Phone.com adds wireless capabilities to virtual telecom services offering

Phone.com added two wireless features to its virtual PBX offering, one for Android users that enables small business owners to use their cellphone as a virtual business line, and another for iPhone users that connects calls using the iPhone’s Wi-Fi capabilities. Both applications allow the user to keep the cellphone number private.
The three-year-old company targets very small businesses with hosted virtual telecommunications systems similar to phone systems used in large offices, but without the high prices those business customers pay for telecom services, said CEO Ari Rabbin. Sole proprietors, entrepreneurs and people who work from home are typical customers and most pay less than $100 per month for hosted telecom business solutions, such as call routing, greetings, conference bridges, voicemail, etc. Services start under $5. Now the company is adding wireless capabilities to its core services. While Rabbin said the first application targets Android users, he expects to expand to Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry operating system soon.
Phone.com’s Mobile Office is a free application for devices that run on the Android OS that lets users make and receive calls and text messages from their cellphone but the caller’s business phone number from Phone.com will appear in the Caller ID, among other things.
Phone.com’s Mobile VoIP for the iPhone is a free app that lets customers use their Phone.com Virtual Office account from an iPhone to place VoIP-based calls using a Wi-Fi or 3G data connection.
“We surveyed our customers to discover what they are looking for in a mobile app, and more than 65% told us that they’d like to mask their mobile phone number and use their Phone.com virtual phone number from their mobile devices. This capability took priority over saving mobile phone minutes or roaming charges,” said Rabban. Many small business owners are outside of the office a lot but still need to present a professional image to their customers, he said.