VoIP - A Laymans Look - Should You Or Shouldnt You?

"As business people we manufacture shin pads, or we distribute cat food, or we evangelize, but should we be considering VoIP? Will it make us more money, or save us time?" -Dennis Schooley

So what's all this VoIP hype anyway? I mean we all know that our voice can be delivered to the four corners of the globe over telephone lines. (Actually, I missed that part of second grade math where they taught us that a ball has corners, but everybody says it, so I'll accept it). Alex G. Bell, the second most famous resident of Brantford, Ontario, right after Wayne Gretzky of course, led us down the voice transmission path.

We're also fully aware of the Internet. Otherwise where would we get our sports scores, weather reports, horoscopes, and genealogy fixes. So why do we care about the real-time transmission of our voice, in telephone quality, using Internet protocol (VoIP)?

Presumably the whole concept was created to deliver some benefit to us techno-ignorant dwellers of the house of the masses. As business people we manufacture shin pads, or we distribute cat food, or we evangelize, but should we be considering VoIP? Will it make us money, or save us time? Will it make us more efficient as a Manufacturer, Distributor, or Evangelist? If the answer to those questions is no, then we shouldn't even think about it. So let's explore those questions. After all, it's all about results.

Geoffrey Moore introduced the concept that a product must cross the chasm of market acceptance in the 'Technology Adoption Life Cycle' in his book Crossing the Chasm. In his next book, Inside the Tornado, Moore talks about the tornado of market acceptance that lies like a siren beyond the chasm. It appears that VoIP is clawing up the far wall of the chasm, but we don't know for sure whether it will find that toe hold to crawl out, and catch the swirling tornado winds of fortune. All indicators are that it's going to happen. Dorothy and the Tin Man are holding their breath.

Perhaps the most significant indicator is that the 'business-prevention specialists', a title I usually reserve for lawyers, but in this case is applied affectionately to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), have begun the task of investigating what should be regulated in the world of VoIP. The FCC has already delivered a ruling on a VoIP product offered by AT&T. That fact in itself should make us all take notice that there must be something good coming, or they wouldn't be showing up at the dance to make sure the band isn't too loud.

Larry Stocker, of Schooley Mitchell Telecom Consultants in Kansas City says, 'if my clients' interest in VoIP is any indicator, then I think there will be a big increase in the provision of the service. We have quadrupled our number of assignments in the last six months alone, for clients that wish to select the right VoIP service, at the right price, from the right supplier. That seems to be a good indicator of market acceptance.

Another good indicator would be the number of suppliers, including the tier-one Telco's that have entered the fray to provide VoIP in their own particular flavor. That fact should cause us pause. It should cause us to challenge the original premise that ???talking over the Internet will be free', and that there will be no long distance cost any more. If that were the case, would all of these big companies - the renowned leaders in the telecom world - be scrambling to get to market to provide the service? Maybe it's just their way of giving back to society. I'm more inclined to think there are huge profits at stake.

And now you say, 'but I've already got the Internet, why isn't it free'. Well first of all, you'll need some kind of device that delivers 'telephone quality' over the Internet. Remember, I said 'real time'. Those $20 microphones just don't do it. In addition, have you ever tried to put someone on hold on the Internet, or call forward, or take a voice message you know, the things that businesses do everyday.

Presumably that's what all these suppliers are running the relay for to sell you that 'stuff' at the end of the race. Whether they sell it to you outright, or whether you rent it from them for a monthly service fee isn't the point. The point is that there is a cost to get access, as well as proper business applications. Included in the cost, which will be recovered through charges to you, are signaling, routing, protocol, and interface technologies. Oops, that's not layman's talk.

Presumably that's what all these suppliers are running the relay for to sell you that 'stuff' at the end of the race.

In addition to the access 'stuff' as a layman would say, there has to be access to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), or I would never be able to call my mother. VoIP calls have to terminate on everyday telephone sets because I'm pretty sure my mom doesn't have a VoIP set up at her house. She doesn't have a bankcard, won't stay in a hotel that doesn't have 'real keys', and still loves her dial phone (definitely in Moore's technology buying group called Skeptics or Laggards). There is no way I'll be talking to her over her Internet connection she doesn't have one, and never will. So this VoIP thing will have to access the normal phone system. That's where the FCC and CRTC step in. Their position is that if the PSTN will be accessed, then access fees will have to be paid by the providers. And up goes the cost.

In his book, Implementing Voice Over IP, Bhumip Khasnabish, says "The goals of VoIP implementation are to achieve (a) significant savings in network maintenance and operations costs and (b) rapid rollout of new services."

