FreeKall, A Free Advertising Driven Alternative To Calling Launched

A team of Engineers from Bangalore have launched an interesting alternative to making a Phone Call.

Using existing Cloud based technology and supporting the endeavor through mandatory advertising, Yashas Shekar, Vijayakumar Umaluti and Sandesh Eshwarappa have launched FreeKall. Despite currently being in beta testing phase, the startup managed to connect over 10 Lakh calls so far.

How does the platform work? Conceptualized during the college education time, the founders thought of offering the platform via a Call Center that could manually connect two callers. But with the easy access to Cloud based infrastructure the team has managed to automate the entire process with no human element present during the process. Moreover, the platform works without the end–user having access to internet, which is required for VoIP services.

To make a call, users need to dial 080-67683693. The call is automatically disconnected after the first ring. Thereafter the system calls back the number and an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) prompts the caller to dial the intended number. Thus the connection between one caller and the other is established. The call is presently limited to just 2 Minutes for unregistered callers and 12 Minutes for registered users. Additionally, users can’t make international calls as the company is awaiting necessary clearances from the relevant Governmental authorities. Once those are obtained, the makers plan to remove the time restrictions too.

The entire endeavor is supported and fueled by advertising. When the call is being connected the caller is pushed voice based advertising. Thereafter, the call is interrupted every 2 minutes and both the parties are made to listen to advertising. The company has tied–up with Streetsmart Media Solutions for the advertising.

The company has already bagged Rs. 10 Lakh (US$ 16,000) seed funding from Ranjith Cherickel, a telecom professional who has worked at Nokia Siemens Networks, Verizon Wireless and Skype, who says,

“I expect them to expand internationally in less than a year. This will work well in developing countries and potentially in high-tariff developed markets.”

Sure enough the company plans to expand to Africa soon. With such a unique disruptive approach to an elemental need, has the company come up with a great product?

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