BT begins Ribbit cloud phone beta trial

Taking names to test the service

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3 November 2009 17:12 GMT / By Duncan Geere

BT has finally begun to make something of its acquisition of Ribbit in 2008. The phone company is taking names for a beta trial of a cloud phone service, which will allow any mobile users (not just BT customers) to get online access to their calls, messages and phones.

BT Business got a Ribbit for Salesforce app back in April, but this is the first time consumers have had access to the technology being offered by the cloud computing startup. It'll enable users to get a virtual, online, version of their phone to reply to emails and texts, read voicemail messages and make and receive calls from.

Ted Griggs, founder of Ribbit, said: "There are more than 60 million mobile phones in the UK today, and the Ribbit Mobile service works with most of them. You don’t need a new number or a new device, and you don’t have to download software or sign a contract. You simply activate Ribbit on your phone and go".

Interested mobile users should head over to the Ribbit Mobile site and fill in their details, though don't expect to be allocated an account until early 2010. That's when the beta test is due to start.

Full tags

Phones, Mobile phones, BT, Ribbit, Cloud computing

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