Liz Gannes

Recent Posts by Liz Gannes

Twilio Adds VoIP Calls to Developer Tools

Many developers use Twilio as a way to plug traditional phone networks into their Web sites and apps — for the purposes of customer service, conference calls, group texting apps and other voice and SMS applications. Now the tools provider is adding VoIP to the mix.

The new “Twilio Client” costs $.0025 per minute whether calls are VoIP to phone, phone to VoIP, or VoIP to VoIP. It is available for Web, iOS and Android.

Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson said he has a clear target in mind.

“Skype has a long history of not being a developer-friendly app, and that’s where we’ve made our name,” he said. “We’re trying to enable this burst of innovation in telecommunication.”

San Francisco-based Twilio counts more than 40,000 developers using its tools. It’s backed with approximately $16 million in funding from investors such as Bessemer Venture Partners, Union Square Ventures and 500 Startups.

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Just as the atom bomb was the weapon that was supposed to render war obsolete, the Internet seems like capitalism’s ultimate feat of self-destructive genius, an economic doomsday device rendering it impossible for anyone to ever make a profit off anything again. It’s especially hopeless for those whose work is easily digitized and accessed free of charge.

— Author Tim Kreider on not getting paid for one’s work