Fring è uno dei più popolari e apprezzati (certamente dal sottoscritto) software mobile VoIM, compatib ile con tutti i network IM più diffusi, Skype e SIP. L’omonima società israeliana non ha però mai dichiarato come intende produrre qualche ricavo, obiettivo non trascurabile per una startup che ha già raccolto 20 milioni di dollari di finanziamenti. Fring fornisce già il proprio software a centinaia di operatori VoIP che possono offrire ai propri utenti una versione di Fring preconfigurata per i propri servizi. Il servizio offerto da Fring alle aziende in questione però è gratuito. Qual’è quindi il suo business model?

Markus Göbel ha avuto modo di vedere e fotografare una versione di Fring con annunci pubblicitari, probabilmente solo una demo delle possibilità, ma senza dubbio un’anticipazione sul futuro di Fring da non trascurare. Anche Nimbuzz pensa da tempo alla pubblicità come strumento per monetizzare la base utenti del proprio software mobile VoIP, dalle caratteristiche simili a Fring.

Many people were wondering during the last two years how the Israeli mobile VoIP company Fringland Ltd. wants to make any money. Their versatile software works on virtually every platform and supports more than 1.000 mobile handsets. I heard that 200.000 new users sign up every month to Fring, as well as 80 companies which want to become a SIP affiliate. More than 500 SIP companies are already using the Israeli software as an easy to deploy solution for mobile VoIP, by sending a preconfigured Fring to their users’ handsets or telling their customers how to use it. Fring invested heavily in software development and has to channel the other 500 companies’ traffic over its own servers. Every voice connection goes first from the cellphone to Fring’s servers, no matter if it’s on Skype, SIP or Google Talk. Fring could take its share from the other companies’ earnings, but hey do it for free. Also there is no paid version of Fring. All these business ideas are still in the cloud.

So how does Fring want to make money?

The cell phone multi messenger, which also serves perfectly for nearly free VoIP calls over 3G, should soon be sponsored by advertising. At the OSiM World conference in Berlin I saw an unreleased software version with banner ads for McDonald’s in Fring’s chat window. In a former occassion I could already see advertising by Gillette. The Israeli company with $20 million in venture capital seems to finally care now for revenue streams. Although CEO Avi Shechter had told me in February in an interview at Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress that the entire year of 2008 would be dedicated exclusively to software development and revenues would be irrelevant. “The McDonald’s banner ads are just a demonstration”, said Fring’s cofounder Boaz Zilberman when we met in Berlin. So until now Fring makes no money from advertising but is proving the concept.

Fring with McDonald’s banner ad on a Nokia N95 8 GB | Foto: Markus Göbel

Via Markus Göbel’s Tech News Comments: Finally Fring reveals how it wants to make money

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