New reseller takes on clickcalling

A Brisbane company has been formed to resell applications based around clickcalling, an internet-based telecommunications service from the Queensland service provider of the same name.

Paul Dignam, a business consultant for Gibsons Consulting and director at new reseller OpenComms Technology Group, said the new reseller would market applications of the clickcalling technology.

"I started OpenComms Technology Group with an associate who has been in the telephone and software business for 14 years and Doreen [Acworth, chief executive at clickcalling] has granted us a licence," he said.

Clickcalling targeted internet advertisers. The software made the internet and the phone system work together using patented technology owned by Brisbane firm PROJECTe, Dignam said in a statement.

"It delivers a qualified lead directly to the advertiser, providing an unmatched opportunity to close a sale from the web," he said.

Doreen Acworth, chief executive at clickcalling and Nascomms, said the service let users take calls, make sales and take payment over the phone without having to be connected to the internet.

"When the popup comes up, you type in the phone number you want the call to terminate on at your end -- any type of phone," she said.

"It places the call to me and then rings you and we can talk PSTN to PSTN or mobile over VoIP without any software or hardware purchases at either end."

Acworth said international calls would be available in future but the company had decided to restrict the offering to Australia and New Zealand for now. "This is our pilot program. But we have called India and had India call us," she said.

The service allowed business or private users to advertise online without having a computer, internet connection or domain name, she said.

“They place their advertisement, from a little block to a whole page [in size], and we connect the advertisement to the land line, mobile or IP phone at their physical business or home,” she said.

Dignam said clickcalling was installed on a website as a button with an invitation for customers to contact the advertiser by phone without charge.

"When the button is clicked, the buyer is given a choice of immediate connection using a VoIP phone if he or she has one, or to key in a phone number he or she would like to be contacted on," Dignam said.

The service did not depend on both parties being hosted by the same carrier. It was not a peer-to-peer service but used existing phone numbers to generate a call directly from the web, Dignam said.

"Research from the US has suggested the conversion rate from sites that offer a means of contact with the seller is more than double the rate from those that don't," Dignam said.

Acworth said clickcalling could also prove useful in social services. The product could be deployed in public booths or kiosks, containing a screen, speaker or video, and allow children – such as runaways – without any money for a call to anonymously contact their parents to reassure them they were safe, Acworth said.

“Once the password is accepted the call is placed to the registered telephone of the parent or guardian. The number is invisible and the caller ID is not retained,” Acworth said.

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