At your service: TalkPlus

Nov 19, 2007 12:00 AM, By Rich Karpinski

SERVICE SCENARIO: Convinced of the power of voice over IP (VoIP) to deliver more than just cheaper minutes, Jeff Black, CEO of TalkPlus, and team created an application and service to bring advanced call management to smartphones.

SERVICE SOLUTION: With TalkPlus, users download a small application to their smartphone. An on-screen interface and accompanying Web portal lets users add multiple phone numbers to their existing phones — either all-new numbers or “mirror” numbers reflecting phone numbers they already use. Users then can receive calls to or dial out from any of those numbers. The TalkPlus network ensures all calls are local calls, cutting user costs. In addition, the app supports visual voicemail, voice-based call screening, on-device conference calling and more.

Telephony reviewed a version of TalkPlus on a Treo Windows Mobile phone. TalkPlus runs as a separate application, making it a step away from the normal phone interface. But the interface, even with multiple numbers running, was easy to use. Understanding all the features can be daunting, however. TalkPlus says it adds advanced features only when a user is ready for them, keeping the application simple at the start.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE: TalkPlus competes with landline and mobile unified communications offerings on the software front, while its VoIP-based network cuts into carrier long-distance billings. Interestingly, TalkPlus uses VoIP in the guts of its solution, not at the end points; the application actually uses regular (local) cell calls and not VoIP-over-3G for all outbound dialing from the phone. TalkPlus costs $9.95 per month.