Monday, September 15, 2008

Calling Circles

FWD outlined instructions for creating Calling Circles on the FWDWiki. A Calling Circle offers the telecom equivalent of social networking friend lists. It is a directory of friends accessible via FWD. The elimination of usage based communication charges associated with services like FWD gives communication with friends a different character. The wait continues for cool new communication applications, but Free World Dialup members already enjoy global termination of calls as with any Internet application. The technical setup obstacles remain significant, but any FWD member can talk with any other FWD member anywhere in the world for as long as they want for no cost beyond the $30 membership fee. This opens up the possibility for a different type of communication experience even as the process of dialing numbers and dependence on a familiar looking telephones remains unchanged.