VoIPWatch

Google Fi Opening Up to iPhones and More

I've been a Google Fi user since the dawn of the service. I still use my original Pixel but over time added a few "data only" SIM's to the service. The more devices I add to Fi, the lower my overall mobile services bills have gotten. With the news that's leaking out, if true, finally Fi will add official support for iPhone and other devices including the OnePlus 6T and Samsung smartphones.

Many would say it's about time, as this means SMS and calling comes to devices previously only able to use data services. My love for the service revolves not only around the low cost pricing, but just how elegant it really works. 

On my Pixel, I can switch, or allow auto-switching between T-Mobile, Sprint or Cellular One, while in the UK and EU I can operate on Three/UK and of course operate on Wi-Fi. Combined with Boingo the service let's me operate super efficiently while only being charged a base rate of $20 a month and a PAYG (Pay As You Go) data plan. Last month my Fi bill after a few more days than three weeks in Europe with the Pixel, an iPhone SE and an iPad was $33.00, mostly on the Pixel. I also used a local Orange SIM which I spent 35 Euros for an iPhone 7 on and another 15 on an iPad SIM also on Orange. This was the least I've paid on any trip in the last three years, as costs for data plans in Europe are dropping, better Wi-Fi has arrived and hotels, restaurants and airports have all made the process of jumping onto Wi-Fi much easier, more multi-lingual, and less restrictive.

One of the things I do is link my Echo Tap to the Pixel and that keeps all of my Alexa services right where I need them. That avoids having to tether the Echo to each and every hotel as I travel from hotel to hotel or a friend's winery where I'll stay often. If I'm somewhere that Wi-Fi is sketchy, the hotspot feature of Fi is a lifesaver as not all PAYG SIM's let you tether depending on carrier and country.

What I do with my iPhones and iPad, is pull the T-Mobile SIMs out and pop in the Fi data SIMs and between Dialpad, Telzio, Google Voice, Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Skype none of my usual communications are disrupted, and because a data SIM from Fi has a real phone number iMessage still works on the iPad, but not on the iPhone, something the updated service should change. 

The reason Fi is so valuable, and it may be their secret sauce is just like a local SIM from Orange, Vodafone, Telefonica/Movistar, EE or any in country mobile operator, is how the network is architected. Much like Truphone has done with their global network, Google does what none of USA mobile operator do. They keep your data traffic local to the closet POP you hit. This is much like the way the old Blackberry network was working more than ten years ago, and why messages and email were so fast back then and with Fi are too today. In essence, your data is on Google's network most of the time, and if you're a GSuite or user of any Google service, everything is just faster.

Basically because Google operates a network globally that interconnects with almost every major carrier and service provider, as does Facebook and to some extent, AWS, your sessions are usually never more than three hops to the service you need. This is why email moves faster, but more importantly why services like Hangouts, UberConference, Zoom, GoToMeeting, WebEx all work better. Instead of the session having to be hauled all the way back to your USA mobile operators home network, and then back, you jump on quickly with lower delay, less jitter and far less latency. Conference calls, being the core way I communicate with scheduled calls using the apps on the devices.

Services, especially VoIP providers who network their signalling to go to the closest POP for traffic routing and who do the same with the media path provide better service. Dialpad for example uses the Google Cloud to manage the signaling and interaction with Gmail, Google Calendar, Contacts, LinkedIn while having 7  or 8 global data centers that handle the media path, which is why when I'm in the USA or anywhere in the world, a data mobile broadband based HD call or logged into UberConference over the mobile app sounds like I'm right next door which is why Fi is such a hidden gem in the world of mobile connectivity.

I'll admit, that as a USA only service, Fi is good for you if you spend lots of time connected to Wi-Fi, much like Republic Wireless does. But for a global traveler, global nomad or anyone who crosses borders regularly, it can't be beat for functionality as much as it saves you in money.

