Comment: BT will undoubtedly be wanting to test the Ribbit system out rigorously before launching it on the public and — presumably — charging money. It is only too well aware of the recent case of SpinVox, whose promises that its voice-to-text offering are almost entirely automatic have failed to convince many
BT is launching a beta trial of the first consumer service to come out of its $105 million purchase in 2008 of Silicon Valley cloud computing venture, Ribbit. Mobile users in the UK are being asked to sign up for a service that allows mobile users — not just BT customers — to manage calls, messages and phones, while also providing them with a virtual online version of their mobile phone.
The service is the second cloud computing application to be launched in the UK using the Ribbit communications technology, following the launch of Ribbit for Salesforce from BT Business in April 2009.
Ted Griggs, founder and CEO of Ribbit, said: “There are more than 60 million mobile phones in the UK today, and the Ribbit Mobile service works with most of them. You don’t need a new number or a new device, and you don’t have to download software or sign a contract. You simply activate Ribbit on your phone and go.”
BT’s ownership of Ribbit has attracted considerable interest in Silicon Valley and beyond. Only days ago reputable Valley blogger Om Malik suggested that Griggs was about to be named CTO of BT’s voice operations — a suggestion BT has denied.
Griggs said: “We built Ribbit Mobile for people who always want to be connected and not restricted by the capabilities of their mobile device. As long as you have internet connection, you will always be able to make and receive calls and get your messages, even if you don’t have your phone with you.”
A number of other companies — such as Telekom Austria’s Mobilkom — have launched services that allow mobile customers to make calls using a VoIP softphone on their PC, but Ribbit appears to do more with the IP.
One of the services — already tried out by a number of BT staff — transcribes voicemail messages into text, for emailing or sending by SMS. BT is aware of the example of SpinVox, which has rolled out voice-to-SMS services in a number of countries but has failed to convince some people that the operation is entirely automatic.
BT said that Ribbit Mobile enables mobile phone users to answer their mobile phone on the internet, make calls using their mobile caller ID via the internet, read voicemails as email or SMS text and route calls to be answered on any phone. As Ribbit Mobile is a cloud-based service, it works with virtually all mobile phones, not just smart phones.
JP Rangaswami, managing director of BT’s R&D arm, BT Innovate & Design — and chairman of Ribbit — said: “Mobile phones and the internet are vital communications tools, but they haven’t worked well together until now.”
BT is asking interested mobile users to request a service via the Ribbit Mobile website, but it will not begin provisioning accounts until early 2010. The company has given no dates or prices for the commercial services. GTB