GizmoCall, a Flash-based, no download, cross operating system VoIP app launched on Monday. GizmoCall isn't the first to offer a Flash-based VoIP client. I believe the first Flash-based VoIP app was Flashphone, which I discovered last year. I also found a Flash-based app that not only did VoIP, but it did SIP-based video as well.In any event, I decided to give GizmoCall a go. Registering was easy and was done from within the Flash application. Simple entering a username, password, email address, and the captcha code was all that was needed.
Once logged in I was able to try the 'Test' call button which initiate a test call to their system. It worked flawlessly. I then made a test call to TMC's 800 toll-free number. The quality was good, but not great.
So who can you call? Well the beauty of GizmoCall is that not only can you call any other GizmoCall or Gizmo5 users, you can also call 800 numbers or SIP addresses for no charge. Ok, it's not free calls to any phone number, but it's a start.
You can also receive calls using GizmoCall. Simply login and then any other GizmoCall user can call you at that username. As long as GizmoCall is open in any window or browser tab (even if in the background) you will be able to receive a call.
Since it is Flash-based, GizmoCall works on all computers (Mac/Windows/Linux). While I like the idea of a "no-download" SIP client, I still like the full-fledged Gizmo5 client, which not only does SIP/PSTN calling, but it also supports IM/chat with Gizmo5, MSN, AIM, Yahoo! and Jabber. So I'd like to see a GizmoCall-lite (no IM/chat/presence/) and a GizmoCall-Full with IM/chat/presence capabilities.
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Hi Tom,
the email addresses I have on file for you are bouncing back...Remember in April you wrote about C2Call, entirely browser based Java VOIP app and you used it to call me in Taiwan?
I read your article about GizMo call and lacking love from CNET yesterday, you deserve the love...
It happens we relaunching www.c2call.com today, we now integrated C2CALL it into a full features system, including PSTN dialing, IM chat and you still can send invitation emails to your grandma, still works cross platforms. Our solution is SIP based and delivers a real peer-to-peer connection avoiding a media streaming server other solutions require.
What we did as well while being pretty much in stealth mode was developing an API for social websites to integrate, you will soon see the first social communities where you just log-in as usual, but immediately can talk to your buddies. API is released.
Best, Martin