 

The Rise and Fall of A Cloud Leader

Diane Greene at Google wasn't doing a bad job at all. As a matter of fact, she was leading the massive business, Google Cloud, and taking it in the right direction. But being second fiddle to Google Ad sales and then having to navigate around something new from Google every month is no easy task. The Google Graveyard is full of other so called failures, some of which were good ideas but not successful.

However, it was made harder by the internal competition between divisions and personal agendas of each divisional CEO. So when Google became Alphabet, and each company had to start to account for their usage of Google services and infrastructure vs. it all coming out of a shared pool, internecine rivalry and priorities had to take hold.

Google Cloud is every bit as good, or better than Azure or AWS. However, the difference is that at both Microsoft and Amazon their clouds are a priority, and a core part of their marketing and sales efforts. They don't fight against their cloud sales effort, they embrace it and make it something that everyone is aware of and actively supporting. For both companies, the route to the Enterprise starts now with the cloud as evidenced by MSFT's push of Office365 before they mounted a big drive for channel partners to sell Azure.

Google has a built-in Cloud customer base. It's every user of anything Google, and that starts with GSuite, YouTube and YouTubeTV. Those categories present a variety of sales and marketing opportunities to sell Cloud and cross-sell other Google services, and that includes using Ads as a loss leader. So while reports are that some of that was starting to happen, it couldn't happen soon enough.

At the start of the year, I presented concepts like that to the rep selling Google Next to me for a client. I proposed a series of cross-collateralized marketing promotion ideas that would have been of value to Google and my client. So while viewed by the rep as what was needed to make the event great, Google's Cloud team came back with basically a vanilla proposal, not for lack of interest but due to a lack of internal capacity to make things happen.

That's what's likely did in Diane Greene. Not what she and her team wanted to do, but what the company prevents from happening due to the way the business is structured, and how the corporaticians can win out over the bold and the brave.

When PR Isn't

As background I've been in the PR world since I was 14 years old when I was in sports with the Philadelphia Wings and then with the Philadelphia Flyers. Back as far as then the idea of being friends with media, keeping them informed and being able to talk, present a story angle that was more of a conversation than the so called "pitch."  As a blogger, I get pitched everyday, and while I don't accept contributed articles, I do get ideas on topics when the PR person has taken the time to only pitch me on story ideas that will be newsworthy, not simply to meet their client's wishes.

But PR has changed. Recently I was sent a pitch by NordVPN. It included an interesting angle and one which I was half interested in writing about, but the release had holes in it to make for a good blog post, so I sent a few questions back to the person who sent the pitch and release to me. No reply. I followed up a few days later. Still no reply. I then reached out to the person listed on the web site for communications. No reply.

On another story angle I called and wrote the PR contact for ZipCar. No reply. Even worse, the phone number listed resulted in a message saying the number "does not have voice mailbox has been set up yet." This is for the PR person listed on the most recent release. An email to the contact also wasn't replied to.

A third example is how PR people make it so difficult a story isn't able to be written. A few months ago I got assigned to write a story about identity verification in the technology era. Having experienced the situtaion first hand with both physical address and phone number verification, and having vendors like ADP tell me they use Experian to check addresses and Acxiom to validate addresses as well (FedEx) I posed the question to both requesting information about processes, data sources and alternative methods of validation. Acxiom promised an answer and never provided one. Experian said they didn't want to take part in the story. The story never got written. 

This is the state of PR and why reporters are now fed up and why "fake news" exists.

Having been a PR pro and a journalist the ability to produce a factually accurate story is only made more difficult when PR people choose to play defense vs. work with media on getting the right story. When journalists have first hand knowledge of what's going it only makes for a more accurate story. Receiving the right answer from the company in question only goes to make for a better and more correct news account.

Unfortunatly, when PR folks don't work in a cooperative manner with media only two outcomes can occur. No story, or a story that is based on what the media thinks are the facts. In both cases the brand loses.

