September 27, 2004

Entrepreneur And Alumnus Brings Internet Phone To UCSD Campus

By Paul K. Mueller

Entrepreneurial UCSD graduate Michael Robertson – founder of MP3.com and Linspire Inc. – has another innovative project under way, and this one provides benefits for 10,000 telephone users at his thriving alma mater.

Robertson’s latest startup, SIPphone Inc., and its voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) network, has been connected to UCSD’s telephone network, so users can now directly dial thousands of SIPphone users in over 100 countries – free of charge. And users in those countries can call family and friends at UCSD for the same unbeatable price.

According to Robertson, the project was recently initiated as a demonstration, and appears to work well. “The voice quality is very good, and seems to be the same as the quality of a ‘standard’ phone conversation,” he said. “In the next phase of the project, we may experiment with adding peering arrangements with other universities. We want to expand the population that can take advantage of these services, as well as improve the technology.”

The principal advantage of the SIPphone system is that messages travel over Internet, rather than standard, telephone lines. Users at UCSD dial a 747 area code, and are connected to the SIPphone network; worldwide SIPphone users simply dial the 858 area code and UCSD-specific prefixes. (Visit http://www.sipphone.com/ for more information about the company and its services.)

Elazar Harel, assistant vice chancellor of administrative computing and telecommunications at USCD, who led the university’s activities on this project, said that connecting the networks was both easy and inexpensive. “It cost less than $1,000,” he said, “and we’re pleased with the results. We’re always looking for ways to stay current with technology and use it for improving the services we provide our faculty, staff and students.”

Robertson, the project’s other proud parent, touts the system’s benefits. “Because joining the SIPphone network is free and instant,” he said, “parents, professors abroad and other academics can quickly dial any number on campus for free, whether they’re on an archeology dig in Turkey or at home in New Delhi.” SIPphone calls to other SIPphone users are always free, he said, and calls to public switched-phone (“traditional”) networks are very inexpensive.”

Better yet, said Robertson, systems “peering” with SIPphone can also peer with all other peering partners, so if the entire University of California system were peered with SIPphone, all traffic among the UC system campuses would be toll-free.

SIPphone also offers free voicemail-to-email and free on-the-fly conference calling to all its customers, said Robertson, and those services are available to users at UCSD.

Harel emphasizes that the linked-network project is still in its experimental stage and has some limitations. “For example, the system can only handle about 25 simultaneous calls right now,” he said, “but we expect to learn a lot from this pilot and enhance capabilities as the project progresses.”

Robertson, like many alumni, focuses on the project’s benefits for the UCSD family. “Think of all the parents and traveling academics who can now call any UCSD number directly, and for free,” he said. “It is very powerful.”

Media Contact: Paul K. Mueller, (858) 534-8564