New service from Orange's Libon ensures you'll never miss a call again
Several weeks ago, I was contacted by Dan Walsh of Mustard PR, who wanted to give me the heads up about a new feature being launched by his client, Libon.
Libon now uses Wi-Fi to allow you to place and receive calls using your mobile number if you’re experiencing poor mobile coverage at home, in the office or even the tube. It offers users the peace of mind that they are always reachable and will never miss a call again. It can be used abroad to avoid roaming costs too.
Dan was keen for me to meet with the Head of Libon, Dominic Lobo, to get the low down on the new service. Unfortunately, work commitments prevented that – so I asked him if Dominic would be up for something a little creative and we invited him to write a letter to Mobile Industry Review readers.
So, especially for you, here’s what we’ve got:
A letter to Mobile Industry Readers – from Dominic Lobo, Head of Libon
I’ve been involved with the mobile industry for more than 20 years and I can honestly say that in all those years the challenges facing the industry have never been greater. However, hand in hand with those challenges come some fantastic opportunities to innovate. Since January I’ve been fortunate to be working with the fantastic team at Libon, an OTT communication service developed by Orange.
Being lean within any organisation is always a challenge. Map that against the dynamic mobile industry and it’s always going to be a battle. Within Libon we’ve managed to create a product, which at its’ heart is an OTT HD quality VoIP app, available to anyone on any network. Libon to Libon calls are always free and we offer competitive rates to call mobile and fixed numbers in over 100 countries. Voice ‘Packs’ is available to buy as an in-app purchase from the App Shop and Google Play. Aligned to that we have added a suite of features including; instant messaging, where you can share voice messages and media, a Visual Voicemail feature allowing users to create personalised messages for each contact and groups and you can even have voicemails you’re too busy to listen to turned into text and emailed to you. Nothing new I hear you say, but what’s exciting is our ability to listen to our customers and bring them the features they want – very quickly.
For instance, following customer feedback we recently introduced ‘Open Chat’ a service that means you don’t have to worry about which messaging app or service your contacts use. Just message them as normal and Libon will create a private chat browser between you. And most recently we introduced ‘Reach Me’ enabling Wi-Fi calling when there’s poor or no mobile signal.
As a further example of how we can quickly innovate, and expand our horizons Libon is currently available in 140 destinations globally and we are starting to forge partnerships with other operators that help to connect more people to their family and friends. We’ve just announced the first of these partnerships with Globe Mobile, the second largest operator in the Philippines. The deal makes it easy for people in the US to call home to the Philippines and at very competitive prices. We can get up and running with a new partner operator in matter of weeks.
It’s exciting times for the mobile industry and in Libon we have a great opportunity to listen, develop and release product features in a timely manner. If you get a moment, check out Libon on iOS or Android. I’d love to know your thoughts.
Dominic
Our thanks to both Dan and Dominic for this contribution.
