DemoFall 2006: VoIP upstarts

Jahah launched a Web service that makes most phone calls free about six months ago, and today at DemoFall 2006 the company introduced a version of its service that lives on cell phones. Jahah Mobile currently supports Java-based and Symbian TM S60 version 7.x or 8.x phones.  Phone calls are routed through the Jahah network, which has 220 points of presence. Russell Shaw covers Jahah Mobile here. While most phone calls are free, features such as conferencing and scheduled calls are fee-based. Jahah Web is yielding about $8 per user per month. Also, all callers must be registered users to get the best calling rates.

GrandCentral, which acquired the name from the now defunct Web services company headed by CNET co-founder Halsey Minor (who is investor in the new GrandCentral), introduced a "single phone number for life." Instead of dealing with multiple phone numbers and voice mail boxes, GrandCentral supplies a single number and some nice VoIP features, such as call routing based on profiles and Web access to voice mail. Matt Marshall of VentureBeat has more details on the Grand Central offering and the competitive space.
Be Here demoed TotalView, an integrated voice and data phone conferencing service with full-room video via a 360-degree camera. Each conference attendee can navigate their camera view on their own system, and TotalView has the usual application sharing features. It is slated to ship early next year for
$1,995.