Iristel takes single number reach service to new heights

Single number reach services have been presented as the solution to those who have multiple telephone numbers and need, or want, to be reached at nearly all times, but now a Toronto area company has added fixed mobile convergence (FMC) to the mix. It comes with a twist, though.Iristel Inc. recently introduced its IP Mobility service, offering traditional single number reach for multiple lines whether they be home, office or mobile, but it also gives the user the ability to seamlessly "hop" from their wireless phone to their landline and vice versa during a call. Users can also have their office number installed on their wireless device, giving virtual office presence and of course, users can offload wireless airtime to hotspots. The company is a licensed CLEC and offers telephony services coast to coast through points of presence throughout the country and around the world.While Rogers Communications and its subsidiary Fido offer a FMC service that allows subscribers to offload wireless minutes onto home networks, Iristel gives the subscriber the ability to maintain existing wireline and wireless services even if they are from different carriers (the one caveat is the service currently only works with GSM-based networks from Rogers and Fido). There is no need to consolidate wireline, wireless and office on the same service provider. For $12 per month, the company will integrate wireline and wireless through a single number and allow the user to "hop" from the mobile to the landline simply by dialing a star code on the next device.Samer Bishay, president and CEO of Iristel, tells Network Letter that the company has "unbundled" or "detached" the mobility aspect of fixed mobile convergence by bringing people with services from different providers into the mix. "What we've done is combined the two worlds being a licensed operator in Canada in bringing the fixed mobile convergence aspect of it with the open source so that it's carrier independent, and brought it under one umbrella," he says. The company also offers another plan for $20 per month and that includes Iristel dialtone.In the few months that the service has been available, it's garnered quite a bit of attention from the road warriors and the traveling salesperson, notes Bishay. Uptake has been primarily limited to Iristel's existing customers, those who want to add the single number reach and FMC components to their current slate of services.The service isn't without its flaws though. It currently only works with SIM-card based wireless services though and that limits it to Rogers and Fido in Canada. As well, Iristel recommends the use of the Nokia Eseries handsets because of the native VoIP client installed on the device.Bishay says the company chose a native VoIP client option over soft clients because it encountered some software glitches. "Not to say it will not work on a soft client. Our goal is to get it to work so it opens up a lot more platforms," he adds, noting that Iristel "won't guarantee the hopping feature will work properly at this time ."Bell Mobility and Telus Mobility subscribers are going to have to wait a little while longer before being able to take advantage of the service. Bishay notes that development is proceeding to make the service available for CDMA-based carriers such as Bell and Telus in Canada, but adds there are some technical challenges to overcome because CDMA services don't use SIM cards, therefore requiring some programming on the device. While the CDMA service was to have already been introduced earlier this summer, Bishay says it won't be until it's "bullet proof."Network Letter will have an analyst review of the service in the coming days.

Iristel takes single number reach service to new heights

News | August 27, 2008

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