VoIP Monitor - VoIP Providers|Pingo

Pingo Adds VoIP SoftPhone

VoIP Monitor — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:21:42 GMT

Pingo released a new feature that enables customers to make low-cost international calls using PCs from anywhere in the world where there is Internet access. With SoftPhone, Pingo customers can use Internet-connected PCs to call any fixed or mobile phone and avoid access charges and high mobile roaming costs. The feature is particularly cost-effective for calls made from international destinations as the calls are charged at the same low per-minute rates as those originating from the United States.

Unlike traditional calling plans, prepaid calling cards, international calling cards and other VoIP services, Pingoallows consumers to purchase minutes on an as-needed basis. The service has no hidden fees, surcharges or further contractual obligation. Pingo Business provides small and medium-sized businesses with service for up to 999 employees, allowing administrators to easily set individual spending limits, monitor use and manage balances through a single, centralized account.

All Pingo customers can use fixed or mobile phones to make calls; no additional equipment purchases or software downloads are necessary. Pingo SoftPhone can be used with PCs anywhere in the world where there is Internet access, enabling customers to avoid access and mobile roaming charges, while enjoying the lowest call origin rates. Pingo is owned by iBasis, one of the top three carriers of international phone calls in the world, and operator of the most extensive international VoIP network. Due to the scale efficiencies of iBasis, Pingo can provide substantial savings on consumer and small business phone service. Mobile phone customers in particular can save as much as 90 percent using Pingo.

Pingo offers easy online account management and minutes can be purchased via credit and debit cards and PayPal. Subscribers can also pay in four currencies, compare calling rates to any destination in the world, and interact with automated phone voice prompts in a variety of languages including Chinese, English, French, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish and Russian.

Other features of Pingo service include:

RateWatcher: Allows customers to view rates from country-to-country with a "minutes tab" calculating exact calling minutes to particular destinations based on account balance;
Customized Alerts On Rate Reductions: To take advantage of breaking rate reductions customers can receive automatic customized email alerts on the countries they call most.
Automatic Account Recharge: Accounts can be set to automatically recharge when minutes are running low. An interactive voice response system also alerts customers of low balances, and by simply pushing the * key, funds can be replenished;
Fast Speed Dialing/PIN-Less Dialing: Customers can call local access numbers and use speed dial to quickly connect. PINpass eliminates the need to enter a PIN number;
Easy Account Management: Starting a Pingo account takes seconds, and with features such as history reporting and online management, phone budgets are easy to control;
Security: Pingo's website is VeriSign Secured (a trusted provider of international transaction security). Pingo does not store credit card information on premises to eliminate hacking and accidental exposure of customer data.

Pingo and Pingo Business customers can access the service by phone in 35 countries, including the U.S., Australia, Canada, China, the U.K., France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Russia and Thailand. Pingo service via SoftPhone can be used with PCs anywhere in the world where there is Internet access.

Pingo Reduces the Cost to Call Pakistan

VoIP Monitor — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 17:57:00 GMT

Pingo reduces the cost to call Pakistan by more than 30 percent. The lower Pakistan prepaid calling card rate is enabled by RateWatcher, a Pingo feature that actively searches for opportunities to reduce costs for customers. Pingo has also announced that new subscribers can receive one hundred free minutes of calling to Pakistan by registering through the www.pingopakistan.com page, which also contains additional information on the offering.

iBasis is one of the top three carriers of international phone calls in the world, resulting in a buying power that enables Pingo to consistently deliver extremely competitive rates. Customers save on calls to both landline and mobile phones in almost every country, with mobile phone users saving as much as 90 percent on international calling.

Pingo offers high-quality, low-cost international and long distance calling on a prepaid basis without any long term contractual obligation. The service can be used with both fixed-line and mobile phones and no additional equipment purchases or software downloads are required. Pingo minutes can be easily purchased online with credit/debit cards and PayPay. Subscribers can make payments in four currencies, compare rates in more than 38 other currencies, and interact with a Pingo website that includes automated voice prompts in five languages.

