How big do you need to be before you think about making voice calls over the internet? Even small companies can benefit, according to entrepreneur Nick Ogden, who launched On Instant, a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service this week.
Ogden, founder of internet payments system WorldPay and online mall BarclaySquare, has funded the business himself because he believes in the technology. And because he can afford to -- WorldPay was sold to the Royal Bank of Scotland in 2002 for ?40 million. VoIP enables voice calls to be turned into packets of data that can be sent over the internet without tying up a phone line. But it is not just about cutting call costs. If voice is transmitted at the same time as data, new applications become possible.
One convert to VoIP is Terry Coutanche, founder of Coutanche Solutions. He has been using On Instant for the past two months to manage nearly two dozen IT staff in America, Australia and Ukraine.
"Calls to staff are now free," says Coutanche. Previously, most of the contact was by e-mail, but often a phone conversation is more useful. You can get an answer straightaway and you can even record calls. Or you can send voicemails to each other, which some people find faster to compose than e-mail.
On Instant, which is aimed at small businesses, costs from ?4 to ?15 per person per month. The service includes internet-based contact management software, map-based business directory and press release distribution software, with VoIP as the glue that sticks it all together.
The contact manager enables a hurried business person to make a note of any follow-up action they have promised a customer. They will get a reminder when they switch on their PC that day.
To use On Instant, businesses need to download the software and plug a PC headset with integrated microphone into their PC or laptop computer, or buy an IP phone. They can then call anyone registered with the service for "free" -- or no extra cost. To use the software, they will also need fairly new PCs running Windows 2000 or XP and a broadband internet connection, such as ADSL or cable.
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
An earnings report from semiconductor giant and artificial intelligence (AI) bellwether Nvidia Corp takes center stage for Wall Street this week, as stocks hit a speed bump of worries over US federal deficits driving up Treasury yields. US equities pulled back last week after a torrid rally, as investors turned their attention to tax and spending legislation poised to swell the US government’s US$36 trillion in debt. Long-dated US Treasury yields rose amid the fiscal worries, with the 30-year yield topping 5 percent and hitting its highest level since late 2023. Stocks were dealt another blow on Friday when US President Donald
UNCERTAINTY: Investors remain worried that trade negotiations with Washington could go poorly, given Trump’s inconsistency on tariffs in his second term, experts said The consumer confidence index this month fell for a ninth consecutive month to its lowest level in 13 months, as global trade uncertainties and tariff risks cloud Taiwan’s economic outlook, a survey released yesterday by National Central University found. The biggest decline came from the timing for stock investments, which plunged 11.82 points to 26.82, underscoring bleak investor confidence, it said. “Although the TAIEX reclaimed the 21,000-point mark after the US and China agreed to bury the hatchet for 90 days, investors remain worried that the situation would turn sour later,” said Dachrahn Wu (吳大任), director of the university’s Research Center for
RSS