Truphone intros call through service

Internet telephony player Truphone introduced a call through service on Wednesday, allowing consumers to take advantage of bundled minutes when calling abroad.

The Truphone Anywhere application automatically detects when a user is dialling an international number and routes the call through to a Truphone server, which then sends the long distance part of the call over the internet.

This means that users can take advantage of their bundled minutes to make cheaper calls overseas, by paying Truphone’s cheaper internet call rates. As an example, Truphone reckons a users could make a ten minute call from the UK to Australia for £0.30.

Depending on a user’s tariff, Truphone Anywhere can also be used to make calls when overseas, in this case the Truphone server sets the call up and phones out ot both parties, a process known as call back.

Dean Bubley of Disruptive Analysis, said the approach “makes a lot of sense.” Bubley believes other players will follow suit, bundling together voice over wifi from home or a hotspot, VoIP over 3G when 3G coverage and flatrate data is available, call through which exploits a user’s bundled GSM minutes, as well as a PC client in addition to handset-based calling.