idea:: VOGPRS Client

Q:

What could you get if you combine applications like SoundRec and PTunes with CELP on a smart phone?

A:

Voice Over General Packet Radio Service (VOGPRS)

Client, perhaps…

Of course we see Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) movement in the mobile space with the creation of WIFI Phones and such — however, we are also seeing some take advantage of the rich toolkits already offered by many smart phones (Pocket PC/Palm/Symbian etc Phones) to create VOIP capability. Nonetheless, most of this movement is focused on VOIP and therefore WIFI as some of these smart phones are equipped with WIFI chipsets.

While VOGPRS is not that far of a stretch from this current industry focus, it nonetheless opens the door for current (and near future) smart phones to take advantage of cheap voice calls to anywhere in the world from anywhere in the world (where GPRS is available) and not be confined to small WIFI spaces.

While GPRS has a theoretical maximum of 171.2 Kbps, I usually obtain about 100 Kbps over Verizon’s GPRS network. Following my previous work with CELP, I can tell you a 16 Kbps voice stream sounds quite intelligible. Assuming 32 Kbps is required (bi-directional voice streams) for our conversation, then it would most likely hold up well even while driving down the freeway.

Q:

Why?

A:

Economics and innovation.

First economics: My voice service costs me $100/month while I pay an additional $50/month for unlimited data service (some charge even less for unlimited data service). Creating such a system could save me money. I say “could” because obviously if I wanted to call a physical line, then I would have to tap into some existing VOIP provider and pay some type of monthly or unit-based fee. However, I would have the ability to make unlimited mobile to internet and therefore mobile to mobile (mobile’s running a voice client) calls for the price of my GPRS service alone. Though most mobile providers offer mobile to mobile for free, its only free if you call another mobile phone in the provider’s network — the VOGPRS client transcends provider networks to offer true unlimited mobile to mobile anywhere in the world. So in my case I switch my voice to a lower cost plan (because I call a lot of mobile phones and those I call do as well) keep my unlimited data plan and even add in VOIP account (to call physical phones) I should save at least $20/month and perhaps a bit more. What if I told you that if you downloaded this app to your phone and then created an account you could slash about 15% of your monthly mobile bill?

Innovation: It stands to reason, that if such a client and back-end were built, the system could be incorporated into a whole host of applications including those in the Location-based Services area. Imagine:

*ping* “Your friend is just down the street, push button to talk…”

*ping* “Your friend has just signed on to AIM, would you like to talk to them?“

…and what about some location-based multi-marketing (free call remember):

*ping* “We have some deals in the area, would you like Dan your local rep to explain some of them to you?“

These are just simple examples, but I am sure you get the idea.