O.K., so it's not free but there should be 'significant savings' if that holds true. Assuming those savings will be passed on, it should make me more money through cost reduction. Presumably these ???new services' will be designed to save me time, make me more efficient, or provide easier access to my target markets. Just think if one step can be eliminated in the manufacture of shin pads, if distribution channels for cat food are more streamlined, or the Evangelist can find more heathens to convert.

Bill Webster, another Schooley Mitchell consultant in Calgary, Alberta says, "the key is to assess the reliability and quality of service. If the quality is what you need, and by the way, it's improving every day, then a cost-benefit analysis is required comparing your current access to VoIP. Often times VoIP is the winner. As new services with VoIP become available over time, that win will be even more evident for the regular business person."

So there you have it. Should you or shouldn't you, as the title queries? It seems that the answer is akin to; should I or shouldn't I, when Alexander Graham introduced the telephone concept in the first place. I'm pretty sure that everyone, at least those that are alive today, eventually got one. Bell had to deal with laggards too.

It seems that this is the way the market will develop if the supply and regulatory indicators hold true. VoIP is not out of the chasm yet, but when this many suppliers enter the arena, then functionality is driven up to deliver the 'better mouse trap', price is driven down through competitive alternatives, reliability (the bugs are worked out) is driven up by the same forces, and you have emergence.

It seems that if you take Webster's advice and prepare the proper cost-benefit analysis, you're likely going to be getting your kite ready for the VoIP tornado.

Copyright Schooley Mitchell Telecom Consultants 2004

Dennis Schooley is the Founder of Schooley Mitchell Telecom Consultants, a Professional Services Franchise Company. He writes for publication, as well as for http://schooleymitchell.blogging,com and http://franchises.blogging.com, in the subject areas of Franchising, and Technology for the Layman. http://www.schooleymitchell.com, 888-311-6477, dschooley@schooleymitchell.com.

Understanding the Gospel of Matthew and Why it Matters - Part 5

Matthew 2:13-15
The Flight to Egypt

13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.

14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt

15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of Egypt I called my son."

What Are Angels? (v.13)

Since this is the second time already that we have encountered an angel in Matthew's gospel, and since there are several more encounters to come, I think it might be beneficial to pause and answer a couple of questions concerning them. Let us begin by asking, "What are angels?" First, angels are spirits. Hebrews 1:14 says: "Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?" In this way, angels are more like God Himself than they are like human beings. They are different from God, however, because they are created spirits, whereas God is an eternal spirit. Nehemiah 9:6 says, "You are the LORD, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host?and the host of heaven worships you." (emphasis added). Psalm 148:2, 5 reiterates the same truth: "Praise him, all his angels; praise him all his hosts... Let them praise the name of the LORD! For he commanded and they were created."

Second, angels do occasionally take on bodily form. The Bible includes numerous examples of angels appearing in human form. Genesis 18 tells of the angels that talked with Abraham about the sinful city of Sodom. The book of Daniel speaks of the angel that shut the lions' mouths, rescuing Daniel from harm. The angel that appeared at Jesus' tomb, the angel that busted the apostles out of prison, and the angel that appeared to Paul on his voyage to Rome all revealed themselves in the likeness of human beings. Third, the Bible tells us that there is a very large number of angels in existence. The Apostle John, in Revelation 5:11, says, "Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads and myriads and thousands of thousands?" While John was certainly not attempting to give us an exact figure, the phrase "thousands of thousands" indicates that there are at least several million if not several billion angels in the universe.

Fourth, Scripture reveals that there is a hierarchy of angels. We read most often of this hierarchy in reference to the angel Michael. In Jude 9, for example, Michael is called the "archangel", meaning that he held a rank superior to other angels. Daniel 10:13 says that Michael is "one of the chief princes", implying that there are other angels of rank besides Michael. Since Revelation speaks of an army of angels, it is perhaps very possible that different angels hold positions comparable to our military commanders, generals, etc.

Fifth, contrary to common belief, people do not become angels. Human beings and angels are two very different creatures of God. The Bible never speaks of a human becoming an angel or an angel having been a human. In fact, there are some very important distinctions between people and angels. For example, people ? not angels - are created in God's image. And when the angels in heaven rebelled, God never sought to show them mercy as He has to humans. Indeed, 2 Peter 2:4 teaches that "?God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment."

Though for the moment we are "a little lower" than the angels, there is coming a day when angels will be made subject to God's people. Paul reminds us of this day when he asks, "Do you not know that we are to judge angels?"

