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Hawaiian Telcom to Offer CallWave's VoIP Enhanced Services to Wireless Customers
[September 26, 2005]

Hawaiian Telcom to Offer CallWave's VoIP Enhanced Services to Wireless Customers


By TED GLANZER
TMCnet Communications and Broadband Columnist
 
A pitched battle is looming in the telecom industry between IP/IM portals and wireless carriers, according to Adrian Van Haaften, chief marketing officer of VoIP enhanced services provider CallWave, Inc.


 
IP/IM portals clearly have the eyeballs, but they do not have the call volume, Van Haaften told TMCnet in a telephone interview.  Conversely, cell phone carriers have the call volume, but they do not have the desktop presence, Van Haaften said.

 
"For cell phone carriers, the goal is to get to the desktop with a relevant solution," said Van Haaften.
 
Against this backdrop, CallWave last week announced a partnership with Hawaiian Telcom in which Hawaiian Telcom will license CallWave's fixed-mobile convergence VoIP software to deliver VoIP-based convergence applications, including the following:
 
• Call Preview – allows users to listen to voice messages in real time and interrupt the message to take the call.
 
• Call Transfer – users can transfer a live cell phone call immediately to a home or office phone.
 
• Follow Me Home – allows customers to automatically receive calls that are destined for their mobile phone on a designated landline when their mobile phone is either turned off or out of the coverage area.
 
• Desktop Software – allows users to preview incoming cell phone calls and move those calls to the prepaid phone, or a more convenient home or office phone.  Users may also store and play back cell phone voicemail messages.
 
"With CallWave, carriers gain a strategic advantage, as they can quickly deploy valuable new services and features that can help them retain and attract customers, differentiate themselves in the marketplace and stay ahead of mounting competition," the press release states.  "Carriers instantly gain the inbound call management features of desktop-enabled VoIP, and compete with companies adding voice elements to their desktop programs."
According to the companies' press statement, Hawaiian Telcom is the first carrier to bring a desktop application to enhance calls on cell phones and landlines. 
 
"Hawaiian Telcom's goal is to provide innovative, relevant services to our customers, and we're proud to be the first carrier to offer CallWave's VoIP platform to deliver on that promise," said Michael Ruley, CEO of Hawaiian Telcom, in a prepared statement.  "By gaining access to these "CallWave-powered" features, our subscribers can take advantage of VoIP's benefits without having to sacrifice the reliability and convenience of their landline or mobile line."
 
Hawaiian Telcom's service – CallChoice - will be offered on a monthly subscription basis.  According to the press statement, service trial is scheduled to launch in mid-October 2005, with the full roll-out in the first quarter of 2006.
 
In a separate announcement last week, CallWave launched the first pay-as-you-go prepaid phone program, where customers can earn bonus minutes for receiving calls and referring friends and family. 
 
The Mobile Rewards prepaid phone also includes CallWave's above-mentioned VoIP enhanced mobile calling features and PC desktop software.
 
"We're encouraging people to use the phone," Adrian Van Haaften, CallWave's chief marketing officer, told TMCnet in a telephone interview.
 
The Mobile Rewards program, according to a news release, works as follows:
 
When someone calls a CallWave customer's Mobile Rewards phone for the first time, the CallWave customer earns five free bonus minutes. 
 
If a CallWave customer gets a friend or family member to sign up for CallWave Mobile Rewards, that customer earns 60 free bonus minutes, and the new subscriber is rewarded with 30 extra minutes of airtime as a welcome gift to CallWave Mobile Rewards.
 
To sign up, log on to www.callwavemobile.com or call the CallWave Mobile subscriber and press 0 – CallWave's customer service center will then take the order by phone.
 
"The CallWave Mobile Rewards phone provides valuable features at an affordable price, and now introduces a rewards program, designed to help our customers' stretch their valuable airtime even further," said Van Haaften in a prepared statement.  "We see our prepaid Rewards phone as a great way for cost-conscious consumers to control their cell phone expenses, while it provides high-volume cell phone users with a true alternative to contract phone services by offering innovative, useful features like Call Preview and our desktop call management software."
 
Customers get the CallWave Mobile Rewards phone for free, with a one time shipping and handling charge of $9.95.  The no-contract phone also comes with 60 minutes of airtime free of charge.
 
According to the news release, a complete set of calling features is 27 cents a day, which is billed monthly.  Additional minutes are available for as low as 15 cents per minute.  Customers can also choose Automatic Minute Refill option when they purchase, to automatically add minutes each month, or can pay as they go.
 
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Ted Glanzer is assistant editor for TMCnet. For more articles by Ted Glanzer, please visit:
 
 

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