Having worked with luminary brands like AT&T, AOL, Nokia, RIM and breakout brands like GrandCentral (GoogleVoice), StubHub and many others, we always made a point of working with the media, and being cooperative. That approach yielded in successful campaigns and stories about the companies. Media pros know how to do things right, but when they play like amateurs then no one wins and their audiences end up the losers.

 

Alexa Can Call Using Skype on Amazon Echo Devices

Deja Vu...Right after the Amazon Echo came out, I forsaw the device being the ultimate speakerphone. Back then I was an advisor to Los Angeles VoIP startup, Telzio, and I encouraged their founders to embrace the Amazon Echo and Alexa as a calling platform.  About a year later the company rolled it out, being the first VoIP company to do so.

Over time OnSIP, Dialpad and others all added the same functionality, while GoogleVoice became capable on the Google Home Assistant. Now Skype has come to the party  pretty much copying what Telzio did first.

The idea of the Echo being a conference and calling phone replacement has always been front and center in my mind, and it's no surprise that Skype is embracing it. Given the number of Skype accounts and the ability to make calls it's about time. Ironically, in reviewing many of the articles about Skype Calling over the Amazon Echo, few are pointing out that the service is all about call origination AND receiving calls, though Dialpad mentions that capability clearly, while Amazon's own Calling and Messaging service has always allowed for answering calls on the devices as well as calling other Echo devices, as well as mobile and landline numbers in the USA, Canada and Mexico. With Skype, calls to other Skype members or to any number anywhere via Skype Out is possible.

Update--Thanks to Kevin Tofel pointing out a Venture Beat article, I found on the Amazon site that you can receive calls on the Echo via Skype..

Alexa for Business is also up and running, and it makes access to conference calls easy too on select services as Alexa for Business offers a list of built-in conference providers, including Amazon Chime, Cisco WebEx, and Zoom. Others can be customer configured too.

The idea of Alexa being the deskphone replacement was a 2015 idea. Now three years later it's going mainstream with Skype.

 

GoGo In The Air With Satellite Connectivity

No, I didn't make a VoIP call. But I did stream Amazon Prime on a flight today where GoGo is the provider and instead of beaming down to ground stations, the connection was via satellite.  Compared to my ground station based experience yesterday, what a difference.

Streaming video was awesome. Webpages load fast. And most of all the experience is as good as my JetBlue Exceed experiences in the past. And unlike my experience with .Air on a recent BA flight from London, the payment platform worked perfectly.

Staying connected in the air is nothing new for me. I remember using Boeing's Connexxion service when it was first deployed on a few Lufthansa flights and knew how game changing in-flight connectivity via WiFi would be. Now some years later we're really seeing and experiencing what WiFi in the Sky is all about. 

As someone who has been critical of GoGo in the past, I'm very happy to say they have done it right...

 

The Return of The Shadow Number and TalkPlus' Idea

Back in the day there was GrandCentral, TalkPlus, PhoneGnome, Iotum and even Jangl. The first four were all clients of Comunicano, with Iotum and GrandCentral still enjoying life under different names and different ownership. The four all had various ideas on calling, totally in line with Jeff Pulver's Purple Minutes idea that IP calling would be game changing.

When I read about the planned Verizon My Number, I could only think of Jeff Black and his team from TalkPlus and the idea of a second number on a mobile phone. Back when we released news about TalkPlus the idea was very simple. Make it possible for a second line to ring a mobile phone, and more importantly, to present the second number when you made an outbound call.

The was back in mid 2000's. Jangl had a similar idea on instant numbers. Both TalkPlus and Jangl were great for dating, or for having a work and home line on a single device. Back then there weren't smartphone like we see today. TalkPlus had the multi-number concept working on Motorola Razr and Nokia phones with lots of fans. As we see too often, the VC's had different ideas because Vonage was a big hit, and they wanted TalkPlus to be in the minutes business, something a few of us disagreed with, feeling it was a race to the bottom. 

Sadly, TalkPlus didn't survive, but others like Line2 came along and filled the same void. Now over a dozen years later Verizon is bringing the concept to life.

