We just changed our name to “S-unno”
The new website is up – check it out at www.s-unno.com.
If you are an existing MediaRing Talk user, you do not need to do anything. Your account will continue to work and your client will update itself. New name, New Look, New Features … same great rates and service. Here is a link to FAQ
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It’s obvious that the preferred calling device is becoming the mobile handset. Smartphones, which used to be almost a fashion device for the high end gadget buyer, are becoming as affordable as they are powerful. Obviously, it makes sense … it goes with you everywhere, it’s private (no sharing of PCs) and is a lot of fun besides.
Here at MediaRingTalk (soon to be S-unno), we’re proud to say we’re adding clients for a wide range of mobile devices. Soon, the same service and pricing you’ve enjoyed with our PC client will be available for mobiles as well. Plus, existing MediaRingTalk subscribers only need to do is download the new client for their mobiles … no separate subscription is required. We’ve always supported Nokia phones. But now we’re adding a full range of platforms including iPhone, Android, Windows, Blackberry, Blueberry and Symbian.
We will have more to say over the next several weeks. Please check back!
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Nine months have passed since Spice Global (a $2Bn conglomerate) bought a major stake in MediaRing Ltd – the company behind “MediaRing Talk” service. Subsequent to this transaction, MediaRing Ltd was renamed to Spicei2i Ltd (www.spicei2i.com).
We’ve been working on our service and will shortly announce exciting announcements about new features and capabilities. In the interim, hear what Dr. B. K. Modi, Chairman of Spicei2i and Spice Global has to say about the direction of our company.
“Spicei2i is more than just a new brand, it is the new identity, the new DNA for the company. The name Spice denotes Synchronised Performance through Innovation in Communication and Entertainment, while i2i represents from ‘Innovation to Infinity’. This means continuous innovation to create infinite possibilities for the future. With the launch of the Spicei2i brand, the company ventures beyond the internet telephony industry to become a complete mobile internet solutions provider that constantly pushes the boundaries in mobile communication and entertainment,”
We will have more to say shortly, please stay tuned…
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Compare Long Distance Rates First Before Calling China
For most non-resident Chinese, making calls to family and friends in China is very important. While dialing frequently to landlines or mobile phones in China used to be cost-prohibitive, the rates have dropped considerably in recent years. In fact, thanks to internet phone providers offering inexpensive rates and plans, you can now call China for far less than the cost of a postage stamp.
As with any service, it pays to shop around before you decide on an internet phone service. There are many options to choose from including prepaid plans, subscriptions, and calling cards. Some service providers offer a full range of services including video conferencing, instant messaging, voicemail, and more. Others specialize in offering simplified solutions for just making discount calls.
For individuals who want lots of features or who want to substitute an internet phone for their regular landline, a subscription service offered by one of the larger providers is typically the best bet. Some offer call forwarding, caller ID, and even call waiting and can be used with existing phone numbers. Monthly rates for subscription plans that include the ability to call China typically start at about $25.00 a month depending on the variety of features offered. However, there may be additional fees for taxes or discontinuing service before the end of an agreed upon contract.
Oftentimes, the least expensive option for making calls to China is using a provider who offers a prepaid plan. For example, MediaRing Talk currently offers an incredibly low rate of 1 US cent per minute for users who purchase $10.00 in credit. They don’t require a monthly subscription and don’t charge connection fees. A service such as this is ideal for someone who is making lots of calls to China or who doesn’t want to commit to a lengthy service agreement.
For travelers or individuals who don’t have access to a PC or mobile phone, long distance calling cards are particularly useful. Typically, they can be used from any phone, and they can be easily recharged by calling a local number.
Before you make a decision on any internet phone service, consider what your calling pattern will be. Will you be calling China frequently from your PC at home or work? Do you need a service that lets you dial directly from a landline phone? Are you wanting a full range of features to replace your local phone service? The answers to these questions will help guide you to the provider that is right for you. Lastly, read the small print of the contract or offer before you sign up. Not all providers are upfront with fees and restrictions. To prevent being surprised when you get your credit card bill, make sure you have a clear understanding of what you’re paying for and exactly what you’ll be receiving before you start dialing.
For more information, please visit: http://www.mediaringtalk.com/pay-as-you-go/index.php
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With worldwide subscription plans starting at $9.99, pioneering VoIP provider has positioned itself as low-price leader in internet phone service for consumers.
