When we introduced VertiCall (formerly VoxAP) it was a gamechanger. We made sure almost everything about it differed to the swathe of ‘SIP client’ apps out there.
It doesn’t repeatedly register, saving battery. Everything is encrypted by default, as opposed to absolutely nothing with others. And it makes the best of Simwood’s unique position as the only carrier to support wide-band dynamic codecs such as Opus, for the best mobile calling experience. It also hooks into our branding API so it picks up your branding on load, and some customers even have their own full branded (before load) versions in app stores.
It has been a free addition to our Hosted platform since, as many of you will have experienced, for both iOS and Android.
Unfortunately, we let you down. There were some bugs which manifested for some users which we took too long to address, giving a negative experience to your end-users. Somewhere in the confluence of factors between there being dozens of Android variants each with their own quirks and other things to do, it got neglected. We couldn’t practically maintain it. Speaking to industry friends at dedicated softphone houses, we weren’t alone and Android in particular seems to make all of us regret releasing mobile clients!
In Q3 I gave Charles and team an objective of evaluating the options so we could make a clean decision, one way or another. I honestly expected them to want to throw in the towel, ditch it, and want to white-label one of the bigger brands. This would have been pretty sad given the features that would have been lost and the, at least partial, erosion of VertiCall’s USPs. It’d also have been a first for Simwood.
I’m delighted to say this wasn’t the decision made. Our initiative to expand our team in Georgia has opened numerous doors and we’re seeing some awesome colleagues join what our Gen Zs call “the Simwood fam”. Of the incredible hires we’re making over there, we’re now including dedicated developers to focus on mobile apps going forwards. Work has however already begun on fixing bugs, as a Q4 objective, but this additional resource will make it sustainable. We’re committed to making VertiCall the best it can be for you and your clients.
