Talkster, a Toronto start-up, is developing a network that will allow mobile phone users to connect to corporate VoIP networks to save on monthly phone bills. The enterprise-class service is due out in March.

To prove the service works, Talkster recently unveiled a beta version of its software for consumers. The Talkster service is designed to cut the cost of international long-distance and roaming charges for mobile phones.

Talkster also allows mobile phone users to call popular instant messaging services including MSN and Google Talk. Talkster users can view a list of their IM contacts on the screen of the phone, see the presence of those contacts, and then decide how best to communicate with contacts.

"What we’re doing is building an enterprise service, which is going to consolidate the various voice and text services that people are using in the enterprise and put the devices they are already using – cell phones or BlackBerries – under IT policies," says James Wanless, president and COO of Talkster.

With the Talkster service, callers make a local cellular telephone call to the Talkster gateway service, which handles the long-distance piece of the call via VoIP.

How much money Talkster users will save on their cell phone or BlackBerry bills depends on the calling plans they have. The savings come from transporting international calls and IMs over the Internet backbone instead of cellular networks.

"We can connect the phone call to anyone in the world and [the user] realizes substantial savings," Wanless says.

To take advantage of Talkster, users need a regular cell phone made during the last three years, an ordinary voice plan and a browser. The service also works with BlackBerry devices. An option due out next year will offer tighter integration for BlackBerry users.

To sign up for Talkster’s beta service, cell phone users must go to the company’s Web address and enter their names, e-mail addresses and mobile telephone numbers. They must upload the name, e-mail addresses and IM addresses for the contacts they want to reach through the Talkster service.

Signing up for the beta service is free and so are IM calls. Users can buy a prepaid bundle to cover international calls.

The enterprise version of the service will allow network managers to see in real-time what’s going on with employees’ cell phone usage. Network managers will be able to set policies, such as who can call what countries, as well as archive communications.

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