Hebrews 1:14 is probably the best statement of the purpose of angels in the entire Bible: "Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?" Notice that it does not say that the purpose of angels is to serve Christians, but rather to serve for their sake. Angels serve God, not man. Yet they were created to serve God by doing His bidding in regard to His salvation plan. Angels are God's agents to do what must be done that you and I might be saved. This includes spiritual warfare, providing unseen protection, and ultimately fighting a great battle against Satan

Isn't it amazing to consider than angels exist for your sake ? if you are a believer in Christ. Take a moment and praise God for the countless activities of unseen angels on your behalf.

Does God Speak Through Angels and Dreams Today?

Both times that an angel appeared to Joseph, it took place in a dream. In the Scriptures we sometimes see God communicate through angels, sometimes through dreams and visions, and sometimes ? as with Joseph - through both together. Should we expect God to speak to us in these ways today?

There is nothing in Scripture that indicates that angels could not appear to us today as they did in the Bible. In fact, the writer of Hebrews seems to say that we should anticipate the possibility of an angelic visit. In Hebrews 13:2 he says, "Do not neglect to show hosp-itality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."

That being said, it would be wrong to read of the many angelic encounters in Scripture and to infer that these were common events. Rather, there were often several centuries that passed by between Biblically recorded instances. We would be wise to note that in almost every occasion where the Bible speaks of someone encountering an angel that person is surprised and initially afraid. This indicates that angelic encounters were rare events ? even in Biblical times.

Moreover, even in the rare occasions where humans receive messages from angels, the Bible warns that not every angel is to be trusted. Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, claimed that he received much of his doctrine from an angel. If this is true, the angel he encountered was not an angel from God, but a demon. The Bible warns that "even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light." Paul, seeming to anticipate the possibility of a devilish angel speaking false truth to humans, says, "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed." Ultimately, the Bible must be our authority from which we test all other claims. If an angel or anyone else declares something to be true which the Bible claims to be false ? or vice versa ? the Bible is the truth. God's Word stands firm against the opinions of any person, whether he be a human or an angel.

But what about dreams? Might God choose to communicate to His children through a dream or vision? There is good reason to think that He might. The prophet Joel spoke about the days following the ascension of Christ by saying, "And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams." In Acts 2:14-21, Peter makes it very clear that Joel's prophecy was describing the time between Jesus' death and His second coming. Thus, we should conclude that God is using visions and dreams to speak to His children today.

This does not mean that every dream is a message from God. Most of my dreams are about silly things that have no discernable meaning at all. Even dogs and other animals dream. The Scriptures seem to show that when God chooses to give somebody a special dream or vision, they immediately recognize that this is no ordinary dream. In speaking with people who have experienced these things, they described themselves as being awake and alert, fully conscious during the vision. They have assured me that what they experienced was not like any regular dream, but was clearly from God.

Once again, let me assert that Scripture alone is our final authority for knowing God's truth. While God may sometimes use dreams or visions to communicate a specific aspect of His will, He will never call or command anyone to do something that is against His already revealed will. If someone claims to have been told in a dream or vision to do something immoral, we can be assured that this person is either lying or deceived.

Did Matthew Make A Mistake? (v. 15)

Some might say that Matthew did make a mistake in interpreting Hosea 11:1 as a prophecy concerning Jesus being taken to Egypt. Matthew is still trying to convince his fellow Jews that Jesus fulfills the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah, and in this passage he argues that "Out of Egypt I called my son" applies to the baby Jesus. The problem with this is that Matthew does not quote the entire verse of Hosea, which says, "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son." In other words, the "son" in Hosea clearly referred to Israel, not Jesus! Did Matthew make a mistake?

No. Matthew knew exactly what he was doing. When Hosea spoke of Israel being called out of Egypt, he was recalling an event that had taken placed 700 years before him, and 1400 years before Matthew. Yet Matthew realized that Israel's exodus from Egypt was a picturesque prophecy of Jesus' exodus from Egypt.

God called Israel out of Egypt and chose them for Himself. He told them that they would be His people and He would be their God. He gave them His commandments and promised that as long as they obeyed Him, He would bless them as a people. Israel did not obey God, but followed after idols. They were made to wander in the wilderness for forty years, and then after finally coming to the Promised Land, their sin resulted in them being taken captive and deported to other nations. God chose them for Himself, but they would not obey.