Fremont, CA, June 12, 2010 – MediaRing Talk (www.mediaringtalk.com), a leading provider of internet calling services, has introduced four new callings plans to their range of services that deliver the most cost-effective way to call internationally. Two of the plans have been priced at $9.99 per month – one offers unlimited calls to 40 countries including China, and the other gives subscribers 750 minutes to all landlines and mobile phones throughout India. For callers who frequently call both India and within the United States, there is a new plan that offers 750 minutes for $12.99. The plan that delivers the most flexibility is priced at $19.99 per month and gives unlimited calls to 60 countries including China and India.
The four new monthly plans are all available without long-term contracts or connection fees. Additional discounts are offered for signing up for three, six, or 12 month plans.
With a focus on providing the lowest monthly calling subscriptions for consumers, MediaRing Talk will continue to offer its highly popular Pay-as-you-Go Plan that enables consumers to call over 200 countries at rates starting at one cent per minute. As well, PC-to-PC calls worldwide using MediaRing Talk remain free.
“We’re very excited to be able to offer consumers even more opportunities to save on long distance calls by introducing these four monthly subscription plans,” says Robert Pearlstein, Managing Director of MediaRing Talk. “We are dedicated to providing the highest quality, best value service in the industry and look forward to helping consumers stay connected with their friends and family through our services.”
For more information, please visit: http://www.mediaringtalk.com/call-unlimited-plans/
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Waiting for a flight that has been delayed is certainly one of the most tedious aspects of travel. With over 20 percent of flights delayed or canceled every day, passengers frequently find themselves twiddling their thumbs once they get to the airport.
Thankfully, there are plenty of things to keep passengers occupied at most airports. Many of these activities involve eating, drinking, and shopping. However, there are also a number of free things that can help while away the time before boarding a plan. Here are a few worth trying:
Check Out the Art
Many U.S. and international airports offer rotating schedules of art, history, and cultural exhibitions that are as notable as any to be found in local museums. When you have some time to kill, an exhibit within your terminal or elsewhere in the airport can be a great way to get cultured. Not sure where to find the art? Ask the representative at the airport information desk. They will most likely have the details.
Exercise
Yes, the airport is kind of like an obstacle course. Why not take advantage of the stairs, moving sidewalk, and wide open expanses to burn a few calories. Try power walking, lunges, squats, and stretching. And, if you’re looking for exercise equipment, some airports even have gyms onsite if you have a few extra dollars to spare.
Make Phone Calls
Have you been meaning to catch up with your cousin who left you a message weeks ago? Do you have an old college buddy who you’ve been meaning to ring? Use the free time to make all of those non-urgent calls. Don’t want to use your mobile phone minutes? If you have your laptop, you can make free or cheap calls using an internet phone service like MediaRing Talk. Most airports have outlets and WiFi so that you can dial from anywhere in the terminal.
Make Travel Plans
With some free minutes, you may be able to snag a good deal on your next vacation or business trip. Head over to the ticket counter and ask to speak to someone about travel planning. There’s usually someone available who can provide you with insight on discount tickets, package deals, and redeeming frequent flier points.
Read
Whether you’re into glancing at the latest gossip in the current issue of People or are trying to work your way through the classics of literature, a flight delay is a perfect opportunity to unwind and read. Need a good book? There are many services online that offer free downloads of books. Or, simply glide by the food court or gate waiting area. You’ll certainly find a newspaper or two left by fellow fliers.
Meditate
You rushed to the airport, dropped off your rental car, navigated through the check-in line, and managed to get through the security check unscathed. Now, you’ve found out that your flight has been delayed for hours. It’s time to take a deep breath or two and unwind from the everyday chaos of the airport. Sit calmly, shut your eyes, tune out the noise, and give yourself 15 minutes to collect your thoughts and regroup before you begin your tirade on the airline’s customer service team.
Write
Do you have a pen and some paper or your laptop? Use the time to write out the ideas that have been swirling through your head. Maybe, you have the concepts for a new opportunity, a novel, or a letter to someone special. Many an idea, business, or story has been crafted in an airport waiting area.
Make a New Friend
You never know who you might meet in an airport. Countless friendships, romances, and business relationships have started between two people simply waiting to board a flight. Take note of what others are reading, working on, or doing. You might pick up on some helpful clues on who you may want to befriend.
Pray
Need a little spiritual solace? Most big airports have interfaith chapels. These sanctuaries are most visible during times of crisis, such as after a plane crash, but they’re helpful for nervous fliers needing a little extra reassurance or anyone wanting a place to reconnect with their spirituality.
People Watch
There are few people watching venues as interesting as an airport. You’ll see everything from stressed out parents juggling kids and luggage to foreign backpackers using the airport as a camping ground. If you watch long enough, you’ll be sure to witness some interesting scenes worth sharing once you get to your destination.
