Posts Tagged: VoIP

Business News — 1 Comment
10
Mar 10

Shane Ross says “Blueface are launching the ideal product for a downturn”

Published in Feburary ‘10, The article featured in the Sunday Independent. Written by Shane Ross it focuses on the FREE CALLS FOR LIFE offer, and how it saves the general consumer a huge amount on their telephone bill.

Hannah Flattery posing for Blueface

Hannah Flattery posing for Blueface

So,what can small businesses, haemorrhaging with cashflow problems, do? One way they can cut costs is by cancelling their subscription to the SFA. Another is by ensuring that they owe no money to AIB. A third is by reducing landline phone charges.

Last week, I found a new way of slashing my home telephone bill, courtesy of a small business with big ideas. Any scheme that kicks Eircom in the solar plexus is good news for those of us who have been victims of the dinosaur for decades.

So, it was wonderful to stumble on a small business start-up that promises to put another nail in the Eircom coffin. Two entrepreneurs entered my life. They will not be joining the SFA or borrowing from AIB. So far they have taken the private equity route.

As a crusty sceptic, I gave Alan Foy and Brendan Gaffney of Blueface a sideways glance when they insisted that I could have “free landline calls for life” if i handed over €199.

I have to confess as a punter who lost Stg£200 in the Eighties on the three-card trick to a man with an orange box just outside Harrods, I am a bit wary of racing certainties.

But knowing the pair well, I handed over the money and tested the product. The two telecom wizards installed a phone and promised me that I now have free landline calls for life.

Blueface has landed a recession buster. The phone provided will eliminate my line rental charge, provided I have a decent broadband connection. I reckon that the end of rental fee alone will reduce my telephone bill by hundreds of euro every year. Not to mention the free calls.

The phone is a cordless handset, easily attached to my old number. I will still pay for mobile calls through pre-payment and any calls outside the country, but even the mobile charges are cheaper than Eircom’s.

I win on the rental, there is none. I win on the mobile charges, they are cheaper. Two fingers to Eircom.

Any punter who wants free landline calls for life should head to blueface.ie. It is Skype without the computer. Blueface is exactly the type of resourceful small business that Ireland needs.  Consumers will love it becuase it will dramatically cut the household budget. So far the offer is only open to residential customers. But Blueface already has visionary plans for small business. The company is lead by a group of young entrepreneurs determined to shake-up the telecoms market. They are launching the ideal product for a downturn, watch this space.

The free landline offer may not be open forever. But it is for life!

Industry news — 1 Comment
19
Feb 10

Effective communication evolved: An era of change for telecoms

There’s been lots of talk about VoIP recently and how it has come of age in many ways. The infrastructure required to support voice calls (i.e the broadband landscape) has changed considerably in Ireland over the past 5 years in particular. There is no question that we still have a long way to go and the questions over the sale or privatisation of public infrastructure won’t go away any time soon.

It’s not ideal that a piece of infrastructure which is vital to the economic success, and indeed the very viability, of the state is largely owned by external investors with no vested interest in Ireland Inc’s future. There are excellent arguments to be made around operating the fixed line network as a state owned monopoly, managed by a private company (who are appointed by tender process) and this infrastructure provided to private enterprise in an open access way. This is a system which could foster innovation and real competition in the marketplace rather than the me-too offerings and marketing-led competition which prevails today.

That being said, we’ve gotten to the point where external shocks to the traditional telecoms landscape are producing results which will have far-reaching consequences for telecommunications (which it is quaintly known as for now!). Google Voice is creating quite a stir in the US by taking control of communications away from the traditional operators. This is a similar method to that employed by Blueface in providing a communications service rather than a phone service. AT&T have recommended that the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) put the traditional PSTN out of it’s misery and move to an all-IP network. In some Northern European countries it will not be possible to buy an ISDN line by the end of 2010 – SIP trunks have become standard. And Verizon have just announced full support for Skype on their mobile service with unlimited data plans.

This maelstrom of activity is unprecedented in telecoms history. The entire value chain is moving inexorably away from call-based billing, and a future of free calls is looming very near indeed. So many people have questioned the value of the VoIP operator and whether companies like Blueface can prosper in a world where calls are free. In fact, Blueface have just launched the free calls for life promotion which sees customers paying €199 for a cordless phone and unlimited Irish landline calls for life. How is this sustainable? In Blueface we know where the industry is heading, and we understand exactly what is needed to survive and thrive in the 21st century.

The idea of paying for calls may be dying rapidly but what people want now is a means of managing their communications in a more effective and time-efficient manner. In other words telecoms is becoming a service based business rather than a utility. So in fact we are moving from a commodotised industry with very little differentiation to a service based industry with distinct differentiation. Companies like Blueface are ideally positioned to benefit from this paradigm shift having embraced IP and web enablement many years ago.

So VoIP isn’t just about saving money – although its a very nice side benefit! Its about communicating more effectively and efficiently. We in Blueface hope that you enjoy and benefit from the services we provide, and look forward to providing you with many more over the coming years. The emperor may or may not have any clothes, but n0 one is really looking for the emperor any more!

Feargal

Business News — 3 Comments
6
Jan 10

Blueface kick-starts the Telecoms shake up in 2010

New CEO, Alan Foy
New CEO, Alan Foy is very confident about the year ahead

Blueface, Ireland’s leading internet telecoms company, is set to make some powerful changes in 2010.  Today, the innovative, fast growing technology company announced its first change; the appointment of a new Chief Executive, Mr. Alan Foy.

6th January, 2010 – Dublin, Ireland, Blueface formally announces the appointment of Alan Foy to the role of Chief Executive of Blueface Ltd.   Mr. Foy is charged with creating and building the next phase of growth for Blueface, a young, innovative and dynamic company with an ambitious new strategic direction.   Mr. Foy will lead the management team to create and deliver unique communications products and services to business, residential and wholesale customers in the UK and Ireland.

“There’s lots of very exciting news in Blueface”, Mr. Foy explains, “We have special cutting edge projects in incubation which clearly demonstrate Blueface’s commitment to innovation and to delivering low-cost, 21st century telecoms for all our customers”.  “We also have star players joining the management team both here in Ireland and in the UK to help deliver on Blueface’s ambitious plans and who fit with our company’s entrepreneurial and unique culture”.

Mr. Foy comments that, “Blueface is a home-grown Irish technology company delivering cost savings and great communications functionality to Irish and UK SME’s and residential customers in these challenging economic times”. “We empower our customers to take control of their communications services and to manage the costs involved in ways that most telecoms companies wouldn’t dare to offer.  The customer value proposition of Blueface stacks up now more than ever”.