January 9, 2007 at 17:06Wengo VoIP Platform: an open alternative to Skype
Recently, Wengo developers have opened a VoIP service exchange on the Internet. Any VoIP provider can go in there and register a pay-per-connection phone number (known as 1-900 in the USA, 8-809 in Russia) or free (1-800 in the USA or 8-800 in Russia). In the case of a paid number, Wengo takes away a commission of 30%. This is approximately the same rate that applies to traditional telephone networks, where the telecommunications company takes the commission.
The Wengo Services exchange is a great example of how the French company Wengo, which is called the “open alternative to Skype”, is building its business. Unlike the Skype business model, the French are trying to create not a service, but a platformfor VoIP telephony, and open, for which anyone can create third-party applications. As you know, the platform always wins the service.
The WengoPhone client software for voice, text and video chat is distributed along with the source code under the GPL license. Naturally, SIP is used for communications. The program is available in versions for Win, Linux and MacOS.
Unfortunately, over the two years of its existence, the WengoPhone program has not become truly popular. This is the main reason for too small a subscriber base, writes O'Reilly Radar . But this flaw can be completely eliminated with the help of the second innovation, which the developers presented last week.
Another service on the Wengo platform is the interactive WengoVisio flash widget . If you hang it on the site, then site visitors will be able to call Wengo, even if they do not have a client program installed. It is assumed that the owner of the widget posts it on his blog and sets it to his Wengo number, so that visitors can call him with one click. Moreover, a personal widget can be launched via a direct URL from the text of the email, for example.
Perhaps in the future, the WengoVisio widget will allow users to call even commercial and toll-free numbers that are registered through the Wengo Services exchange. Then it will be a real breakthrough, since such a service is very convenient for online stores and other B2C businesses.
The Wengo Services exchange is a great example of how the French company Wengo, which is called the “open alternative to Skype”, is building its business. Unlike the Skype business model, the French are trying to create not a service, but a platformfor VoIP telephony, and open, for which anyone can create third-party applications. As you know, the platform always wins the service.
The WengoPhone client software for voice, text and video chat is distributed along with the source code under the GPL license. Naturally, SIP is used for communications. The program is available in versions for Win, Linux and MacOS.
Unfortunately, over the two years of its existence, the WengoPhone program has not become truly popular. This is the main reason for too small a subscriber base, writes O'Reilly Radar . But this flaw can be completely eliminated with the help of the second innovation, which the developers presented last week.
Another service on the Wengo platform is the interactive WengoVisio flash widget . If you hang it on the site, then site visitors will be able to call Wengo, even if they do not have a client program installed. It is assumed that the owner of the widget posts it on his blog and sets it to his Wengo number, so that visitors can call him with one click. Moreover, a personal widget can be launched via a direct URL from the text of the email, for example. Perhaps in the future, the WengoVisio widget will allow users to call even commercial and toll-free numbers that are registered through the Wengo Services exchange. Then it will be a real breakthrough, since such a service is very convenient for online stores and other B2C businesses.