Vox.io Radically Simplifies Mobile VoIP

At one of the startup showcase panels here, I discovered Vox.io, a real-time communication app that makes connecting with people by voice or video simpler than I've seen in any other service. Since I'm always looking for apps that might in all seriousness disrupt the cellular calling juggernaut of the big wireless companies, I was interested.

The app on the desktop or on your mobile device

You can use the app on the desktop or on your mobile device, open voice or video calls on the fly, and even capture the content of the calls if you want to.

The coolest thing about vox.io is how easy it is to initiate calls. It reduces a multiple-click process to just a couple of clicks, even if the person being called does not have the vox.io app.

Vox.io gets actually interesting, and potentially disruptive, when it comes to calls between mobile users. The mobile app is iPhone-only, nevertheless looks in the extreme easy to use. You can invite a mobile user to a call in the same way described above, and they simply accept the call and it's connected. The mobile app contains your contact list, your favorite contacts, and your call history.

For now, vox.io makes its money by charging users 1 cent per minute for domestic voice calls, and 10 cents per minute for international calls. The rates are very similar to those of Skype and Google Voice.

The app is actually a hybrid of a free-standing app

Tomaz says the app is actually a hybrid of a free-standing app and a browser-based service. Like a web service it enjoys easy access to the web and like an app it easily exploits the phone hardware--namely the microphone, speakers, and camera.