Jesus came as the reconciliation between God and Israel. Jesus came to do what Israel could not do ? namely, be completely and utterly obedient to God. Remember what Jesus said in John 6:38? "I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me." Jesus' life was devoted to being obedient to His father?even when this obedience required His death on a cross.

So when God causes Jesus to be brought out of Egypt like the nation of Israel, or later, when He moves Jesus into the wilderness for forty days and nights, He is clearly trying to display to the Jews that Jesus has come to take their place. Jesus has come to be the obedient people that they could not be, and to pay the price that they deserve, so that they could once again and forever be God's chosen people.

If you are a Christian, you are a spiritual Jew. Paul teaches in Romans 11 that God has chosen some Gentiles to be "grafted it" to His chosen Jewish tree. Furthermore, the Bible says that when this world is over, all believers will dwell in a new "Jerusalem" and we will be God's chosen people forever.

America has often been called "The Great Melting Pot", because so many people from vastly different ethnic heritages are citizens of the USA. Yet heaven will be the true "Great Melting Pot". Consider this mystery: In heaven, Israel - the chosen people of God - will be made up of Jews, Americans, Mexicans, Brazilians, Ecuadorians, South Africans, Australians, and Chinese, Russians, Japanese, and many, many more!

Jesus came to earth and lived and died so that every person who has faith in Him might be reconciled to God. Have you been reconciled to God? If so, praise God for His marvelous grace in Christ Jesus! Rest your faith completely on the merits of Jesus, and take time to consider your heavenly home and the many different kinds of people you will be with there.

Justin Nale is the pastor of Mount Hermon Missionary Baptist Church, a Southern Baptist Church in Rocky Mount, NC - http://www.mhmbc.org

Overcoming the Fear of Selling

For many of you the Fear of Selling is a huge challenge and obstacle for you from day to day. The first thing you need to do is find out exactly what it is you're afraid of. Are you afraid of success? Believe it or not there this is an actual fear of some folks. Are you afraid of failure or rejection? Do you fear being perceived as being pushy? Do you (secretly of course) fear that your product may not meet the expectations of your customer? You can't come up with a solution if you don't know what the problem is.

There's a huge misconception in direct sales being that you think you're 'imposing' on your friends, family or just a customer in general. As long as you feel as though you're imposing...you are. You need to love your product and feel as though you are offering a service. You're filling a need.

People are natural-born sellers. We just don't realize it when we're not making money from it. Let's say you go to a movie that you loved and you have a friend that you know would enjoy it too. Wouldn't you recommend it to him/her?

So why is it that as soon as we go into sales we automatically feel as though we can't recommend the products we sell. Why is it that we tend to feel guilty because we're going to make a profit off of it?

