Calling all investors looking for a mobile business that’s poised to address a massive user-base both in the United Kingdom and internationally!
I’ve been advising a small company that I guarantee you’ll never have heard of. They’re one of those firms that I suspect will come out of nowhere and run away with their chosen market segments.
The initial launch will be a VOIP/PSTN service like Google Voice mixed with Vonage — and a business PBX.
They’re then going to launch their own SIM cards. Pop one of their SIMs in your handset and it immediately becomes a fully configurable extension on your business PBX. Don’t want desk phones? Simply purchase one of their femtocells for your office and get stupidly low call rates. And don’t worry, when you’re out and about, you get the usual data and telephony functions you expect, just, you’re also connected to your office PBX too. Genius.
If you already have a PBX from someone like Cisco, Avaya or Nortel (chances are, if you have a PBX, it’s one of those) then this new service integrates perfectly… if you don’t have a PBX they have a fully featured “cloud” based Telecoms-As-A-Service (TAAS) platform that’s like a cross between Google Voice, Ribbit and Vonage with enterprise level PBX features. Wow.
It’s fully horizontally scalable (you just add more boxes). It’s also properly secure, unlike most VOIP services.
If this is up your alley, drop me a note and I’ll connect you to the company. They’re looking for one or two choice partners, but I have the feeling they won’t be looking for too long.
If you’re Cisco, Avaya or Nortel, then you should probably buy the company now, it would be a heck of a lot quicker. I’m writing this now so I can do a thoroughly big told-you-so in about 4-5 years time.
Funding wise, this is early stage right now although the technology is functionally more or less done. If you’re typically a later stage investor, get in touch so they can keep you updated.
As always, I’m ewan@mobileindustryreview.com or +44 7769 658104.
looks very interesting…
A well worn idea. Depends how they’re doing it, what it costs, etc. Many start-ups have been down this road. Lots of reasons why its hard.
Still, there is *potential*.
Hmm…..Private Mobile Office perhaps?
I don't know them, Steve
Focus on the 'SIM card' bit Gabriel. No one has had full access to the mobile operator stack before — and then integrated that with the rest of the stuff we're familiar with.
They do the same.
Ah well I better look at them!
No, this is totally different (although I do like their stuff)
Then you should take a closer look. PMO had their own SIM card 2 years ago
to make any GSM phone (locked or unlocked) part of a private mobile network.
I actually took one of their Private Mobile Network units to a desert island to test a year or so ago, it's really super technology. That's not quite what the firm I wrote about are doing though. It's about enabling me to be independent of my mobile operator. So I can drive up and down the UK using any GSM device I wish, yet still be extension '123' on my company PBX. Likewise, I can fly in to America and any GSM device I choose will automatically roam on, say, T-Mobile or AT&T, yet I'm still '123' on my company PBX. And so on.
4-5 years? You Predict? Just do some industry research and you will see this is already happening. In the US, Sprint is already offering this. If you get an MPLS phone circuit from Sprint connected to your IP PBX (Cisco, Avaya, etc.), you can also add any Sprint cell phone on your MPLS backbone. Then load a software from Cisco or Avaya and register your phone to your corporate IP PBX. Now you have 4 digit dial plan functionality right from your phone and using minutes from you IP PBX not the carrier network.
This so called next generation phone system that you talk about has already been created by Microsoft. Its called OCS. So now you just have to have a device (cell phone or wireless data card connected to your laptop) that can connect to your MPLS network that has the OCS client already loaded on it and the same net effect occurs. If you use a hosted Exchange 2010 provider, that user license also has an OCS license built in. So now a carrier like Sprint can leverage the same license and provide a hosted OCS solution for you over their data or wireless network to create a single unified communications solution.
There you go, that one was for free Ewan! Cheers.
Show me the website where I configure my ideal telephony solution without arsing around with PBXes installed in my office.
Thats great. Google’s applications are very new but this is definitely a big number. I am sure some of the people would be thinking some way out because arrival of the Google in voip industry is certainly an alram for them.