Chris tries Jajah and Jangl

I’ve been seeing a lot of new technology out there lately that’s all about using VoIP to save you money and guarantee you anonymity when making calls. I figured I’d try a few and share my findings with you, the world.

First up Jajah Mobile, who offer “free global calling directly from your mobile phone”, but should continue “that you have to pay for, but probably less than if you weren’t using Jajah”. I first tried the Jajah version made for the Motorola RAZR V3 on my Motorola V635, which was on the Rogers Wireless network in Canada. The two phones share all but looks so I figured it would work, but the Jajah Mobile application, in J2ME format, didn’t work on my V635 for whatever reason.

I next tried the Jajah version made for the Nokia 7610 on a Nokia 6670, which was on the T-Mobile USA network. I was able to download the app direct to the phone via WAP Push and was pleased to see that this version of Jajah Mobile is Symbian native, excellent. The UI was a bit quirky, but after I figured out the menu I learned that I can use GPRS or SMS as the transport mechanism, sweet for those who don’t have data plans. I then realized that Jajah Mobile is a plugin that runs in the background at all times, all you have to do is dial numbers with a “+*” prefix for Jajah to take over. I tried SMS and GPRS transport and my calls worked in typical Jajah fashion.

Verdict: Jajah Mobile is sweet in Symbian form, but I probably wouldn’t use it because EQO pays my phone bill and I can’t be bothered. However, I can see cheap, tech savvy people eating this up because the mobile long distance cost savings is substantial.

I next gave Jangl a shot. Their blurb is that you can “communicate with anyone using your mobile without ever exchanging phone numbers”. Honestly, this isn’t something I even care about, but I figure whilst on the theme of calling schemes beginning with J, why not see what it’s all about? I signed up with a T-Mobile SIM EQO purchased on its USA travels, which I had to do because the Jangl Beta is not open to us Canadians. Signup involved providing my email and phone number and creating a Jangl id. Upon completing such menial steps I was instructed to call 877JANGLME, which I did to hear the sweet voice of the Jangl lady telling me my number had been verified. I decided to change my PIN next (by pressing 1 mind you), upon so doing the Jangl lady told me that my PIN had been changed for a number that was not mine.

This is where I got scared, hid under my desk in the fetal position, cried a little, and then emailed Jangl support. That was yesterday, they haven’t got back to me yet, we’ll see what happens. Seriously though, if Jangl is telling me my number is something it’s not, maybe they are telling other people my number is theirs? These are the fears of the uneducated and over reactive consumer.

Verdict: Jangl is scary and didn’t work for me, possibly because I’m in Canada, which sucks because this seems like a great tool for making prank calls to friends, my Thursday is ruined.

Chris
EQO Customer Evangelist