If you are one that has a fear of selling, take some time today to figure out the cause of your fear, and take action to fix it!

~~~~~~~

About the Authors: Kara Kelso & Anita DeFrank are two busy wahms, and the owners of Direct Sales Helpers. Learn how you can be successful in your company by visiting: http://www.DirectSalesHelpers.com

R.O.I. -- O.K., Heres The Deal!

You can SO measure return-on-investment for a public relations program!

Try this.

Accept the fact that people act on their own perceptions of the facts, and that this leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done.

When public relations creates, changes or reinforces those perceptions by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action those people whose behaviors affect the organization, the public relations effort is successful.

This means you set a clearcut behavioral goal for a key target audience when you began the program, and you achieved it.

This is pure success by any definition.

It also means you received precisely the return-on-investment you contracted to pay for at the beginning of the program and, in my view, about as much R.O.I. as you're entitled to.

So, you CAN measure return-on-investment for a public relations effort after all.

Please feel free to publish this article and resource box in your ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website. A copy would be appreciated at bobkelly@TNI.net.

Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to business, non-profit and association managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia University, major in public relations.

Visit: http://www.prcommentary.com; bobkelly@TNI.net

The Challenges of Single Parenting

Having worked with parents for the last 35 years and written books on parenting and relationships, I've discovered that one of the greatest challenges for us as parents is to be loving role-models for our children, showing our children through our behavior how to take personal responsibility for their own feelings and needs. Our children need to learn from our role-modeling how to nurture themselves within and how to create a sense of safety in the world. In families where both a mother and father are present, both parents can participate in nurturing the child emotionally and taking care of the child in the world, and both parents can role-model what it looks like to do this for themselves.

Single parents have a far greater challenge - they have to be both mother and father to the child. Mothering energy is that energy that nurtures while fathering energy is that energy that protects in the world - that is, earning money, setting boundaries with others, speaking up for oneself. While our society often defines women as the nurturers and men as the protectors, both men and women are capable of both nurturing and protecting in the world.

In order for a single parent to successfully be both mother and father, he or she must have learned how to be both mother and father to the Child within. In other words, we have to have learned how to nurture our own Inner Child - how to take responsibility for our own fears, pain, anger, hurt, and disappointment, and how to take care of our Inner Child in the world - earn money, set boundaries, and so on. There is no way to successfully teach our children these skills until we are doing them ourselves, which means that each of us needs to be in a process of learning how to do this.

We have developed a process that teaches us how to care for and nurture ourselves, while also loving others. This process, called Inner Bonding, teaches us how to become a loving Adult to our own Inner Child and to our actual children. Inner Bonding is a six-step psychospiritual process that can be learned and practiced daily, and that leads to the development of a spiritually-connected loving inner Adult.

Inner Bonding defines the Inner Child as our core self, who we are when we are born - our natural creativity, intuition, playfulness, imagination, talents, feelings, and ability to love. Our Child is our inner experience. Our Adult is everything we learn after we are born. It is our thoughts, beliefs, and ability to take action. We start learning how to be an Adult from the moment we are born through watching our parents and other caregivers. The Adult we learn to be is a child-adult, the part of us that learned many fears and false beliefs and learned addictive ways, such as using substances, TV, spending, anger, or compliance to avoid pain. A true loving Adult is that part of us that is spiritually connected to a Higher Source of truth and love and is able to bring that truth and love down into the Child and share it with others. The adult many of us operate from most of the time is really a wounded child masquerading as an adult. It is our unhealed wounded self that causes us problems with ourselves and our children. Inner Bonding is a process for healing the wounded self and developing a spiritually-connected loving Adult.

In Inner Bonding, there are only two possible intents at any given moment: the intent to learn about love and the intent to protect against and avoid pain. The intent to learn says that we want to learn about our own pain in order to understand what we need to do to be loving to our Inner Child and others; The intent to protect says that we want to avoid experiencing our pain at all cost. The child-adult is always in the intent to protect and the loving Adult is always in the intent to learn.

The six-steps of Inner Bonding are:

1. The willingness to become aware of our pain rather than protect against it with our various addictions.

2. The conscious decision to move into the intent to learn.

3. Dialoguing with our wounded self to discover the false beliefs and resulting behavior behind the pain. Releasing anger and pain in appropriate ways.

4. Dialoguing with our Higher Power to learn about truth and loving behavior.

5. Taking loving action in behalf or our Inner Child.

6. Evaluating the action.

All parents needs to be in a process of healing themselves. It is particularly important for single parents to be in this process since they are the primary role-models for their children. The more you heal the fears and false beliefs of your wounded self, the more loving you will naturally be with yourself and your children. Learning to utilize these six step throughout the day, especially in times of anger, fear, anxiety and stress, will eventually heal the false beliefs leading to these difficult feelings.

About The Author

Margaret Paul, Ph.D. is the best-selling author and co-author of eight books, including "Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By You?" She is the co-creator of the powerful Inner Bonding healing process. Learn Inner Bonding now! Visit her web site for a FREE Inner Bonding course: http://www.innerbonding.com or mailto:margaret@innerbonding.com. Phone sessions available.

margaret@innerbonding.com

Instant Messaging through Mobile Phones

Instant Messengers are very popular on PCs, with the advancement of mobile technology it has become possible to connect to MSN, Yahoo!, ICQ and other instant messenger services through mobile phones. The possibility of using internet from mobile devices and the possibility of executing J2ME Java programs on mobiles makes signing on to instant messenger services using mobile devices. The only major problem becomes the input of messages as only a few can type in messages very fast. Particularly with the low cost of mobile internet and reducing cellular phone prices, it is only a matter of time before every cell phone user would also be connected to an instant messenger services. It is assumed the reader knows how to transfer programs to his mobile phone and has subscribed to mobile internet service.

