Press

Telfree launches world's first 'unified communication hub

Pretoria, 6th April 2010 – Staying in touch with and getting connected to friends and business colleagues has never been easier, so accessible or more affordable. With the pioneering ‘TelFree Mobile’ and ‘TelFree Web’ internet applications, online and offline telecommunications are unified into one seamless world, allowing you to be in contact anytime, anywhere, with no subscriptions or messy contracts and, for free.

“With 'TelFree Mobile' and 'TelFree Web' you enter the 'Global Village' where ‘unified communication’ has become reality“, says Walter Betschel, CEO of the Telfree Group Of Companies, the South African operator with offices in Pretoria and Cape Town. “Telfree is the perfect service for individual users as well as for corporate clients.

“Everybody can have the convenience of communicating the whole communication range from normal phone-calls to chat, email and instant messaging on facebook ... and all from one device, without having to switch on and off different programs.   And all this at low rates - for a high quality service.”

To  activate data voice calls; threaded SMS;  instant messaging and chat on social networks; as well as the sending and receiving of e-mails using push technology (also threaded and key word search optimised), simply download the ‘TelFree Mobile’ application from the www.telfree.com website to your mobile smartphone, or send “telfree” in an SMS to 39642 (SA only).  Then, connect your smartphone to the internet over Wi-Fi or 3G and away you go – instantly, across the globe and with excellent quality to boot. 

There is no more need for costly national calls or exorbitant international roaming fees from mobile network providers either.  TelFree provides one global flat rate to fixed lines, mobile phones and, even better, is free for registered TelFree to TelFree accounts. It is now possible to call Aunt Peggy in London for the same cost of calling your boss in the next room. Or, if you are already in London visiting Aunt Peggy and can’t make it back in time for that meeting at home, you can phone the boss and make his day – for the same price.

To make this possible, the international telecommunications leader has spent several years investing in software development and carrier-grade quality telecoms infrastructure. TelFree’s head of research and development, Rapelang Rabana says: “It is essential that we provide superior quality calls significantly better than the current experience of voice calls using internet protocols, as we need to be certain that our technology will deliver on user expectation”.

Unlike other internet or VoIP companies that use the open public uncontrolled internet to deliver the call from one end to the other, TelFree only makes use of the public internet from your mobile phone or laptop to connect you to the TelFree system within your resident country or city.   Thereafter, TelFree controls and manages the call in much the same way traditional operators or carriers do, ensuring that TelFree delivers total communication that is faster and with better quality than any other VoIP provider.

Further benefits of the TelFree system include a unique 087 number that is fully integrated yet portable, so there is no need to change your existing GSM cell phone number.  And, when you are not logged into your TelFree account, you can still receive calls, SMS and emails, as the advanced TelFree technology recognises what’s going on behind the scenes and notifies you to what’s happening in your TelFree world.

Additionally, TelFree has optimised TelFree Mobile which uses only half the usual required internet data and therefore saves data costs and uses six times less battery power when the phone is idle.  This means your phone will get through an entire day without needing recharge.

It is also easy to connect to your social and business network through traditional computers (desktop or laptop). Access to ‘TelFree Web’ is gained from all major web browsers, opening your communication world to a whole new set of possibilities. Even the most technologically challenged will be able to follow the simple steps to getting connected with much the same benefits as the ‘TelFree Mobile’ application.

TelFree CEO, Walter Betschel summarises:  “TelFree brings together all the popular means of communication into one service, at one point which can now be experienced with ‘TelFree Mobile’ and ‘TelFree Web’ - it’s basically giving complete freedom of speech at the tip of your fingers.”