Working Anywhere

How The Other Half Travels

I admit, I travel alot and usually better than most. I learned years ago from my friends in TV that if you have to be "on" after landing that going more than 4 hours is draining, and when taking an overnight flight, it has to be business class or better.

Long gone are my days of being the "college" student who scraped together money to go to Europe, so instead of flying coach on someone else's dime, I'll spend my own and go Business Class or better when it comes to flying from the left coast across the water. This is not "news" to many of you, and shouldn't be as my exploits have been chronicled by many news outlets over a year ago when a story about the lay flat beds on airplanes went world wide.

So what's the experience like? For starters there's almost never a line at check in.

Second you get to go to the airline's private lounge. In my case it's almost always Virgin Atlantic or OpenSkies/L'Avion if I'm heading to Europe. The private lounge almost always has solid broadband, for free.

Next once you get situated, you have a comfortable chair, cool, hip music, especially in the Virgin Clubhouses, and of course the open bar. I tend to not drink too much in the air, other than water, but the opportunity to get a well made cocktail, relax in a comfortable environment and be able to actually not have to hear the crying of babies, and best of all, the ability to answer a ringing mobile phone and actually hear the other party as opposed to all the terminal noise.

Here at the Virgin Clubhouse they offer a really neat drink called the Vesper. This is something I have been looking for since I had a trip to Jamaica some 11 years ago, as the Vesper Martini is really the "James Bond" Martini named after the double agent Vesper Lynd. It's a blend of three parts Gin, one part Vodka and 1/2 part of French Aperitif wine. It's served stirred, not shaken and is oh so smooth with a lemon twist in a chilled Martini glass.

Up in the air the Virgin flight attendant are perhaps the best I've come across. They are so "friendly" I almost feel I'm being seduced in the skies. While the in-flight massage, facial or manicure was discontinued earlier this year, the caring nature of their folks makes the flight seem to fly by.

On my return I love the Heathrow Virgin Clubhouse so much I even get there early. Want a haircut? No problem. Need a manicure? Sign up. Want some Sushi? Enjoy a burger with really good cheese? Order in. The way they treat you, and the overall experience is nothing but civilized, relaxing and enjoyable.

With a nine hour flight ahead, I'm happy to be relaxing, surfing, and posting.

Stay Local, Look Global

Recently one of my online pals was looking for something I was looking for.

International DID's that anyone can buy without being a carrier who buys via client VOXBONE. So he found one, and I found one.

These numbers work great and what I'm doing is making my GrandCentral number globally reachable so I can call in, grab my messages and return calls by dialing locally, at local rates, in countries I visit. I've also added numbers via GizmoProject and VoIP User that let me do the same thing.

This isn't for everyone. But for those who spend lots of time in the same countries, they're sure worth it.

How To Make Calling Cards Obsolete?

Michael Graves has a post today on how to save money when making calls to or from overseas. He highlights client Junction Networks and their OnSip service which I use quite a bit when I go across the water, as well as some other neat ideas to save your money for something better than a phone call.

Here are some tips I've deployed.

1. In the UK I have a free VoIP User number from VoIPUser.org. It points to my GrandCentral number in the USA. Calls are billed at local call rates, I get to my voice mail and return the call via GrandCentral. I could just as easily do this by pointing the VoIPUser number in the UK to an inbound number PhoneFusion, CallVantage, Vonage, OnSIP or anything else that can be dialed and password authenticated which offers Find Me/Follow Me capabilities.

2. In France I have a paid for Gizmo5 number. That points to GrandCentral. Of course with DIDs and SIP connected pointing a number to any number is really easy. Get a few in countries you travel to regularly and dial in locally, avoid international long distance.

3. Pal Tony Greenberg, one of the smartest guys I know when it comes to disrupting the pricing models in telecom in the 2.0/3.0 era tipped me off to something with the iPhone. It now seems to work without a SIM. That means forget the contract, use the phone as a VoIP phone with Truphone or FRING.

4. Of course there are other ways. Skype To Go and Mobivox offer a two stage calling method, as does RebTel. Truphone's Truphone Anywhere is a call through service that is a seamless way to keep costs down too. These services basically replace the calling card, but with Skype To Go and Mobivox you can reach Skype pals as well as dial out to other number.

5. For those who want less complication in their life, Global Travel roaming services like SIM4Travel and MaxRoam give you local presence numbers, cheap International Long Distance and forwarding of calls so you can leave your number behind and still be reached.

Bottom line, with a bit of imagination and insight, finding ways to save money on calls is not that hard to do...even when you travel.