Pingo is designed with ease-of-use in mind and offers a host of convenient features. Accounts can be set-up to automatically recharge at a predetermined balance, or, an interactive voice response system can be used to alert customers of a low balance, allowing funds to be replenished with the simple push of the * key. Once mobile and/or fixed-line phones have been registered online, enhanced speed dialing enables customers to call a local Pingo access number and press a designated speed-dial number for fast and easy connection to calling destinations. Other features include PIN-less dialing, on-line call history reporting, a Refer-a-Friend program that offers a $5 bonus for each customer referral that joins Pingo and more.

iBasis also recently launched a version of Pingo with advanced features designed for enterprises. PingoBusiness provides small-to-medium size businesses (SMBs) the same low international calling rates, plus easy-to-use administrative features for managing up to 999 individual employee accounts on an “on demand” basis without long-term contracts. Through PingoBusiness, SMB employees can use company phones, as well as their own fixed-line and mobile phones to achieve up to 90 percent cost savings on international calling. The service offers the same convenience features as Pingo with additional functionality to help SMBs exercise better control over international calling expenditures. This includes the ability for administrators to set individual spending limits and easily monitor usage and manage account balances through a single, centralized account.

VoIP Provider Pingo Adds New Convenience Features

VoIP Monitor — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 19:25:06 GMT

Pingo adds new convenience features making it easier than ever for consumers and small business users to take advantage of VoIP for low-cost international calling. Pingo and Pingo Business are powerful telephony services that deliver the savings of VoIP, while allowing consumers to use any fixed-line or mobile phone without additional specialized equipment purchases or software downloads.

Pingo consumers have long been able to set up their accounts to automatically recharge when they reach a predetermined balance. Now, with the new feature, Pingo's interactive voice response system alerts users making Pingo calls when their account has a low balance, and with the simple push of the key a consumer's account can be replenished.

For both consumers and business users, Pingo has also introduced enhanced speed-dialing capabilities. After registering mobile or fixed-line phones in their account online, users simply call their local Pingo access number and press a designated speed dial number to be easily and quickly connected to the desired domestic or international calling destinations.

Pingo provides consumers high-quality low-cost international calling and long distance service on a prepaid basis with no additional contract requirements. Customers save on calls to both landline and mobile phones in almost every country. Mobile phone users in particular can save as much as 90 percent on international calls by using Pingo's toll-free access and lower rates. Pingo minutes can be purchased with credit and debit cards, as well as PayPay.

Pingo Business provides small-to-medium size businesses reliable, low cost, easy-to-manage international calling for up to 999 employees on an "on demand" basis. SMB employees can use company-owned and their own fixed-line and mobile phones and achieve up to 90 percent savings on international calls through Pingo Business. Administrators can set individual spending limits, easily monitor usage and manage account balances through a single, centralized account. SMBs can also choose the amount of funds they wish to place in their master account, with no additional commitment required.

Pingo and Pingo Business customers can access the service in 35 countries, including the U.S., Australia, Canada, China, the U.K., France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Russia and Thailand. Pingo leverages the substantial economies of scale of iBasis, one of the top three carriers of international phone calls and operator of the most extensive international VoIP network in the world, and passes the benefits along to its customers.

Pingo Named a Finalist in LinkShare Golden Link Awards

VoIP Monitor — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 18:29:46 GMT

Pingo has been named a Finalist in the Fourth Annual LinkShare Golden Link Awards hosted by LinkShare Corporation. The awards recognize the best of breed practices of merchants who do business on the World Wide Web. The Fourth Annual LinkShare Golden Link Awards are part of LinkShare Symposium 2007, an annual event presented by LinkShare Corporation that brings together hundreds of leading companies in e-commerce, and will be announced at a ceremony on June 19 in New York City.

Pingo offers high-quality long distance calling service on a prepaid basis, enabling consumers from more than 35 countries to realize the dramatic cost-savings of VoIP from regular fixed or mobile phones without any additional hardware or software. Pingo is available online and may be purchased via credit card or PayPal. The service features a multi-lingual website and voice prompts in five languages (English, Spanish, French, Chinese and Portuguese), as well as the ability to view rates in more than 38 currencies and make payments in four currencies. Pingo also offers convenient features such as PIN-less dialing, on-line call history reporting and optional automatic account recharge.

Pingo is nominated for an award for “Best Online Merchandising Campaign,” which highlights successful performance-based merchandising/marketing efforts in e-commerce. Through a variety of sales promotions during 2006, Pingo introduced a wider range of consumers and affiliate partners to the benefits of its online calling program, increasing its base of customers and affiliates worldwide. Award finalists last year included American Express, Lands’ End and Techbargains (named winner).

Also, LinkShare Corporation has named Pingo a member of its “Premium Partner Program.” This designation informs LinkShare affiliates that Pingo adheres to a rigid set of standards that address a wide range of issues, from transaction response times to prompt affiliate payment. The criteria used to evaluate and select Premium Partners has been created through the feedback of hundreds of LinkShare affiliates, along with the company’s Affiliate Advisory Board.

