the per second billing for pc2phone. Pc2pc calls to other Webacall users are free.
I have a lot of beefs with Webacall: Despite their attractive website, there are so many services that some users may find it confusing where they should start. There are just too many links on their home page. Keep it simple, and guide people to where they should go. I haven't a clue where I should start. Do I need the SIP dialer? It's not clear. If I just want to evaluate the X-lite softphone, where do I start? Why isn't there even a link to it on the home page? Or should I sign up just before I download it? And why do they need my address and postal code for me to register a free account? If I'm paying online, does it matter to them? What are my payment options? Do I get a few free minutes to try out? Because I'm not paying for a VoIP service that I haven't tried first. Why does the zipcode field during signup only expect 5 digits - most countries other than the US have letters and numbers in their postal codes. And why in tarnation do I have to wait one day for my login information to be sent to my email? Are you kidding me? This is the Internet.
Maybe I'm being overly critical on Webacall, but after evaluating so many VoIP services these past few months, there are some signup details I just get miffed about seeing - especially ones where despite asking for your country, they expect only a 5-digit zip code. Keep it simple, and if I like the software, I'll try some of your other services. Confuse me, and why would I bother, especially when I already have a dozen VoIP soft clients over a couple of computers? Thanks but, I think I'll stick with Skype, Google Talk/ Talqer and Hullo for now. Note to other VoIP providers: keep your home page simple, or at least guide visitors.
--
Did you enjoy this post?
« BellSouth and Verizon Sent Letters By FCC | Main | AIM Pro 1.1 Gets Desktop Sharing »
