gotalk Prepaid VoIP goes Head-to-Head with Skype in Australia and New Zealand

In an industry first, fast growing Tier 2 telco gotalk limited today announced that they have this month added prepaid VoIP to its entire range of Australian and New Zealand Cardcall phonecards – making its service directly competitive with Skype – the world’s most popular VoIP service. (NOTE: Skype, a unit of eBay, has 196 million registered users internationally – including Australia.) CardCall, a fully owned gotalk subsidiary, is the major phonecard distributor in Australia and New Zealand – recently adding Telstra’s “Say G’day” and “Super Buzz” international calling cards to their extensive stable.
gotalk CEO Steve Picton said today that gotalk Prepaid VoIP will enable phonecard users to make huge savings by sending their calls over the internet, instead of using the regular telephone network. The only requirements are a broadband internet connection, a PC and a microphone/headset.
The customer benefits of prepaid VoIP are considerable, including:
• Free registration • Free quality softphone • Free additional local telephone number • Free VoIP to VoIP calls within Australia and within New Zealand (not between) • Free connection fee option on all calls • Free Voicemail • No Contracts • No monthly account fee • Extensive Australia and NZ coverage • Untimed local and national calls at a low 10c • Low cost rates to mobiles (24c timed) • Low cost calling card rates to all destinations • Quality 24 hour Customer Care helpline
Mr. Picton was named Queensland’s Technology and Telecommunications Entrepreneur of the Year on July 19. He said he was delighted to announce the addition of prepaid VoIP to gotalk’s extensive range of prepaid Telco products.
“A recent research project undertaken by PhoneChoice, “Home Phone and Internet Provider Comparison (July 2007)” specifically compared gotalk prepaid VoIP with Skype Pro. Based on typical usage, the PhoneChoice survey clearly showed gotalk’s prepaid VoIP was cheaper overall than Skype’s Pro,” Mr. Picton said.
“When you add in the fact that gotalk is an Australian owned company, a full service telco business offering 24/7 locally available customer service – (as opposed to Skype who can only be contacted by email) – I believe gotalk can be seen to be a more than competitive alternative to Skype,” Mr. Picton said.
“The same survey showed gotalk’s international phone call charges were between 57% and 77% cheaper than all of its Australian competitors – Telstra, Optus, AAPT, Primus and Dodo – so there are a number of reasons for customers to change to gotalk for all their telco services.”
“The new gotalk prepaid VoIP service will enable customers to access the phonecard’s super cheap rates either from their PC (VoIP access) or conveniently from any telephone they choose (phonecard access),” he said.
“gotalk prepaid VoIP offers users a first class VoIP service with the best of both worlds - Cardcall’s great phonecard rates and the flexibility and control of prepay. gotalk prepaid VoIP is simple to download and easy to use, with so many benefits that it is an ideal option for new VoIP users - and a very attractive alternative for anyone currently using or considering Skype.”
“Users of existing phonecards simply need to visit http://www.gotalk.com.au/prepaidvoip/ select 'Get Prepaid VoIP' and enter their existing PIN number and contact email address. Customers will then receive a softphone download via email and off they go to make phonecalls through VoIP - it is THAT easy,” Mr. Picton said.
Retailers benefit from our gotalk prepaid VoIP service because it results in: • An increase in the number of customers that make purchases (including customers that have moved away from phonecards to use other VoIP services such as Skype) • An increase in traffic to retail sites, allowing retailers to cross sell other products (example Internet cafe user now purchasing a phonecard in store and using the credit on the Internet Cafe PC, plus purchasing snacks / drinks while using the service). • The ability to offer customers this great new product feature without the need to stock anything other than the great range of CardCall phonecards or CardCall vouchers All CardCall phonecard point-of-sale will contain the below image, leading customers this service.