Ribbit Launches Google Voice Challenger
Ribbit just announced the launch of Ribbit Mobile. Ribbit Mobile is a cloud-based VoIP telephony service that brings together web-based calling, smart call routing and voicemail transcriptions.
It is hard to look at Ribbit Mobile without comparing it to Google Voice. Just like Google Voice, Ribbit gives users a new phone number or they can use call forwarding to transfer calls from their mobile phones to Ribbit's platform. Ribbit Mobile also has quite a few features that Google doesn't offer, including the ability to make calls from within the browser.
Update: in an earlier version of this article we stated that Google Voice can't ring multiple phones simultaneously. This is indeed a feature of Google Voice and we stand corrected.
More Features than Google Voice
As Ribbit Mobile is part of Ribbit's open VoIP platform, the service can even forward calls to your Skype, MSN or Google Talk account if you don't pick up your mobile phone. Whenever you miss a call or when a new voicemail arrives, Ribbit can also ping you by email, Skype, Google Talk or SMS. Through its partners, Ribbit offers widgets for popular start pages like iGoogle and social networks like Facebook and MySpace. Through these - as well as on the service's homepage - users can receive and place calls from their browsers. This is a feature that Google Voice doesn't offer yet.
GrandCentral, which Google bought and then transformed into Google Voice, offered some of the features that Ribbit Mobile now offers. Google dropped quite a few useful features like call chains from Google Voice's feature line-up, however.
Besides call chains, another nice feature of Ribbit Mobile is that you can choose which number will appear on your contacts' phones when you call, even if you are calling from your computer. Once you are on a call, you can also easily transfer calls from any device to another. Because of this, you can start a call in the web interface or iGoogle and then continue the call on your cell phone.
Just like Google Voice, Ribbit gives users the option to set up a new phone number for their Ribbit accounts. Users can search for a specific number and letter combination in these numbers. For now, Ribbit only offers numbers in select cities such as California and New York.
A service like Ribbit Mobile wouldn't be very useful as you couldn't easily import your contacts. Thankfully, users can import contacts from Plaxo and as an Outlook CSV file (Google Contacts can export an Outlook CSV file).
Caller ID 2.0
As Ribbit's CEO Ted Griggs and co-founder Crick Waters told us yesterday, the company wants users to look at Ribbit Mobile as a "personal customer relationship management (CRM) platform." To do so, Ribbit Mobile doesn't just display a caller's name and phone number. Users can also add notes to every call and connect their Ribbit address book with their Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Flickr accounts. Through this, the Ribbit team noted, conversations can now take place within a context.
Voicemail Transcriptions
Ribbit offers two levels of voicemail transcriptions. Free accounts come with automated transcriptions. Users with professional accounts - which are free during the beta period - can also choose to have 'business-class' level transcriptions, where a human checks the computer-transcribed text and edits it.
Ribbit for Developers
Because Ribbit is an open platform, developers can use the service in their own applications. Ribbit already features five apps in its app store, including an SMS widget, an Adobe AIR app for checking voicemails and a conference widget. Ribbit also plans to launch its own mobile applications for the iPhone and Blackberry platforms soon. Developers are free to charge for their applications and Ribbit also offers a profit-sharing program where developers will be paid if users use their applications.
Joining the Beta
Ribbit will slowly scale the service up over the next few weeks. The company will hand out new accounts on a first come, first serve basis. You can sign up for an account here. All service levels are available for free during the beta period, though Ribbit plans to charge for the pro accounts later on.
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When did Google Voice drop simultaneous rings? Last I knew, I still have this feature (especially when my cellphone and home phone both ring when I am at home).
We've seen an interest from customers in integrating a service like this into CloudProfile. I can see an interesting fit behind some of our existing engagement tools (click-to-call, SMS, etc.) that could work well for a small business. Will definitely check out their latest APIs and pricing.
A couple of questions in case anyone knows:
- Have they bridged beyond their Flex-limited API roots?
- Can they support number portability to move an existing number over to their platform?
I think you need to do a little more fact-checking (or actually try out the competing service?) before claiming that one service offers features another doesn't. Simultaneous rings is a main feature of Google Voice, and you most certainly CAN initiate a call from within the browser (the two examples you use in the second paragraph for things this includes that Google Voice "doesn't").
Initiating a call from the browser is much different than making a call from the browser. Last I checked Google Voice doesn't enable you to place calls from the GV website (though it can be done via Gizmo or similar). Has that changed? And, does Ribbit actually allow you to place the call and hold the conversation via the browser?
Really now... Google voice hasn't dropped any of their features. You're just confusing Google Voice with the so-called lite version (which uses your existing mobile number instead of a GV number, but uses call forwarding features and does not have the features as having a GV number does). If you have a Google Voice number, simultaneous calls and all of that still exist. The lite version appears to be mostly an online voicemail service as it stands (but that should change eventually).
Even so, it does seem like Ribbit has a few nice features that Google Voice should have. I can't remember if Google Voice can make calls from the browser, but if it doesn't, it can initiate calls from the browser (by calling one of your phones and connecting you to the person you're calling). But the integration with other VoIP services sounds interesting. You can set up Google Voice with Skype, but only if you have a Skype number... I am sure that Google is probably working on an integration with VoIP solution right now though.
One of the compelling features that Ribbit has over Google Voice is an Semi-proper API. (Although it is currently limited to Flex/Flash/Rest and lacks .Net / Java / Silverlight / WPF which are heavily requested features). Google Voice is a lot more Hack n Paste with many mashups resorting to screen scraping. For Ribbit PoC they already have a Gadget to integrate Ribbit with Google Wave.
I think either way, Ribbit's entry will force Google [Voice] and TelCentris (makers of Voxox) to step up the game so everyone should be a winner.
Well, except perhaps Skype ;)
Posted by: truthencode.wordpress.com
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November 4, 2009 12:39 AM
Sorry for the double post. I need to make a correction. The REST api is being 'unveiled' Nov 5 http://developer.ribbit.com/blog/spawn/
I jumped the gun, but I suppose they get a free plug for it ;)
Posted by: truthencode.wordpress.com
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November 4, 2009 12:55 AM
Google Voice actually allows users to make calls through the browser through the voice.google.com dashboard.
very cool. i have google voice intites,
http://googlevoiceinvite.info/