Virgin America Adds InFlight WiFi

At a press event yesterday Glenn Fleishman, aka Mr. WiFi NetNews, and others got to experience the new in flight WiFi available on Virgin America. Its pretty much the same thing that you're going to find on American Airlines and Delta, with one difference. Virgin and Google are offering video streaming with Google, and they're also less sensitive to porn according to Gizmodo.

CNET's Crave also provides coverage.

I've yet to experience the new flavor of WiFi in the Sky, but hopefully the airlines are more Mac friendly with power outlets. In the past on SAS the MacBook Pro drew too much power, and on Virgin Atlantic the didn't have power leads for the MacBook Air. Virgin America is reported to have in seat power on all their planes.

This is all made possible by GoGo, AirCell's name for in flight Internet connectivity that works using EVDO to the ground.

Something New For GrandCentral Users

I was whipping through my TweetDeck Tweets last night when I came across a random note about a new app from Google's Code, a place where Google developers hang out and put out all kinds of things.

What caught my eye was something that seems so simple one has to wonder why it took this long to come out in support of former client GrandCentral. Basically, the IT is a plug in for the Mac and other address books in the form of a UI that lets you set up and bridge calls using GrandCentral between the destination number and the phone you're currently using, while presenting your GrandCentral number to the receiving party.

But it's more than just that. Dubbed Vocito, which means "call" in Latin, it's really a UI that has a bunch of hooks that other applications can weave in to make a system call to the GrandCentral code base and let you have the functional capabilities described above.

As a simple plug in on the Mac, I like it. As a powerful tool when placed in the hands of developers like pal Thomas Howe it becomes part of an arsenal that gives the GrandCentral user base something new that drives more usage.

Telstra Adds Video Conferencing To Enterprise Offerings

Video conferencing is being added by Telstra as part of their enterprise and government offerings, reports IT News.

This makes me think that Telstra has to also be taking a very close look at consumer grade video conferencing services (possibly ooVoo or SightSpeed) to roll out as well.

Network World Test GoBoingo and T-Mobile's HotSpot Connection Manager

Network World, one of the enterprise markets' favorite gateways of information, goes in depth about two applications that make it easier to get and stay connected to hotspots, Boingo's Go Boingo for Macs and PC's and the T-Mobile HotSpot Connection Manager which is Windows PC only for now.

I have used both extensively and find that the Boingo client is dead bang simple. Get into range of Boingo Hotspot and it pops up. The T-Mobile client offers more tools and capabilities, but isn't as easy. Both are very useful though and worth having.

WiFi on The Water In Washington via Boingo

Last week it was airports being added by Boingo. This week they've added ferries and ferry terminals in Washington State.

As PhoneBoy points out, the costs have been lowered and subscribers immediately gain access to the entire Boingo network around the globe.

The official announcement is here while the maven of all things WiFi, Glenn Fleishman weighs in on WiFi Net News, Jason Harris of Techcraver adds his thoughts, Seattle area's John Cook's Venture Blog dubbed TechFlash (complete with local users comments), as well as the Seattle Post-Intelligencer's Readers' Blogs

Hyatt Business Plan Brings Civility To The Road Warrior

Over in London I enjoy staying in the Andaz, a hotel property of Hyatt that was designed by the famed Terrance Conran. It's a converted hospital less than a 100 yards from Liverpool Street Station. At the Andaz I get free coffee, free laundry for essentials, refreshed water, free broadband and a few other perks.

Well it seems parent Hyatt is realizing that in tough business times that they need to upgrade what the give their bread and butter guests, so they are taking a page out of the Andaz's book and launching the Hyatt Business Plan Package which includes many of the same services and features.

Given how Hilton and Marriott are faltering of late, with sub-par service and an inconsistent experience from property to property, I can say that Hyatt, Sofitel (Accor) and Inter-Continental are of the major corporate brands doing more to be consistent with their guests. While I tend to still look for boutique hotels that cater to the business via Tablet Hotels, I do appreciate it when the major brands take a step forward like Hyatt is doing and seek to improve the business travelers experience from check-in to check out.

Boingo Buys OptiFi, More Consolidation of WiFi Networks

Yesterday client Boingo acquired OptiFi, another aggregator/operator of airport hotspots, much like Boingo's Concourse Communications purchase, and their buy of Sprint's airport hotspot division.

The timing couldn't be better as one well regarded wireless analyst firm I follow closely has indicated that the rollout of WiMax won't be as fast as people expected, and I think this will also apply to 4G overall including LTE (long term evolution.) This means WiFi hotspots will be where the mobile set will go for reliable and consistent connection.

Information Week and JK on The Run both provide news coverage as did MuniWireless.