WIRELESS VILLAGE:

Most of the new mobile phones come with a built in chat client based on the wireless village technology, it is known as "My Friends" on SonyEricsson phones. Although it certainly is not going to be used a lot in future because it is based on a polling system it is currently the best option for most phones. The phone has to connect to the server every few minutes and get the new status of online contacts or get new messages. Therefore the messages are not 'Instant', there is some delay between the messages. Although this technology has been around for sometime not many people seem to know about it. Mostly because the phone manufacturers or the cellular service providers do not provide a server which could be used with the client built in on the phones. However there is a Wireless Village service which provides this service for free. Check www.yamigo.com for using this. The one very big advantage of using this over the other methods is that phones have an option to use this in the background. This means u can play a game and use this simultaneously. The very big disadvantage is that you have to add every person whose online status you wish to be notified of in your Yamigo contact list as well.

AGILE MESSENGER:

This is probably the best Instant Messenger Client available for mobile devices but one drawback is that it would only run on Symbian phones. Most of the phones have only Java capability and cannot use this. This client comes with a well designed user interface and can connect to MSN, Yahoo!, ICQ and AIM. This is the second most common option after web or WAP based clients. It is to be noted that Symbian OS allows multiple programs to be run at once. I have not check this technique but have seem others use it very successfully.

Although the Agile Messenger website says they have got a Java version of the program, it is not available for download freely and you presumably have to ask your cellular service provider for this J2ME version.

JABBER:

Jabber technology has been around for sometime, this lets users to connect to multiple instant messenger networks simultaneously. This consists of a server and client. The server stores the usernames and passwords for all networks. You have to login to the server using a jabber client. There are now several Jabber clients available for mobile phones. A very good service especially for mobile phones is available at www.jabber.nu. They have got several builds of their client for different mobiles. However the older phones which have MIDP1.0 would not be able to use most of the jabber clients as they do not have TCP socket support.

E-MESSENGER:

This is the most popular method as all it requires is a phone that support mobile internet. No Java support, Symbian OS or anything else is required. All this needs is a WAP browser. The service is available on www.e-messenger.com. However in the mobile you have to enter: mob.e-messenger.net. I have successfully used this on many phones. There are major drawbacks as the login screen would not remember your sign in name. If you have to use something else on your mobile you would have to close the WAP browser. This site is only for MSN, there might be other such sites for other networks.

There are also other methods available, most of which are commercial and you have to pay to use those services, but I don't think that it is worth paying them as you can not get the chatting experience on PC. All the methods I have listed above can be used for free although you have to pay for your internet subscribtion.

It would not take long before a client and server is created so that anyone can run the server on his 24/7 static IP internet connection to which the client would connect. So that users can avoid giving their login information to third parties. Such a client/server application would be made so that the data transfer between the mobile and the server is reduced and mobile internet charges are lower.

Ibrahim Mohammad
ibrahim.mohammad@gmail.com
http://ibrahimm.united.net.kg

A Guide to Finding Fast Homeowner Loans

Sometimes finding fast homeowner loans can seem impossible? no matter what you do, it seems like traditional lenders such as banks and finance companies take way too long to process loan applications.

Fast homeowner loans can be had, however? the hardest part is finding out where to look.

Of course, the best part is that because of how the loan is structured, even people with less than perfect credit can qualify for fast homeowner loans provided they have enough equity in their home.

If you're not exactly sure what equity is, or how it's used for these loans, then read on? everything will be explained so that you can be on your way to getting the loan that you need quickly.

The structure of the loan

Fast homeowner loans work on a fairly simple principle? the equity in your home or real estate is used as collateral to secure and guarantee the loan.

What this means is that the equity (which is a term used to denote the amount of the mortgage that you have paid in comparison to the total amount of the mortgage) that you have in your house is used by the bank or lender to ensure that they get their money back even if you are unable to repay the loan.

The more equity that you have in your house, the more the house is worth to the lender? which means that you'll be eligible for larger fast homeowner loans.

The main problem is that some banks and traditional lenders can take days or even weeks to determine exactly how much you're eligible to borrow, and whether you're approved for the amount that you request? days and weeks that you might not have if you're in the market for fast homeowner loans. Luckily, there is an alternative that tends to be much faster.

The online revolution

More and more people are turning to online lending services for fast homeowner loans.

In addition to the convenience of being able to access a website to research and apply for a loan from your own home 24 hours a day, online lenders tend to offer competitive (if not lower) rates to most banks and traditional lenders and tend to process applications for fast homeowner loans much faster than many other lenders.

Online lending services usually have lower overhead than their real-world counterparts, which means that they're able to keep their rates low? and since they're based on informational websites, much of the loan research that you might want to do is easily accessible.

It's still a good idea to take some time and compare rate quotes from several lenders (both online and in the physical world), but if time is a major issue you might be best served to investigate the options that you have available online for fast homeowner loans.

You may freely reprint this article provided the following author's biography (including the live URL link) remains intact:

About The Author

John Mussi is the founder of Direct Online Loans who help homeowners find the best available loans via the http://www.directonlineloans.co.uk website.