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There are many brand names that have become synonymous with products. Everything from Kleenex. Band-Aids, and Scotch Tape to Post-its, Legos, and Jell-O have been etched into the colloquialisms that most of use every day Even in the fast-paced technology market, there are brands that have inched forward into becoming genericized trademarks. Google and Twitter have become commonplace action verbs, and many consumers are now not even aware that Xerox, White-Out, and Teleprompter are actually trademarked brands.
One brand that has also been heading down the path of becoming genericized is Skype. It’s often now used to mean any type of voice over internet protocol (VoIP) service. We’ve all heard someone say that they’re going to “Skype” someone, when, in actuality, they are using Skype’s consumer VoIP service to make a call over the Internet.
No doubt, Skype is an industry leader, and their brand name has a catchy and memorable ring to it. However, Skype is by no means the only VoIP provider out there. In fact, there are many others that are revolutionizing the market by developing new technologies and offering increasingly competitive pricing.
Some providers such as Jajah and Bubble Motion are leading the way with bringing together VoIP and social media. Calls can now be made on Twitter, and voice-blogging for mobile phones is even now a reality.
MediaRing Talk, a long established leader in VoIP, has focused on a global market by providing the lowest rates to over 220 countries around the world. With rates that are often about a penny a minute, many consumers, who rely on VoIP technology to stay connected with their loved ones, have discovered that Skype isn’t the only game in town when it comes to making cheap calls.
As technologies continue to evolve and long distance pricing continues to be highly competitive, there will undoubtedly be even more pressure on Skype. Consumers will increasingly realize that Skype isn’t their only option, and, in fact, it might not be the best choice depending on how they are using the technology.
Whether or not Skype becomes as synonymous with VoIP as Kleenex is to tissues remains to be seen. However, it is becoming increasingly unlikely as we all become more knowledgeable about the technology and more inclined to use it as a primary source of voice communications.
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Like with any technology, VoIP has its fair share of acronyms, abbreviations, and buzz words. Here’s a quick run down of some of the most common terms and words that are specific to VoIP or internet phone technology. Yes, some of these are a bit complicated, but we promise not to quiz you!
Application Level Gateway (ALG):
Application Level Gateways (ALGs) are application specific translation agents that allow an application (like VOIP) on a host in one address realm to connect to its counterpart running on a host in different realm transparently. An ALG may interact with NAT to set up state, use NAT state information, modify application specific payload and perform whatever else is necessary to get the application running across disparate address realms.
Call Processor:
component that sets up and monitors the state of calls, and provides phone number translation, user authorization, and coordination with media gateways.
Codec:
coder/decoder, which converts analog voice into digital data and back again, and may also compress and decompress the data for more efficient transmission.
Firewall Control Proxy:
component that controls a firewall’s handling of a call. The firewall control proxy can instruct the firewall to open specific ports that are needed by a call, and direct the firewall to close these ports at call termination.
H.323:
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) standard for packet-switched network voice and video calling and signaling.
Jitter:
non-uniform delays that can cause packets to arrive and be processed out of sequence
Latency:
time delay in processing voice packets.
Media Gateway:
the interface between circuit switched networks and IP network. Media gateways handle analog/digital conversion, call origination and reception, and quality improvement functions such as compression or echo cancellation.
Media Gateway Control Protocol
common protocol used with media gateways to provide network management and control functions.
PSTN
the public switched telephone network.
QoS – Quality of Service
A network property that specifies a guaranteed throughput level.
Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)
A standard for voice and video over a packet switched network developed by IETF.
Sniffer
A network monitoring tool, usually a software tool running on a PC.
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There are many reasons why you might want to get rid of your landline. Maybe, you’ve had one too many irritating calls with your local phone company’s customer service department. Perhaps, you’re finding that only your cell phone is being used these days. Or, you might just want to save a few dollars every month by cutting out this monthly expense and want to find a way to make cheap telephone calls. Whatever the reason, you’ll need to consider the following items before you make the big switch away from a landline phone.
To begin, let’s look at the two key reasons why you may want to consider keeping your landline. Emergency calls using the 911 system can be easily traced from a landline, and it also serves as a good backup when your cell phone isn’t charged.
These two reasons for keeping a landline are still valid, but not as much as they used to be. First, FCC rules now require that mobile phone companies provide all handsets with some way of tracing 911 calls. Some determine a caller’s rough location by triangulating the signal using different radio towers. Others use GPS chips embedded in the phones to locate callers. This method is accurate within 150 to 500 feet.
