Aplio/Phone, the Wizard that slashes your phone bills
Aplio/Phone, the Wizard that slashes your phone bills
Melbourne-Jakarta: Rp 7,800/hour
From her rented apartment in Melbourne, Australia, the
blossoming and spoiled Jessi made an international call to
Jakarta almost every other night. A typical upper middle-class
19-year-old studying at an Australian university, she would call
her home in the West Jakarta area, or her boyfriend, or any of
her many friends, and chat for 15 to 30 minutes. Whenever she
quarreled with her boyfriend, however, it could last for more
than one hour. After that there would customarily be a brief
cooling-off period, and then she would call him back and the
reconciliation process would take at least another 15 minutes.
To pass all the costs on to her parents, she would make a
collect call home, and tell her parents' maid to call her
boyfriend and connect the two of them through the conference call
facility. Needless to say, her parents were shocked each time
they saw their monthly phone bill. "We couldn't do much about it.
Jessi is our only daughter," they rationalized.
Well, it turned out there was actually something they could
do. They heard about the revolutionary Aplio/Phone, a solution
brought by technological advances in Internet telephone
technology, and decided to give it a try. One month after they
started using it, their phone bill was down from Rp 5 million to
only Rp 700,000. They were so excited they immediately bought
another unit for Jessi's boyfriend so the two of them could
communicate directly. Or, more precisely, so that they could get
rid of the mountainous monthly phone bills.
Aplio may not be a household name yet, but thanks to its
effectiveness in slashing long-distance and international phone
costs by up to 95 percent, it has already created ripples in a
growing number of countries around the world.
Computer enthusiasts have been communicating by voice with
their friends and colleagues half the world away with the help of
their PCs and the Internet. Thanks to the rapid progress in Voice
over IP (VoIP) technology, they have been able to talk for hours
without having to pay international connection charges. But they
needed computers to do it, and computers have never been easy to
use. A group of young, entrepreneurial scientists from Israel
then came up with a brilliant idea: Why not use the same
technology with a small, extremely user-friendly PC replacement?
Hence the Aplio/Phone.
The concept is very simple. All they had to create was an
Internet appliance that would enable people to reroute long-
distance and international calls through the Internet using the
already available VoIP technology. The tremendous business
potential for such a product was immediately visible. For
example, according to Intelliquest, in the U.S. there were at
least 29 million people paying more than US$60 per month just for
long-distance calls in 1998. It was only a small part of the
market that they wanted to tap into.
Simple Operation
1. In her Melbourne apartment, Jessi dials her parents' Jakarta
number.
2. As soon as the phone is answered, she presses the Aplio button
on her Aplio/Phone.
3. Her Aplio/Phone sends a signal to the other Aplio/Phone.
4. After a couple of seconds, she hangs up.
5. Both Aplio/Phones then connect to the Internet (ISP).
6. Within about 45 seconds, the two Aplio/Phones are connected
through the Internet.
7. Both Jessi's and her parent's phone rings.
8. Both parties pick up their phone, and the conversation starts
on local charges.
The Device
An Aplio/Phone device is basically a full-duplex speakerphone
and a modem with a unique, five-digit ID. The handsome box
contains a proprietary microprocessor that handles full-duplex
audio compression very effectively using Aplio's own PacketPlus
technology. This technology delivers the best digital sound
quality by continuously monitoring Internet conditions and
adjusting the transmission accordingly.
What about sound quality? Depending on the infrastructure, the
audio quality is as good as a digital cell phone. In countries
with excellent Internet infrastructure, such as Singapore and
Hong Kong, there will normally be no delay whatsoever. To further
improve audio quality, the device is equipped with a voice
enhancer. Aplio/Phone also complies with the ITU's HC323
recommendations, the accepted standards for multimedia
communication over the Internet.
All you need in order to be able to use Aplio/Phone are a
telephone line and a dial-up Internet account. It can be used
with any analog telephone or semi-digital PBX's. It carries a
full one-year warranty.
Like many other alternative solutions to what has been
available to us for a long time, the public may be asking
themselves how lawful this new technology is and whether or not a
regulation will be created to ban it. However, one should keep in
mind that not only has technology outpaced regulations, worldwide
trends are moving toward liberalization and Indonesia will be no
exception. Using Aplio/Phone is just as legal as sending E-mail
over the Internet, and it is quite unlikely that this will
change. The Telecommunications Authority of Singapore has given
its approval to Aplio/Phone by issuing it a license. Ever since
the first product was shipped in March 1998, 50,000 satisfied
customers have been enjoying it in more than 50 countries around
the world.
In addition, as our telecom operators have a potentially huge
customer base and not all of these customers will need to make
long-distance or international calls on a regular basis, there is
no reason why Aplio should be of concern to them. Furthermore,
most large businesses, which comprise the bulk of our operators'
long-distance and international call customers, will always
prefer the faster direct dial calls and they do not mind paying
for the convenience of IDD.
Clearly, Aplio/Phone suits the need of families like Jessi's,
where family members spend many hours per week on the phone with
other family members who live in another town or another country.
Suppliers who spend hours talking with their customers to find
out about their specific requirements will also benefit from
using Aplio/Phone.
Aplio/Phone cuts communication costs because the only things
that the users will have to pay are the local phone charges and
Internet usage. Currently, these charges will come to about Rp
7,000 per hour, regardless of whether you are calling a person in
a different calling area in Indonesia or someone in a far away
place in Europe. Thus, the sooner you start using Aplio, the more
savings you can enjoy.
For further information or a product demo, contact:
Central Jakarta:
1. Chugani Impex -- 3853413
2. HK Trading -- 3840680, 0816926119
3. Kingtron Ps. Baru -- 3521055, 3521075
4. Centrin Computer -- 6000364
5. COM1 - 6000055
6. Multi Graha -- 4251240, 4251278
7. Vista Com -- 6126002, 6126003
North Jakarta:
Matrix Komputindo -- 6509520, 6508714
South Jakarta :
1. MegaNet -- 7293844
2. Kingtron Ps. Festival -- 5263125
West Jakarta:
1. Safir Alam -- 6326303, 6327273
2. CTC Komputer -- 5868077,08161950614
3. Laba Electronic -- 7398812
Outside Jakarta :
Semarang : Mahesa Komputer -- (024) 447289, 314638
Medan: Pt. Laras Maju -- (061) 7356666
Malang: PT. Abakus -- (0341) 486111
Bali: Aplio-Bali -- (0361) 734577
Surabaya: Multi Graha (031) 3821412