![\"bf035431ddf01572f9fef6cbb558d90b\"](\"http:\/\/www.worldline.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/09\/bf035431ddf01572f9fef6cbb558d90b.jpg\")
By SAMARA CYGMAN<\/p>\nBy SAMARA CYGMAN<\/p>\n
The digitized voice of John Stix came through the phone with unprecedented clarity and strength.<\/p>\n
Paying high rates for long-distance calling is over in Calgary, says one of the founders of Worldline – a one-year-old venture new to the Calgary area, poised to abolish charging per minute for long-distance calling, using voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) technology.<\/p>\n
How it works is simple – callers phone a local Worldline Calgary phone number, listen to a five-second greeting, and enter the Canadian long-distance number they want to reach, all for only $7.95 a month.<\/p>\n
And long-distance calls to the U.S. and overseas are only a few months away.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe take your analog voice, digitize it and send it out over our own Internet that we have right across Canada – we did that to ensure the call quality is fantastic and call security is good too,\u201d says Stix.\u00a0 \u201cWe are the first company to provide this kind of service in Canada nationwide.\u201d<\/p>\n
Started in Toronto, Worldline enjoyed tremendous growth within their first year as thousands signed up for their service, which has now expanded into every major city In Canada.\u00a0 And now they are launching In Calgary.<\/p>\n
Customers do not require a computer or an Internet connection to enjoy Worldline\u2019s service, don\u2019t have to change their regular telephone service providers and don\u2019t have to worry about speaking into a specialized mouthpiece or attachment.<\/p>\n
![\"John_Jodi\"](\"http:\/\/blog.worldline.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/09\/John_Jodi.png\")
\u201cWe felt you simply can\u2019t change the way people have been calling for 100 years,\u201d says Stix.\u00a0 \u201cWe didn\u2019t want to teach people to dial differently so we decided to work on technology to access our service through your everyday home phone.\u201d<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the catch, you might ask?<\/p>\n
There isn\u2019t one – unlimited long-distance calling, without restrictions, is at your fingertips, whether you\u2019re at home or on a cellphone.<\/p>\n
The success of Worldline marks a breakthrough for the 35-yearold Waterloo native, who joined forces with his best friend and business partner, Jody Schnarr, to bring the idea to fruition.\u00a0 Stix and Schnarr jumped on the opportunity to test out the venture when deregulation was introduced in the telephone industry in 1994.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been in telecommunications since 1994 when we got into the flat-rate, long-distance business and we noticed serious limitations to providing flat rate to customers – but in 1997 we realized the Internet can be used as an alternative network,\u201d says Stix, adding the breakthrough came in 1998 with the first phone-to-phone VOIP call.\u00a0 \u201cThe quality wasn\u2019t good, but hey, we did it, and since 1998 we\u2019ve been refining this technology and now with Worldline it\u2019s working with tens of thousands of customers signing in just under one year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stix and Schnarr came up with Worldline dial up – where people can purchase the most affordable dial-up Internet service in western Canada for only $5.95 per month.\u00a0 He says it feels amazing to see something they have toiled over for so long finally take off and improve people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re fulfilling a need out there to help people communicate and at $7.95 a month you can talk, talk, talk and it doesn\u2019t matter – otherwise you\u2019re always watching your clock,\u201d says Stix.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is huge for kids going to university to be able to talk to their parents as much as they need to – Worldline looks forward to providing the most least cost communication services to Calgary and the rest of Canada for many years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By SAMARA CYGMAN The digitized voice of John Stix came through the phone with unprecedented clarity and strength. Paying high rates for long-distance calling is over in Calgary, says one of the founders of Worldline – a one-year-old venture new … Continue reading