NEW IN THE BLOCK

TELE MONALISA OFFERS VoIP LONG DISTANCE CONNECTIONS TO "MAKE YOU SMILE" Clearwater, FL, USA - Tired of paying expensive long distance telephone calls? So is Tele Monalisa Co., a startup VoIP service headquartered in the Tampa Bay area of Florida, which announced a new service to enable customers to make long distance calls over the Internet at a fraction of today's market prices. VoIP stands for "Voice over Internet Protocol" representing a relatively new technology enabling people to communicate over the Internet as opposed to conventional telephones.
Tele Monalisa is certainly not the first in the VoIP market, as others such as Yahoo! and Skype have already established a presence in the industry, but these primarily are PC-to-PC connections. Instead, Tele Monalisa provides an adapter to plug into your Internet router which also plugs into ordinary telephones, thereby allowing telephone-to-telephone service which is more familiar to consumers. Vonage is also providing a VoIP enabled service, but the difference here is one of price, where Tele Monalisa offers highly competitive prices.
According to Tele Monalisa officials, their service is primarily aimed at people interested in communicating long distance, not for local calls. If both parties subscribe to a Tele Monalisa plan, they can talk unlimited for as little as $9.95 a month (each subscriber). For connections outside of the Tele Monalisa network, rates are dramatically low. For example, calls to Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom are less than two cents a minute; calls to China are less than three cents a minute. Such inexpensive communications makes Tele Monalisa's service ideal for communicating long distance with friends, family members, and business contacts around the world.
The Tele Monalisa service is digital thereby providing clear, quality connections. As such, it is only available to broadband Internet users (DSL, cable) who use a router. It is not available to slow-speed dial-up connections. To implement the Tele Monalisa service, a customer simply plugs a preprogrammed Tele Monalisa adapter into their router and analog telephone. They are then immediately ready to make long distance connections. The adapter is so easy to use, the customer can disconnect it and take it with them when they travel. They simply plug the adapter into any other broadband supported router, such as those found in most hotels today.
Tele Monalisa adapters are available for either a single line or for two lines (allowing multiple telephones to plug into it). In addition to adapters, Tele Monalisa sells a VoIP enabled phone which includes a built-in adapter to plug into routers. Next up, the company is planning to introduce a Wireless phone that is enabled at any Internet "hot-spot" as found in corporate offices, coffee shops, airports, shipping offices, hotels, libraries, government offices, etc.
Service plans start at $9.95 per month (US). Annual subscriptions are also available which drives the price down to $7.96 per month (US). Adapters are available for one telephone line or two, and begin at $69.95 (also the same price for VoIP phones). Florida residents are subject to Florida sales tax.
The company also offers a Reward Point system much like those offered by the airlines and hotel chains. Customers earn points simply by using their Tele Monalisa subscriptions, purchasing products, and referring new customers. This is why the company's slogan is, "We will make you smile"; between the low rates and the reward point system, the company believes is offering the public a win-win solution to their long distance calling problems.