Phone Verification-Not Being Done Right

Over the past few years I've seen corporate America, especially banks and now even Amazon, begin to use SMS as a mode of verification that you are you. Unfortunately, the current approach, using mobile numbers tied to a mobile operator is both antquated and very faulty.

For many years VoIP companies have had access to text messaging capabilities. Dialpad, whom I use for most of my calling, recently expanded SMS to be global and those of us who use GoogleVoice have also had that capability for years. Unfortunately, the companies providing verification to the banks and others are stereotyping people with Google Voice and Skype In numbers, treating everyone with one of those numbers in a higher risk strata despite some having tied their accounts and numbers to paid accounts with either Google or Microsoft. While SkypeIn numbers can be used for call forwarding, as can a Google Voice number, some can be tied to a paid Microsoft-Skype ID, or G Suite account, and that's far different from free accounts, as Google has business history of the account, payment information, etc. In many ways their verification is no less, and likely more rigid than the some telcos.

The second issue revolves around migrating a landline number to a mobile phone. If the number started out as a landline, there's a good chance it won't be verified, even if you can send receive text messages. So even despite number portability, the suppliers, usually companies like Experian will reject the verification. Much like address verification, the Phone Validator relies on information from hundreds of phone companies. Usually they are the mobile operators or the legay local telcos. Chances are your VoIP provider, or Google or Skype isn't contributing to the data pool.

The bigger issue though is the lack of an alternative method of verification to prove you are using an SMS capable phone-regardless of it being a mobile phone or a softphone. This lack of alternative method to prove you are you, such as a utility bill or lease often gets in the way of account establishment, or updates. 

Why this Matters

If you've heard about SIM swap theft, the use of a mobile device to be your verification tool lends itself to too much theft risk. Using a non-SIM based number, where you get notified if there are any changes to your account instantly, is a far better way to be verified.  By not having any means to get around the verifying who you are we all now run the risk of getting locked out of our own accounts, or losing valuable time when we are at risk.

What's more, if you travel internationally, why pay roaming, just so the bank or Amazon can verify you when the app based softphone or texting app works anywhere in the world. In essence those who need to be verified, beyond carrying RSA keys or using authenticators (like Microsoft, Facebook and Google all do now) is a much stronger way to be verified than the SIM card,

Banks have apps, and Visa now owns Mobile Location Confirmation technology, which banks can use to verify where a person is with their mobile phone when a transaction takes place. Unfortunately, not enough of the banks are using it, and VISA has yet to make the service available to others who could use it, like Amazon.

While it's great banks and Amazon want to verify you're you, they need to get up to date with methods that recognize that our own security and privacy is paramount to their risk management approaches, and they need to change with the times.

 

Phone Verification-Not Being Done Right

Over the past few years I've seen corporate America, especially banks and now even Amazon, begin to use SMS as a mode of verification that you are you. Unfortunately, the current approach, using mobile numbers tied to a mobile operator is both antquated and very faulty.

For many years VoIP companies have had access to text messaging capabilities. Dialpad, whom I use for most of my calling, recently expanded SMS to be global and those of us who use GoogleVoice have also had that capability for years. Unfortunately, the companies providing verification to the banks and others are stereotyping people with Google Voice and Skype In numbers, treating everyone with one of those numbers in a higher risk strata despite some having tied their accounts and numbers to paid accounts with either Google or Microsoft. While SkypeIn numbers likely to be used for call forwarding, a Google Voice number tied to a paid G Suite account is far different, as Google has business history of the account, payment information, etc. In many ways their verification is no less, and likely more rigid than the some telcos.

The second issue revolves around migrating a landline number to a mobile phone. If the number started out as a landline, there's a good chance it won't be verified, even if you can send receive text messages. So even despite number portability, the suppliers, usually companies like Experian will reject the verification. Much like address verification, the Phone Validator relies on information from hundreds of phone companies. Usually they are the mobile operators or the legay local telcos. Chances are your VoIP provider, or Google or Skype isn't contributing to the data pool.

