Last week at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas we at TheVoIPHub.com discovered that VocalTec CEO Dan Barislow and the guys at VocalTec, the parent company for magicJack announced plans to offer a femtocell product by the first quarter of 2010. The announcement has not been made official by VocalTec LTD., but it was recently confirmed by CEO Dan Borislow. Without an official announcement from the company any estimated release date is just that, an estimate.
magic Jack was recently tabbed the fastest growing telecommunications company in the world and a femtocell offering would greatly increase the companies already high growth rate. If VocalTec does develop a femtocell and can keep prices constant or only raise them slightly it could truly spell the end of land line telephones all together. Their femtocell is expected to be slightly more expensive than the magic Jack but still significantly cheaper than any other femtocell option available.
Their new femtocell device is expected to be named the FemtoJack and should be slightly larger than the current magic Jack USB device. The only other difference will be that it works in tandem with cell phones as opposed to regular phones.
The concept behind the FemtoJack is extremely simple, turn people’s cell phones into VoIP phones while in range of the FemtoJack. For the consumer there is virtually no noticeable difference between using your cell carriers network and using the magic Jack dedicated VoIP network. When at home and in range of the FemtoJack, through the use of a small 3G radio signal the femtoJack will allow users to get unlimited minutes through their cell phone, no wires required.
All the user has to do is insert the femtoJack into their USB port, do a quick setup, and bring their cell phone within 8 feet of the femtoJack once. It automatically syncs with your cell phone when you bring it within 8 feet and then you can roam around your home all you want and talk for free. All calls from your cell phone will be routed through the magic Jack VoIP network rather than through your cell carrier and vice versa if somebody calls you. Of course while not in range of the FemtoJack your calls will go through your carriers cell network.
Now the question remains of whether or not VocalTec and cell carriers can come to some sort of agreement that allows for seamless handoff when entering or exiting Femto Jack range while in the middle of a phone call?
