Telecom jargon aside, this is the basis for a potential Extend Home/Republic Anywhere like thing. Wonder what the Anywhere developers are up to…
Justen is Mobi’s CEO and a self-confessed telecom geek. Prior to Mobi, he was with Ting Mobile (long before DISH acquired it).
It’s probably been a year since I’ve used my home phone handset to do anything but clear the voicemail waiting indicator. As a telecom geek myself, home handsets are becoming extinct even in my home. My in-laws, in their 80’s, don’t use anything but cell phones anymore. There might be some advantage to having your cell phone ring your Alexa or Google Home device, but would it catch on with more than a small subset of people? I’m doubtful.
Would it be mass market, no. Neither are turntables and vinyl records but there’s a niche for those. There’s nothing inherently wrong with serving a niche.
I liked the idea of sticking the mobile phone on its charger when home and still being able to take calls on handsets other than the mobile (especially if the handsets were closer). For the most part, I’m able to replicate that with conditional call forwarding and separate cheap VoIP service. For outbound calls, retrieving the mobile isn’t the end of the world.
Niche or not, I’m also a firm believer everyone should have working 911 on something other than a mobile phone. Cellular 911 still has limitations in determining location particularly in vertical multiple dwelling unit environments. There’s no guarantee one will be able to communicate with a 911 operator even if able to make the call. Something that sends one’s specific location (address) can literally save one’s life.
Separately, calling and text messaging using an app independent of one’s mobile SIM has advantages. As an example, when traveling internationally, one would have access to their U.S. number via app while using a local (in country) SIM. Dual SIM via eSIM is becoming more common but is still, generally, limited to higher end phones.
I don’t see this (nor do I believe anyone at Mobi sees this) as a huge market waiting to be tapped. It’s just an example of what’s possible when you not the upstream carrier partner controls the core. A much more significant market is wearables. Currently, only the MNOs, MNO owned flanker brands and the cablecos support wearables as paired devices sharing the same number as one’s mobile. Controlling the core changes that.
@rolandh said:
I liked the idea of sticking the mobile phone on its charger when home and still being able to take calls on handsets other than the mobile (especially if the handsets were closer). For the most part, I’m able to replicate that with conditional call forwarding and separate cheap VoIP service. For outbound calls, retrieving the mobile isn’t the end of the world.
Niche or not, I’m also a firm believer everyone should have working 911 on something other than a mobile phone. Cellular 911 still has limitations in determining location particularly in vertical multiple dwelling unit environments. There’s no guarantee one will be able to communicate with a 911 operator even if able to make the call. Something that sends one’s specific location (address) can literally save one’s life.
Yes, I totally agree with you. I have a Panasonic cordless phone system with Link2cell. I love being able to pick up my cell calls at any extension. I also feel more comfortable holding my home extensions.
I still have a VOIP service (Ooma). Years ago I was walking downtown, got held up, and called 911 on my cell phone and was connected to the California Highway Patrol. Needless to say, I made sure to add the local police dispatch number to my cell phone contacts after that.
A post was split to a new topic: Mobi Beta Opportunity
I’ve previously posted the link to this podcast with Mobi’s CEO Justen Burdette before but am doing so again because, apparently, it’s this podcast’s podcast of the year:
Mobi’s new core (still in beta) is the topic of discussion. More on Mobi’s beta here:
While the new core remains in beta, there is nothing beta about Mobi’s current generally available Verizon network based service. I’m both beta testing Mobi’s new core and using Mobi’s Verizon network based service as primary service. I’m very much a fan of Mobi’s much as I was of the old Republic before DISH.
