The mobile VoIP company Truphone has released a business client for BlackBerry smartphones, which aims to enable users to make cheaper calls to international numbers.
The Truphone Business application, announced on Tuesday, can be provisioned to devices via BlackBerry Enterprise Server. The service is available to companies through BlackBerry resellers and offers centralised monthly billing with itemised and departmental reporting, Truphone said in a statement.
"The launch of Truphone Business follows demand for a business solution from our existing customer base," said Truphone chief executive Geraldine Wilson in the statement. "Companies are keen to cut costs but find that an increasingly mobile and global workforce need to make international calls from mobile devices as a part of day-to-day business."
The service works by recognising when the BlackBerry user has dialled an international number, then intercepting that call and placing it over Truphone's global platform rather than over a standard cellular network. The user pays a local fixed-line rate to dial into Truphone's platform, plus a relatively small per-minute charge for the international leg of the call.
This charge depends on which of the two monthly Truphone Business tariffs is being used. For example, under the TruStandard tariff, which is £2.50 per month, a call to a US mobile or fixed line costs 5p per minute. The TruSaver tariff, which costs £5 per month, charges 3p per minute for the same call.
Truphone started out as an internet-only VoIP company, but in May last year, it adapted its service to work over the cellular network without the need for internet connectivity. It does this by having the client dial Truphone's server, which then dials the intended recipient of the call and connects the two parties.
