While we made RingFree a web application that doesn’t need any hacks to run on the iPhone, there are still certain things you’ll want to make sure are operational before registering with RF.

Some folks are still reporting problems when registering.We’re quite certain, though, that checking the list below and correctly pre-configuring your iPhone will make the registration painless.

Make sure your iPhone is not in “Airplane Mode” - Click on “Settings” and set “Airplane Mode” to “OFF”;

If you intend to use a Wi-Fi data connection, make sure WiFi is on - In order to work (both when registering and dialing), your iPhone will need to make a data connection to the RingFree servers. Wi-Fi, though not always available, of course, is your best choice. Click on “Settings” and look to the right of the Wi-Fi  icon. If a Wi-Fi network is listed, you’re all set. Otherwise, click on the Wi-Fi icon, then make sure Wi-Fi is on (it should say so at the top). Click on the “OFF” button to turn Wi-Fi on, then select a network (if one is available) from the list that appears on the iPhone. When connected via Wi-Fi, you’ll see a striped upside-down triangle to the right of your service provider’s name on the upper-left corner of the iPhone. If there is no network available, you’ll have to use the EDGE network.

If there is no Wi-Fi where you are, make sure EDGE is on -   Whether the EDGE data network is available to you is more dependent on your mobile network provider than anything (though EDGE will be forced off if you are in the “Airplane Mode” described above). Look on the upper left of your iPhone, if you are not on Wi-Fi, you should see a capital “E” to the right of your service provider’s name on the upper-left corner of you iPhone. If, instead you see an upside down striped triangle, you’re using Wi-Fi (this should work). If you don’t seen either a triangle or a capital “E”, then you have no data connection and won’t be able to proceed. If this is the case, find a Wi-Fi network to latch onto, or take your iPhone to a location where the EDGE network is available.

Make sure you have a cellular signal -  Both to register and use RingFree, you’ll be making a regular mobile phone call. This means you’ll need a cell signal. On the upper left hand corner of the iPhone you should see an upwards and rightwards sloping set of bars. If you don’t see this, you’ll need to get to a location with a cell signal.

Make sure Caller-ID is set to “ON” - We use the caller-ID information sent by your iPhone to validate your account and make sure the telephone is authorized to use your account.  This means caller-ID must be set to “ON” to register and use RingFree. To make sure, go to “Settings”, click “Phone”, In the “Calls” section, click “Call Waiting”, and make sure it is set to “ON”.

Make sure Mobile Safari has JavaScript enabled - RingFree uses JavaScript extensively both in registration and in the dialer. If JavaScript is disabled, registration will ail. Go to “Settings”, click “Safari”, and, in the “Security” section, set “JavaScript” to “ON”.

Make sure Mobile Safari is set to “Accept Cookies” -  For RingFree to work, you must allow cookies to be placed on your telephone so that the server can track current session information. Go to “Settings” and click “Safari”. Set “Accept Cookies” to either “From Visited” or “Always” (for security purposes, we recommend the “From Visited” setting).

If you tried to register with RingFree and the process did not complete, you may try again after checking all of the above.

We’ve been big fans of Televolution’s PhoneGnome for quite a long time now. It’s an affordable and easy to use VoIP product/service that packs a wallop when it comes to functionality.

When we started working on RingFree, we knew we wanted the first release of our product to work with PhoneGnome. So we contacted David Beckemeyer, told him of our plans, and he opened up development hooks into PhoneGnome that allowed us to seamlessly integrate the two.

We were, understandably, quite happy with the result. And so was David, who asked to license the RingFree interface for use with PhoneGnome.

The result is that RingFree’s initial release supports PhoneGnome right off the bat; and now PhoneGnome is using our interface to provide the iPhone service directly.

If you’re a PhoneGnome user and want to use the service on the iPhone, you now have two choices: use RingFree’s web app at https://rf.com, or use PhoneGnome’s web app at http://m.phonegnome.com/iphone. The two look a bit different, but when using PhoneGnome, the functionalities are identical.

Expect similar licensing arrangements with other great VoIP services in the near future.

Sometimes we stop ourselves from making a call because of cost. The cost of a call on a traditional phone network is usually linked to the cost of carrying signals and audio over long geographical distances. Advances in network and software technologies allow service providers and voice carriers to reduce their own costs to offer these services. This cost reduction to the carrier leads to competitive tactics ranging from the simple lowering of price to complex policies such as the waiving of “In Network” fees. This type of “progress” has become very repetitive and is still limiting.

Many times, without realizing, we stop ourselves from making a call simply because we believe we cannot reach the network we wish to use. Our company has standards based SIP telephones and users, however I must still have a legacy n-digits number to reach my colleagues from my mobile. This should change and we at RingFree are bringing this change to you today.

This problem of “I cannot really try to call from here” occurs most frequently on mobile networks. Many have already realized the value of calling standards based internet voice networks from mobile handsets. I have read about several recent large investments into companies that connect devices to only one popular proprietary internet voice network. Most of the solutions I observe being offered are all focused on adding other network services such as WIFI to the phone, and special software to the phone that will interact with yet another network, one at a time.

Mobile phones liberate callers from specific geographic locations but not from the towers they use to transmit your voice. Other advanced VoIP technologies available today still have us tethered to our broadband connections. These two worlds are creeping together with a very awkward combination of technologies that allow some networks to be reached in certain circumstances.

The iPhone did a great service to telephony in general by not making the telephone user interface (TUI) the main interface for the handset user. RingFree is expanding on that idea by removing the phone’s voice network limitations. Today we are a bridge to those who wish to call a friend on a voice network such as GoogleTalk. Geographically that friend can be anywhere in the world. The iPhone is a device that has respectable Internet capabilities, and we leverage that for our subscribers. With RingFree our subscribers can reach contacts on an internet-based voice network when they are geographically near or far away. The geography and type of connectivity of a mobile phone consumer should not force them to pay terrible fees. We are establishing our service to not only remove these limits, but also to improve our subscribers’ call experiences with the capabilities of their advanced handsets. Please stay tuned to our efforts. There is definitely more to come.