Spokn | Spokn - Part 2

Posts Tagged: spokn

Windows Dialer updates

We’ve just released an update to the Windows Dialer, version 2.3.5. This version is a bug fix release and also has changes to fix voice quality issues reported by some customers in the Middle-East.

We’re already field-testing the upcoming version of the Windows Dialer. We’re quite excited about that release since the Dialer features inbuilt VPN support. With that dialer, Middle-East residents who are unable to use any VoIP service without a VPN service subscription will be able to make great quality low-cost calls with Spokn. No more clunky VPN to use and no more monthly VPN subscription costs!

In case you would like to help us test it out, just drop us an email at support@spokn.com with “Beta testing” in the subject line.

Product Updates — 8 Comments
31
Oct 11

New Windows Dialer

We’re happy to announce that we’ve just released version 2.3.3 of the Spokn Windows dialer. This version features a completely overhauled VoIP engine that we’re sure you’ll be very happy with.

As part of the overhaul, we made logins instantaneous and reduced the data usage even more while keeping the same level of quality. Now Spokn will work well even if you have a low speed internet connection.

At the same time we’ve made sure that Spokn continues to work well even in restricted environments. Give it a try and let us know what you think!

In India? Send an SMS to make a Spokn call

You’re in luck if you have an Indian mobile number. Now you can just send an SMS with the text “CALL<space><destination number with country code>” to +919212401234 and Spokn will set up a call for you. Even if you don’t have an internet connection, you can make an international call at Spokn’s low rates.

To be able to use this service, you just need to register your mobile number in the Spokn settings page and have some Spokn credits in your account. This service uses the Click-to-call API to set up a phone-to-phone call for you, so you are billed for two Spokn calls when you make a call using this service.

We’re working on making this available in other countries as well. If you’re not in India and want to use this service, let us know where you’re located and we’ll see what we can do. Read more about this service on the SMS Callback page.

Announcements / Product Updates — 1 Comment
23
Aug 11

Earn money by reselling Spokn credits

Quite a few of you have been asking for this and we’re glad to be able to finally announce that we’re now accepting Reseller applications.

Resellers are able to transfer credits to other Spokn accounts and are also entitled to a 5% commission on recharges of USD 100. Resellers are also able to generate Prepaid Recharge Codes that can be redeemed by Spokn subscribers for Spokn credits. Resellers typically transfer Spokn credits to a Spokn subscriber’s account in exchange for cash. Of course, they are able to sell Spokn credits in their local currency at a premium of their choice.

If you have friends or associates who don’t own credit cards and need to make international calls, you should consider becoming a Spokn reseller – it can provide you a good alternate source of income while you help them. All you need to do is fill up a small form and recharge your account with USD 100. When you receive our confirmation, your account will be upgraded to Reseller status and you will be able to transfer credits and generate recharge codes. Read more about this on the Reseller page.

Announcements / Product Updates — 7 Comments
29
Jul 11

Click to call from your mobile phone

We’re happy to announce the new m.spokn.com that now lets you make a Spokn call using your mobile phone. Just head on to the website from the web browser in your mobile phone, put in your number and the destination number and hit the Call button. Spokn will call you on your number and then connect you to the destination number.

Great quality calls on the go! Do remember that you’re charged for two Spokn calls since Spokn is calling your number as well as the destination number. Remember to bookmark m.spokn.com on your mobile phone for easy access! Read more on the original Click to call blog post and on our website.

Product Updates — 5 Comments
30
Jun 11

Click to call on Spokn.com

Now you can set up great quality calls between your phone and your contact’s phone using Spokn’s Click-to-call service. Just sign-in to the Spokn website and in the “Make a call” section, put in your number and your contact’s phone number and hit the call button. Spokn will first call you on your number and after you answer, connect you to your contact’s phone number.

This is a phone-to-phone call – you don’t need internet access on your phone for this. Since Spokn calls you, only your incoming call minutes get used. In most cases, incoming calls would be free on your phone, so your operator won’t charge you for these calls.

Since Spokn is making two calls on your behalf, you get charged Spokn call rates to your phone number + your contact’s phone number. For instance, if you are in the US and you call India using the Click-to-call service, you get charged per minute for a Spokn call to the US + a Spokn call to India ($0.01+$0.02). Effectively, $0.03 per minute. We’ll be soon putting up a mobile-friendly version of this that you can access from your internet-enabled mobile devices.

