Fonolo named to Time.com’s “50 Best Websites 2009″
We're pretty excited here at Fonolo today- We were named to Time.com's "50 Best Websites for 2009".
Other websites on the list, include: Twitter, Google, Skype, Amazon and Flickr- which is great company to be in- we couldn't be happier.
It's great to see how well Fonolo resonates with the public. It’s further proof that we’re addressing a point of pain felt so deeply by so many people.
You can read the whole article here.
All new Fonolo interface launched!
I'm very excited to announce the release of the new Fonolo consumer web interface. This new web interface not only has a new look and feel, but has improved usability, and many new features and enhancements.
Some of the enhancements to the web portal include:
Anonymous Deep Dialing
Anonymous, in the sense that you do NOT have to sign-up for an account with Fonolo, to try the service out. Search for the company you want from the list of over 500 companies in our database, right from the main page of our website, and click to start your call- no sign-up required. no special software. no special phone- all for FREE.
QuickTones
Ever been on a phone call, and they ask you for your account number? or if you have a Frequent Flyer number, but you can't remember it, and the piece of paper you have it written down on is long since gone?
Store frequently used account numbers, frequent flyer numbers, PINs, etc, in the Fonolo system, for one-click access while on a call. Simply select the tones from your list, and Fonolo will send the tones on your call, as if you had pressed the buttons yourself.
Heads-Up Display for your calls
While a call is active, you'll have full control over adding notes or recordings, with our new "Heads-Up Display" at the top of your screen. This control panel remains active during the life of your call, even if you navigate to other sections of the site.
Improved Call Recordings and Notes
When you make recordings during a call, Fonolo will organize them on a master timeline for that call, along with any notes that you added. Now you can flag the important parts and easily find them later.
Try the new Fonolo website today! it's completely free, and easy to use.
Gizmo5 747 Area Code
I was playing with the Gizmo5 service today- we've had a few customer now ask if they could have Fonolo call them back at their Gizmo5 address, instead of a regular PSTN number. Their service, which is very Skype-ish, aims as providing cost saving on international phone calls, as well as provides free calls between Gizmo5 users.
One of the first things I noticed (after installing the Gizmo5 client), was that their system allocates each user a "SIP" number, which they made the unfortunate choice of formatting like a standard ten digit phone number (XXX-YYY-ZZZZ)- not only that, but they used the area code 747!
Unfortunately, they don't have any stake in the *real* 747 area code controlled through NANPA- even worst, looking at the NANPA database, the 747 area code is already allocated as an overlay to the 818 area code (in California), and is set to be put in service May 18th, 2009 (~3 months from now).
Now, the Gizmo5 site doesn't seem to make any mention of this, and there are only a few posts out there I can find- but they all simply say that the "SIP number" was never meant to be used as a normal PSTN number- it can only be called from one client to another, or as a full SIP address (by tacking on @proxy01.sipphone.com)- if that's the case, it seems really weird that they opted to use phone numbers, instead of just usernames.
I'm not sure how they plan to handle it when *real* PSTN numbers in the 747 area code start getting allocated to people in California, and then one of their users with a DialOut package tries to call one of them? I'm sure it's not going to take long before phone numbers start being duplicated, and they're going to have to solve this issue.
Not to mention general confusion; I've read post after post about people being confused about why they can't dial their 747 phone number from PSTN number.
As far as Fonolo support, I was hoping to simply trunk any calls to the 747 area code over SIP to the Gizmo5 system, as if they were just regular phone numbers; in testing, it seems to work well, but I'd just run into the same issue they will, come May.
I'll have to just add them into the system as generic SIP addresses- hopefully I'll have this working soon.
Fonolo Launches Call Recording Feature
We've been hard at work here at fonolo, and we're happy to announce the availability of several new features, including the ability to add custom bookmarks, an improved company search bar, and probably the most exciting, the ability to record your calls, and then play them back through the web interface.
Bookmarks:
The bookmarks feature lets you personalize a list of companies, and points in a companies' phone tree, that you call frequently. Entries in your bookmarks list can then be deep-dialed with a single click.
Improved Search:
We've added a much improved search bar at the top of every page inside the interface. The new search will provide an auto-complete drop-down as you type, with searches that can be based on partial/full company names, partial/full phone numbers, as well as keywords found within the companies phone tree.
Call Recording:
One of the most exciting new features, is the ability to record your phone calls directly through the fonolo web portal. While you're on a call initiated through the fonolo portal, simply hit the "Start Recording" button, and fonolo will start recording your phone call for you.
After you've completed your call, the recording will appear in your history (available from the home page, or from the company page); you can then playback the recording online, or download and play it back locally through your favorite mp3 player (like winamp or windows media player).
This is a beta release of call recording; enhanced features will be included in our next major release.
Visit the fonolo website to sign up today, and come see Shai Berger in person at the 2009 Emerging Communications Conference.
Chris Pirillo on Fonolo
There was a great post about fonolo just put up on Chris Pirillo's blog