The bigger issue though is the lack of an alternative method of verification to prove you are using an SMS capable phone-regardless of it being a mobile phone or a softphone. This lack of alternative method to prove you are you, such as a utility bill or lease often gets in the way of account establishment, or updates. 

Why this Matters

If you've heard about SIM swap theft, the use of a mobile device to be your verification tool lends itself to too much theft risk. Using a non-SIM based number, where you get notified if there are any changes to your account instantly, is a far better way to be verified.  By not having any means to get around the verifying who you are we all now run the risk of getting locked out of our own accounts, or losing valuable time when we are at risk.

What's more, if you travel internationally, why pay roaming, just so the bank or Amazon can verify you when the app based softphone or texting app works anywhere in the world. In essence those who need to be verified, beyond carrying RSA keys or using authenticators (like Microsoft, Facebook and Google all do now) is a much stronger way to be verified than the SIM card,

Banks have apps, and Visa now owns Mobile Location Confirmation technology, which banks can use to verify where a person is with their mobile phone when a transaction takes place. Unfortunately, not enough of the banks are using it, and VISA has yet to make the service available to others who could use it, like Amazon.

While it's great banks and Amazon want to verify you're you, they need to get up to date with methods that recognize that our own security and privacy is paramount to their risk management approaches, and they need to change with the times.

 

Panasonic's Smartphone App is Very Private

I came across a note letting me know about a new mobile app from Panisonic that ties into their business phone system. When I read the note, it was full of just enough information to encourage me to look through the web site about the smartphone app.

What I found was more than interesting and a more than smart approach to business communication. What stood out most of all was the ability to keep the calls only between team members, and the ability to reject non-Panasonic originating calls from even reaching the customer. This helps kill off spoofed calls, outside calls and unwanted calls. For internal teams who need to stay in touch, in many ways, this is how I've used Skype for years with my agency team members.  The difference here is this is a business communication's system, and a feature not often shared or even available from other VoIP providers.

To me the feature set combines privacy seeking businesses who have turned to apps like Telegram or Signal, but provides the business the right level of controls and capabilities. Panasonic has been steadily building their own phone platform, while previously having worked with Broadsoft. This solution appears to work with both, and clearly needs more exploration.

 

Amazon Is Trying to Prevent Deja Vu With the Echo

Back in the early days of VoIP, there was a horrific incident involving a death, a baby and Vonage. This led to regulatory oversight of VoIP by the FCC. This was something that then fellow VoIPWatcher, Om Malik, had pretty much predicted while my archives show that there were efforts being taken earlier by Vonage and others. So when I read the Wall Street Journal's piece about Alexa and E911, I could only think back to what was a PR nightmare then for Vonage, but more, a tragic situation for the family.

Let's face it. 911 in general sucks. Call it from a mobile phone, and you have a 50/50 chance that the call goes to the right dispatch center. In some cases, wait times are minutes, not seconds. Moreover, with VoIP, the location information that's to be provided is more of a voluntary effort, even though in theory it's required.

There is a solution. First Amazon can enable Alexa to call 911. Since they know your address for deliveries, chances are linking the device to deliveries would make it easy to connect the two. The problem is you can take your Echo elsewhere, and it will still work, but something we learned with the former AT&T VoIP service, CallVantage, if your ATA was offline for more than a certain amount of hours, you had to validate the device's address if you changed locations or not. That could be done between the Echo and the mobile phone deployed Alexa apps using location technology the same way credit cards are able to be validated using similar technology.

Another way to make this work is with IP address validation with the Internet Service Provider. Granted the latter suggestion requires permission not to violate privacy, but when it comes to safety, privacy rules should go hand in hand and technology can be used to make it all work together.

For now, Amazon is playing it safe, but as people start to use their Echo's like phones, and that day is here for some already, the prospect of Deja Vu from what happened with Vonage can't be far away unless E911 calling comes to your Echo.