Jaxtr
Encyclopedia
Jaxtr is a social communications company that melds together global calling, SMS, and social networking. Founded by Phillip Mobin and Touraj Parang in October 2005, jaxtr uses Voice over Internet Protocol to offer competitive rates as well as free international and long distance calling. Some key differentiators for jaxtr in its market include allowing phone-to-phone calls to and from any mobile and landline phones, offering social networking focused on voice (café jaxtr), requiring no software downloads or access pins, and giving users local Direct Inward Dialing
(DID) phone numbers. Offered in 56 countries, these numbers allow users in those countries to dial a local phone number which would ring a long distance or international destination phone. Jaxtr also offers users a set number of global SMS
messages each month.
Jaxtr reports having over 10 million users in 220 countries in 2008. In June 2008, they raised $10 million in a Series B round of venture capital funding from Lehman Brothers
Venture Partners. In the same month, they also launched their paid services. In October, Jaxtr laid off thirty percent of its employees, and its CEO, Konstantin Guericke, was fired.
Currently, the company is located in Menlo Park, CA.
On 14 June 2009, Hotmail Founder Sabeer Bhatia
's Sabsebolo acquired Jaxtr for an unknown amount.
Jaxtr shall function with the same brand name and help Sabsebolo with its large userbase.
popularized the concept to make calls through personal computers for consumers, jaxtr builds on that concept by allowing calls to be routed through VoIP to and from both mobile and landline phones. As a hybrid of telephony
and Web technologies, jaxtr is built with Java
components and MySQL
database servers, which run a protocol-independent calls engine that combines users' voice and text conversations. Jaxtr uses open source software throughout the system--memcached
, Asterisk, and OpenSER SIP server among others.
Jaxtr provides local phone numbers in numerous countries around the world by contracting with wholesale Direct Inward Dialing
(DID) service providers such as DIDX . Providing users with these DIDs allows them to dial a local number, which is routed through jaxtr’s VoIP system, and connects with the person they are calling internationally. As a result, the caller pays their service provider only the standard charge for local calling, instead of international toll charges.
Direct Inward Dialing
Direct inward dialing , also called direct dial-in in Europe and Oceania, is a feature offered by telephone companies for use with their customers' private branch exchange systems...
(DID) phone numbers. Offered in 56 countries, these numbers allow users in those countries to dial a local phone number which would ring a long distance or international destination phone. Jaxtr also offers users a set number of global SMS
SMS
SMS is a form of text messaging communication on phones and mobile phones. The terms SMS or sms may also refer to:- Computer hardware :...
messages each month.
Jaxtr reports having over 10 million users in 220 countries in 2008. In June 2008, they raised $10 million in a Series B round of venture capital funding from Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. was a global financial services firm. Before declaring bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth largest investment bank in the USA , doing business in investment banking, equity and fixed-income sales and trading Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (former NYSE ticker...
Venture Partners. In the same month, they also launched their paid services. In October, Jaxtr laid off thirty percent of its employees, and its CEO, Konstantin Guericke, was fired.
Currently, the company is located in Menlo Park, CA.
On 14 June 2009, Hotmail Founder Sabeer Bhatia
Sabeer Bhatia
Sabeer Bhatia is an Indian American entrepreneur who co-founded the Hotmail email service and Jaxtr.- Background :...
's Sabsebolo acquired Jaxtr for an unknown amount.
Jaxtr shall function with the same brand name and help Sabsebolo with its large userbase.
Technology
While SkypeSkype
Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice and video calls and chat over the Internet. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free, while calls to both traditional landline telephones and mobile phones can be made for a fee using a debit-based user account system...
popularized the concept to make calls through personal computers for consumers, jaxtr builds on that concept by allowing calls to be routed through VoIP to and from both mobile and landline phones. As a hybrid of telephony
Telephony
In telecommunications, telephony encompasses the general use of equipment to provide communication over distances, specifically by connecting telephones to each other....
and Web technologies, jaxtr is built with Java
Java (programming language)
Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...
components and MySQL
MySQL
MySQL officially, but also commonly "My Sequel") is a relational database management system that runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases. It is named after developer Michael Widenius' daughter, My...
database servers, which run a protocol-independent calls engine that combines users' voice and text conversations. Jaxtr uses open source software throughout the system--memcached
Memcached
In computing, memcached is a general-purpose distributed memory caching system that was originally developed by Danga Interactive for LiveJournal, but is now used by many other sites. It is often used to speed up dynamic database-driven websites by caching data and objects in RAM to reduce the...
, Asterisk, and OpenSER SIP server among others.
Jaxtr provides local phone numbers in numerous countries around the world by contracting with wholesale Direct Inward Dialing
Direct Inward Dialing
Direct inward dialing , also called direct dial-in in Europe and Oceania, is a feature offered by telephone companies for use with their customers' private branch exchange systems...
(DID) service providers such as DIDX . Providing users with these DIDs allows them to dial a local number, which is routed through jaxtr’s VoIP system, and connects with the person they are calling internationally. As a result, the caller pays their service provider only the standard charge for local calling, instead of international toll charges.