« Widget Marketing
Working Hard? Hardly Working… »

Skype Killer?

November 28th, 2006 | Categories: strategy, trends

Jajah logoWhen most people think free VOIP service on the Internet, they think Skype. This telephony service has taken the world by storm. Kazaa co-founder, Niklaus Zennstrom, started the company which sold to eBay for billions - in a very short period of time. The company has a stranglehold on the market. Can anyone possibly bust into this monopoly? If so, Jajah may very well be the David to take on this Goliath.

This start-up has been around for some time, but is starting to gain much deserved acclaim. The concept is very simple, but amazing. Here’s how the service works:

  1. Visit Jajah.com.
  2. Type in your phone number.
  3. Type in your friend’s phone number.
  4. Your phone will ring.
  5. When you pick up, your friend’s phone will ring.
  6. Talk.

Extremely cool. A free phone-to-phone telephone call with no downloads or installations. The idea is so mind-bogglingly simple and useful.

Free landline and mobile calls can be made anywhere in the US, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. The free service also applies to landline calls to most European nations.

For a list of low-cost rates to other destination, click here: Jajah rates. The company also plans to monetize by offering premium paid features.

Can it compete with Skype? Definitely. Will it be tough to convince people to switch services? Most likely. The network effect plays into Skype’s hands. But if Jajah can offer a more robust suite of free services and features, it may be able to dethrone the king - or at least take a bite out of the pie.

Do I use Skype? Absolutely. Will I always? Probably… at least for the IM portion. But once Skype-to-phone calls start to cost money in January, I may very well be switching to this free, easy, new service.

12 Comments

  1. david Says:
    November 28th, 2006 at 11:24 am

    Aidan - may I also recommend you look at myBlueZebra.com. Lot’s of great rates throughout the world.

    Let me know if I can set up a test account for you to try.

    Cheers,

    David

  2. Greg Says:
    November 28th, 2006 at 12:10 pm

    Jajah or myBlueZebra — it’s all Web calling. Every time you want to make a call you have to interact with a computer. Why get the benefits of free or low-cost international calling mobile to mobile. Check out Rebtel http://www.rebtel.com

  3. Aidan Says:
    November 28th, 2006 at 2:06 pm

    Man oh man,

    Maybe I should start selling banner ads on my blog. Just kidding.

    Thanks guys. I’ll be sure to check out both sites. E-mail me your latest news as it becomes available.

    Cheers,
    Aidan

  4. Frederik Says:
    November 28th, 2006 at 7:10 pm

    Hey Aidan,

    thanks for your kind words and support in writing this blog post!

    Greg, you are not stuck to your computer when using JAJAH Mobile where you can initiate free global JAJAH calls directly from your cell phone or simply scheduling calls. We are also providing some more plugins and tools for your daily work at your computer and there are more to follow.

    We are constantly working on providing better services and products based on your valuable feedback, so please don’t hesitate to contact me at ‘myfirstname[at]jajah.com’ when you have any questions or feedback.

    Best regards,

    Frederik

    P.S.: Yes, maybe you should put up some banners with all this attention :-)

  5. Aidan Says:
    November 28th, 2006 at 11:06 pm

    Frederik,

    Thanks for stopping by and providing some added info. Keep in touch.

    Cheers,
    Aidan

  6. Christophe Claude Says:
    November 29th, 2006 at 2:28 am

    Jajah is not completely free, you have 5 minutes test then you have to pay. Our service: http://www.peterzahlt.de/c2c-peterzahlt/ is free for landlines in Germany and also from (to) Germany to(from) a lot of foreign countries. The business model is based on the ads you see before, during and after the call.

  7. Brent Says:
    November 29th, 2006 at 9:46 am

    Aiden,
    You should take a look at http://www.jaduka.com. This service allows you to place a click-and-connect button anywhere html works. When someone clicks your button, a call popup window opens and they type in their phone number and hit connect. Then their phone rings and once they answer, your phone rings and the two calls are connected. This technology is invading the web 2.0 space and Jaduka is a pioneer in bringing it to the average consumer and small/medium size business owner. This would be perfect for your blog in addition to the contact number you have listed on your about me page. Best of all, when you sign up, you receive 60 minutes of talk time free. If you like it, recharge packages are available for as little as $4.99 US.

    Please note in the interest of full disclosure, I am an employee of Jaduka.

  8. Aidan Says:
    November 29th, 2006 at 12:46 pm

    Wowsers,

    The online VOIP space seems more crowded than I previously imagined. It looks like I’m going to have to dig deeper…

    Thanks for the comments Chris and Brent.

    Cheers,
    Aidan

  9. Frederik Says:
    November 29th, 2006 at 1:25 pm

    Wow, this is seriously annoying me that the poor peter and zebra copycats are constantly commenting on articles and posts about JAJAH because they don’t have their own. Seems that they finally figured out what an RSS reader is … I’m sorry Aidan that this is going on on your blog, but it shows how they are struggling for attention.

    Telephone calls between registered JAJAH users are free of charge for more than 40 countries around the world, most of the European countries, the United States and Asia.

    Just try it out

  10. Mapping The Web » Jaxtr - Beware the Dark Side Says:
    December 20th, 2006 at 10:10 am

    […] Much hype has surfaced around a new Valley start-up named Jaxtr. The buzz began after LinkedIn co-founder Konstantin Guericke jumped shipped to become CEO of Jaxtr. Why all the hype? Why all the fuss? Well, if Jaxtr were a cake, then we’d need to mix a little bit of VOIP with a little bit of widget to achieve this delicate offering. Think of it as Jajah meets embedding. […]

  11. Greg "I love free phone service" Anliker Says:
    September 13th, 2007 at 5:51 pm

    Wow, this was an eye opener. I’ve been selling telephone service online for over 10 years, and you guys have just answered the question I get asked the most. “Do you offer free long distance service?”

    I’ve always had to answer “NO” to that before. I didn’t count Skype, because you had to be on a computer to use it, but with the options that Frederik mentioned above, that are now available with Jajah, I can finally put up a free phone service page.

    Thanks Aiden and Frederik,

    Greg
    ps. if anyone else offers free phone service, drop me a line at ganliker-at-calling-plans.com please.

  12. Pushya Says:
    September 26th, 2009 at 5:53 am

    Best mobile saver giving best offer for to make the international calls for free
    try this link:http://www.bestmobilesaver.com

Leave a Comment