Interview with Michael Robertson, CEO, Gizmo Project

Please tell us a bit about the Gizmo Project.

SIPphone was founded 3 years ago. I am the founder of MP3.com. I like open standards and thought that SIP was very important to the VoIP world because it was an open standard that would make the VoIP services interoperable. One of our goals is to make that happen. About two years ago, we thought there was a real need for high quality SIP based VoIP software. Skype is easy to use, the call quality is good and it does traverse networks well, but of course it is proprietary. So we thought that there was real need of SIP standard client to be developed and so we started the Gizmo Project.

It is available today for the Macintosh, Windows and Linux. It also has Jabber based instant messaging system. That is really important because those are open standards and we want consumers to be able to use any directory and any software to be able to call each other. We don’t want the world like instant messaging where if you are on Yahoo you cannot instant message me because I am on AIM or MSN. We want a world like email where if I have your address I can send you email from any operating system, from any software, and it should not matter which service provider I am using.

What is your revenue model?

We sell call-in and call-out services (from and to PSTN)

What percentage of your traffic is PC to PSTN?

I think 75% of our calls are PC to PC and 25% are PC to PSTN.

Do you have an enterprise version of your product?

No, not yet.

Can you list a few features that differentiate you from services like Skype?

There are some features that we have and Skype doesn’t have e.g call recording. It is very important and there a lots of users for that application. We have Call Mapping which shows where the callers are. We have free voice mail. We have free conferencing calling for upto 99 people while for Skype is limited for only 4 people. There is also a very big advantage we have because we are SIP based. We work today with Wifi SIP routers and SIP adaptors. You can see whole type of telephone devices today that work with Gizmo Project. There is no WifiSkype phone out there.

How do you tackle the problem of bandwidth in countries with scarce bandwidth?

We licensed the GIPS technology ILBC which allows our software to choose variable bit rate codec.

What is your take on video enabled soft clients?

I don’t think that video is terribly important to the consumers today. I think that it makes for great demo but I don’t think people are using it on day-to-day basis.

What do you think about the acquisition of Skype?

Every major internet company needs a telecommunication strategy. That telecommunication platform needs to offer both internet messaging and VoIP. I think that is very clear now. Skype acquisition just reinforces how important that is. I am anticipating that small guys like Gizmo Project will probably be purchased much like ICQ was purchased some years ago. Google Talk does not allow you to make regular phone calls for example. So I think you are going to see some acquisitions. It is still very early in VoIP. My previous expertise was in the digital music and I tell people that yes it is true that Skype has a big lead today, but seven years ago Real audio had a big lead over music and things changed.

Do you think services like Skype and Gizmo Project are going to significantly shift the telecom landscape?

The whole traditional telecom business other than the wireless business is going to transfer to the internet companies.

What new features should we expect from your project?

I think advance call management … being able to take your call on your computer or answering on your cell phone or transferred from your computer to your cell phone.  That is the next wave. So advanced call management where you are combining your traditional phones networks, be it your landline or cell phone or your PC, is the next trend.