By SUSAN J. CAMPBELL

TMCnet

October 8, 2007

Ring-To Number, a new service to safeguard a person's identity and privacy when interacting on social networks, auctions and online dating services, has been revealed by WebPoint Communications LLC.

This next-generation communications service provider launched this free widget to provide a private channel of communication to receive phone calls without divulging the person's actual number, address and location.

"In the emerging Web 2.0 generation of online users, privacy has become a premium for people that wish to connect and interact with others on social networks yet want to protect their personal information, especially their phone numbers," said Kha Phan, president and CEO, WebPoint Communications, LLC in a Monday statement.

"Our new FREE and paid versions of the Ring-To Number service bridges this communications gap while simultaneously offering a safe haven for secure connections."

The Ring-To Number is an extension of WebPoint Communications' CallDigits service. This service offers a private number from more than 1,200 US markets that can ring to any number in the US or Canada and can be set to ring to a landline PSTN connection, cell phone or VoIP number.

By taking CallDigits to the next level, Ring-To Number allows consumers to connect on MySpace, Facebook, iGoogle, Friendster, Tagged, Blogspot, dating site and online auction portals such as Craigslist or eBay.

WebPoint plans to launch the Ring-To Number widget as a free service that utilizes shortcode and is targeted to popular users who may receive phone queries via their social networking pages.

WebPoint also offers premium services intended for personal use: $4.99/month for a local number of choice, covering 1,200 markets and includes 200 minutes of forwarding, or $9.99/month for a local number and unlimited forwarding minutes.

"There is no service that comes close to Ring-To Number's functionality - no other company in our space has the capability to deliver millions of phone numbers instantly at no cost to our users," said Phan.

"Other services attempting to compete with Ring-to Number are not as user friendly and force the consumer to jump through hoops to connect a call. Our service is intended as it was designed -- simple to use."

The Ring-To widget also offers even more value by allowing social networking and related sites to build their own custom voice product. Using the Ring-To developer's toolkit, partner sites are provided the ability to build their own voice widget.

"Our technology can be extended to other complementary services such as print and online classified ads, directory services and job placement. We see many extensions of our technology and tight integration with complementary sites and services," added Phan.

WebPoint Communications has done well to provide a solution that is definitely needed in its market space. The company also went one step further by providing social networking and other sites the ability to customize their voice product. Such a move will help to facilitate strong co-branding, firmly establishing the company as a provider of choice for these sites.

The company will also find it in its best interest to help to promote the use of this service among end-users. Too often, these sites are used by individuals with no clue as to how to protect their identity or that they are even at risk. Ring-To Number provides a great service, but swift adoption is dependent upon consumers understanding why they need to use it.