Looking for free phone calls on Facebook? Well, IVR Technologies has what you're looking for. First let me point out that Rich has an excellent overview of IVR Technologies that is worth reading just to give you some background on their technology. Rich spoke with Barry Sher last year and "discussed how they develop SIP applications and one of their products is called Talking SIP which is a software only service that calls anywhere -- any time via SIP. As Barry describes it, customers bolt up to Level3 or Teleglobe and they peer via sip."Barry explained how their standards-based back-end technology, which includes a real-time media server, billing server and application server, can create some interesting applications. And now, because of their standards-based approach (including SIP), they have integrated Talking SIP, into Facebook. The integration with Facebook is achieved through their callme voice services application that allows free voice calling between friends using Global Telelink Inc.'s voice termination network.
At the click of the mouse within Facebook users can talk with each other anywhere in the world for free - it's on IVR Technologies' dime! (or Global Telelink Inc.) I find it interesting that the free calls are global and not specific countries. That's going to get expensive for them to foot the bill real quick! Leveraging VoIP no doubt. But still, potential for abuse. Perhaps they'll initially offer it free anywhere in the world and then limit the countries. Although Jajah has been offering free global calling for quite some time.
The callme application does not require any special hardware or software since it uses regular landline or mobile telephones. Users simply load the callme application onto their Facebook profile page either by invitation, referencing a friend's instance of the application, or from the application directory (http://apps.facebook.com/ivr_callme).
After you've entered your contact phone number the first time, you are configured and able to start instantly receiving calls from your Facebook friends. Importantly, whenever calls are initiated from the profile page both parties are joined in conversation without disclosing either party's actual telephone number. The callme application also provides several access control modes to allow it to run in invite-only mode or in open mode with the option to silently block specified users. I should point out that Alec Saunders over at Iotum offers free conferencing calling via Facebook. Somebody should compare/contrast the two. Any volunteers?
Finally, for advertisers and marketers, the callme application offers an extensible platform for targeted advertisements that includes the following features:
- User Targeted Advertisements. Play advertisements based on the calling party's profile information (e.g., age, gender, education, network affiliations, and geographic location) for targeted, user-relevant advertisements.
- Voice Ad Placement. Play advertisements during the ring phase and/or at the end of the call.
- Immediate or Postponed Call Transfers. Should the calling party desire more product/service information, the call can be transferred immediately to a call center or after the call with the friend ends.
- Additional Web-based Advertisements. A sponsor link is placed on the user's call page, once the call is initiated, for another branding opportunity.
- Call History Detail. Historical logs of placed calls are available on the user's history page, providing call detail information and a link to the sponsor of the call.
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