The Click-to-call service is also available as a RESTful API that you can integrate into your own website or applications. Sign-up for Spokn, add some credits and call the API to enable great-quality phone calls on your website or application at Spokn’s low rates.

Announcements — 13 Comments
24
Jun 11

Downtime for maintenance

We’ve scheduled some important maintenance activities on the core network so Spokn can work even better for you. Please make a note of the time and plan your calls accordingly.

Downtime window - 20:00 GMT to 22:00 GMT on Tuesday, 28 June 2011. See this in your local time.

This will affect all the Spokn services. This post will be updated as soon as the network is back up and running. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

Update: Maintenance carried out successfully. All services back online.

Product Updates — 2 Comments
13
Jun 11

Rates reduced and simplified

We’ve made it even cheaper for you to call using Spokn! For instance, calls to all UK mobiles are just $0.10/min (down over 70% in cases!) and calls to any Pakistan phone are just $0.08/min (calls to mobiles now cheaper by over 40%!).

Not just that, we’ve made the rates simpler to understand as well. How’s that? Here’s how -

USA & Canada (all phones) $0.01/min (from up to $0.09/min earlier)

Pakistan (all phones) $0.08/min (from up to $0.14/min earlier)

UAE (all phones) $0.17/min (from up to $0.18/min earlier)

Egypt (all phones) $0.11/min (from up to $0.12/min earlier)

UK (all landlines) $0.01/min (from up to $0.02/min earlier)

UK (all mobiles) $0.10/min (from up to $0.37/min earlier)

In the coming weeks, we’ll be simplifying rates across all our destinations. Stay tuned!

No worrying about which area code or operator you are dialing in these countries any more. Speak away freely with Spokn!

Update on June 30 :

As promised, we’ve reduced and simplified rates across our 20 most popular called destinations. Here are some of the new rates -

Saudi Arabia (all landlines) $0.10/min (from up to $0.19/min earlier)

Saudi Arabia (all mobiles) $0.12/min (from up to $0.15/min earlier)

Australia (all landlines) $0.02/min (from up to $0.04/min earlier)

Australia (all mobiles) $0.12/min (from up to $0.14/min earlier)

Sri Lanka (all phones) $0.10/min (from up to $0.17/min earlier)

Germany (all landlines) $0.02/min (same as earlier)

Germany (all mobiles) $0.08/min (from up to $0.15/min earlier)

Company / Updates — 48 Comments
21
May 11

VoIP blocked? No problem!

UPDATE! – We released Spokn version 3.0.0 that works without a VPN even in countries like UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait etc. It features even improved voice quality and addresses all the issues our customers have faced.

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Spokn works on the industry-standard SIP protocol. For you, it means that you can also choose to make great quality, low cost, international calls using any SIP compliant phone or software. But the openness of SIP is also a problem for customers in certain countries (such as in the Middle-East), where VoIP communications are blocked by ISPs.

We’re thrilled to announce the release of our latest Windows Desktop client that integrates a mechanism to bypass such blocks. The application now intelligently figures out if there are network restrictions in place and automatically bypasses them, allowing you to make Spokn calls from restricted environments.

Give it a try and do let us know what you think!

Company / Updates — No Comments
21
May 11

New numbers for the Callback service

Our Callback service is quite popular in countries such as India, where we cannot provide local access lines. The service works like this -

A Spokn subscriber registers his phone number on the Spokn website
The subscriber calls our Callback number (a US number) from his registered phone
The Callback service sees an incoming call from a registered phone number, disconnects the call and makes a call back to the same number
The subscriber keys in the destination number and enjoys the low calling rates of Spokn

The Callback service, as a result, cannot function if it does not get the proper caller ID of the caller. Unfortunately, the nature of international telecommunications is such that an international call is routed over multiple telecom operators. While the call is being handed over from one operator to another, the caller ID information sometimes gets corrupted and our Callback service ends up with an incorrect or completely missing caller ID.

Since the routing of the international calls depends on your telecom operator, Spokn is unable to do much in this case except pester them to fix their routes. But to mitigate the issue, we’ve added additional numbers to the Callback service in the hope that different routes would be used to reach them – routes that may respect the caller ID information.

So here are the numbers that you can use for the Callback service now. If any of them don’t work for you, please drop us an email at support@spokn.com and we’ll help you out -

+1(917)-677-4533
+1(831)-480-0720
+1(615)-472-7260

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