Reduces Cost of Calls to the Philippines with Pingo

VoIP Monitor — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 17:11:44 GMT

Pingo announces lower rates on calls to the Philippines -- 13.75 cents for calls to landline phones and 14.5 cents for calls to mobile phones. The Philippines is one of the highest-volume calling destinations in the world, and is a particularly popular destination for users of prepaid calling card services such as Pingo. Philippines long distance calls comprise approximately 4 percent of all international calls from the U.S.1

The reduction in Pingo’s international calling card rates to the Philippines is the result of RateWatcher, a feature of Pingo that actively searches for opportunities to reduce costs and pass the savings along to Pingo phone card subscribers. RateWatcher is just one of the features that makes Pingo “the last calling card you’ll ever need”. With RateWatcher, Pingo calling card customers benefit from the worldwide buying power of iBasis, one of the largest carriers of international telephone calls in the world.

By monitoring changing long distance costs around the world, RateWatcher finds opportunities to lower Pingo’s costs, provide low international calling rates, and save Pingo subscribers from the chore of having to compare a multitude of prepaid calling card offerings. Previous RateWatcher reductions have included lower rates to many of the most popular calling destinations in India, Latin America, and Asia, as well on calls to almost one billion mobile phones in 100 countries.

“With Pingo we are able to leverage the scale and efficiency of the iBasis global VoIP network to offer exceptional prepaid calling rates combined with great convenience features,” said Ofer Gneezy, president and CEO of iBasis. “There are large Filipino communities in the U.S. and in many of the other 34 countries where Pingo is available. We believe this RateWatcher reduction will help Pingo attract many new subscribers while rewarding existing customers.”

Pingo Prepaid Calling Service Goes Global

VoIP Monitor — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 21:17:18 GMT

iBasis, the global VoIP company, announced major enhancements to Pingo, its online prepaid calling card service. Now customers around the world can purchase the Pingo service with international credit cards, make payments in four currencies, view Pingo rates in more than 38 other currencies, and interact with the Pingo website and hear automated voice prompts in five languages.

With the new features, Pingo becomes a global prepaid calling product, bringing to international markets the same competitive rates and convenience features that have fueled its growth in the U.S. Also, Pingo announced that it has reduced calling rates to 125 countries by as much as 30 percent. The enhancements and rate reductions make Pingo the most competitively priced, easy-to-use service of its kind, providing consumers in the more than 35 countries where Pingo is available a convenient way to save money on international calling.

"With Pingo, iBasis offers consumers around the globe the highest quality and most convenient pre-paid international calling service in the world," said Ofer Gneezy, president and CEO of iBasis. "The world's largest telephone providers already save money by putting much of their international voice traffic on the iBasis Network. With Pingo, consumers all over the world can also directly benefit from our low-cost, high-quality VoIP service."

iBasis, one of the world's leading carriers of international telephone calls, operates the most extensive international Voice over IP (VoIP) network with direct service to more than 100 countries and offering voice quality equal to, and often exceeding, the traditional phone network. In addition to taking advantage of iBasis' superior purchasing power to offer low calling rates, Pingo provides easy-to-use features such as PINpass PIN-less dialing, on-line call history reporting, automatic recharging, which can be set by the customer, and Refer-a-Friend program that offers Pingo customers $5 bonuses when they refer a friend who joins the service.

New features recently added to Pingo include:

Multi-lingual Website and Phone Prompts: Customers can now select one of five languages, English, Spanish, French, Chinese and Portuguese, as their default language when viewing the Pingo website and for the automated phone prompts when they use the Pingo calling platform;
Global Credit Card Processing: Residents anywhere in the world can now purchase the Pingo service with valid credit cards or other payment services such as PayPal.
Billing in Multiple Currencies: Consumers can now choose to be billed for Pingo usage in U.S. Dollars, Canadian Dollars, British Pounds or Euros;
Rate Listings In Multiple Currencies: Calling rates may be viewed in more than 40 different currencies, allowing consumers to easily compare Pingo's low rates to other services;
Reduced rates to more than 125 destinations worldwide. Examples of rate decreases include calls from the U.S. to India, reduced 30% to 8 cents per minute; United Kingdom to Pakistan, reduced 49% to 5.2 pence per minute; Israel to the U.S., reduced 24% to .436 ILS; and Canada to France Mobile, reduced 28% to .163 CAD. For a full listing of Pingo's low rates, go to http://www.pingo.com.