There is no disputing that a landline is a readily available backup when you forget to charge your mobile phone. However, is this reason enough to justify the money spent each month on landline service? Alternatively, you can use internet to phone technology as your backup. Providers of VoIP service such as MediaRing Talk enable users to make free online calls from their computer. Anyone who has a computer with an internet connection can take advantage of this service.
Besides being a good backup when your mobile phone isn’t working, using an internet phone service also let you make cheap international calls abroad. The difference in long distance per minute rates between VoIP providers and typical local phone companies can be substantial. For example, rates to landlines and mobile phone in most countries using MediaRing Talk are usually under two cents per minute.
Are there any valid reasons anymore to continue to pay for a landline? This depends on your specific situation. If you have spotty coverage where you live, relying on a mobile phone as your primary communications method might not be the best option. Or, if you have children who want to talk on the phone but who are too young for a mobile phone, this might be another good reason to continue to pay monthly to your local phone company. Of course, you might have a bundled plan with your local provider that includes cable, an internet connection, and a phone line. In this case, it might be less expensive to keep the landline.
The bottom line is that there remains pros and cons to doing away with a home landline. Whether or not it’s the right choice depends on your particular situation. Take a close look at your phone usage patterns and communication requirements, and you’ll be able to determine the right solution for you and your family.
To keep up to date on the latest trends in internet phone technology and to take advantage of promotions and special offers, become a fan of MediaRing Talk on Facebook today today!
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With summer vacation rapidly approaching, if you’re like many students, you’re pondering the possibility of traveling during the extended break between semesters. The good news is that there have never been more opportunities for students to see the world and, with an ever growing number of get-away choices, there is truly a travel option for anyone who has wanderlust or a taste for adventure.
Of course, you can simply opt for a week or two unwinding with friends at a resort. However, venturing even further to stay in hostels in Europe, to explore the far corners of the world on an eco-vacation, or even to volunteer overseas alongside charities, government bodies, and community organizations might be just the ideal way to spend the summer months.
While traveling abroad can be an incredible opportunity for any student, there are potential health and safety risks to consider. Fortunately, there are strategies to significantly minimize these inherent risks. Here are five key items you’ll need to ensure you have a trouble-free, safe trip:
Copies of airline tickets, itinerary, credit cards, and passport information page
You’ll definitely want extra copies of your important travel documents just in case the originals are stolen. Make copies of your airline tickets, itinerary, credit cards, and passport information page. Leave one copy of these documents with a family member back home, tuck another copy in your bags, and fold yet another copy in a money belt or travel pouch.
Copies of Your Prescriptions
If you’re planning to bring prescriptions or over-the-counter medications on your trip, you’ll first want to find out if they’re legal where you’ll be staying. There are a number of commonly used medications that are prohibited in other countries. To find out if you might have a medication that is considered an illegal narcotic, check with the foreign embassy of the country that you’ll be visiting. A listing of foreign embassies is available on the Department of State’s website.
Carry your prescription drugs in their original bottle that they came in with the drug company label and dosage information. To be additionally safe, also bring a copy of your original prescription or a letter from your doctor. Don’t forget to bring a copy of your prescription for corrective glasses or contact lenses in case you need a replacement.
A Way to Stay Connected
You’ll want to have reliable way to stay connected with loved ones back home while you’re away, and you’ll probably not want to pay expensive roaming charges on your trusty cell phone. An alternative is to use an internet phone provider. Most offer free PC to PC calls and cheap phone calls to landlines and mobile phones. One smart option is MediaRing Talk. They provide a variety of free internet to phone services, including an extremely helpful solution for calling toll-free numbers in the United States from any PC in the world. This can be a real lifesaver when you need to get a hold of a bank, credit card company, or insurance company that only has a contact phone number that can be used domestically.
Covered Luggage Tags
You’ll want to make sure your bags are identifiable in case they get lost. But, you don’t need to advertise your personal details to everyone passing by. To avoid this, put your name, phone number, and school’s address on covered tags. Never use your home address.
International Medical Insurance/Travel Assistance
It’s simply a fact that from time to time accidents do happen. And, they can happen anywhere, including while traveling. Most likely, your existing healthcare coverage doesn’t protect you once you leave the United States. Even if you’re only traveling for a few days abroad, you’ll want coverage for medical care and emergency medical evacuation. There are a number of reputable travel medical insurance providers and coverage isn’t expensive. Make sure to review any plan before you sign up and understand exactly what it covers before you venture away from home.
Traveling can be one of life’s most rewarding experiences, and by implementing these precautionary strategies before you leave, you can enjoy your journey and rest assured that you’ll be prepared for the unexpected.
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