Calliflower
| Developer(s) | Iotum Inc. |
|---|---|
| Operating system | SaaS |
| Type | Collaborative web application |
| Website | www.calliflower.com |
Calliflower is an online web application and conference call provider that allows multiple users to dial into a conference bridge, and to conduct web meetings, upload, share and review documents from remote locations.
The service was developed by Iotum Inc.,[1][2] based on proprietary software and launched in early 2008[3] as a feature leaning heavily on social features on Facebook.[4] Iotum was co-founded by Alec Saunders,[5] who left the firm to join Research In Motion as VP of Developer Relations.[6][7]
Features
Calliflower is an audio conferencing service that provides text chat, document sharing, white-boarding and dashboard features to deliver a collaboration space on mobile or web. Up to 70 callers can participate on a call.[8]
Users organize calls, invite participants, and then talk on the call bridge. Calliflower schedules conferences based on participants’ availability. When it’s time for the call, Calliflower sends SMS or email reminders to all participants to dial into the bridge.
Through a Flash-based collaboration widget, users can present and review documents in real time, with annotations and text being visible to all users.
User-specific PIN codes provide highly secure entry for each user. The dashboard function allows moderators to mute or remove callers individually from call sessions in realtime.
CBS News MoneyWatch describes it as "the easiest way to organize small teleconferences.".[9]
The platform contains the following features:
- Call Reminders via SMS or Email
- Document Sharing
- Online Whiteboarding
- Text Chat
- Unique PIN code security access
- VOIP access via integrated Skype
Calliflower released an iPhone version in 2009, available on the App Store. The mobile version of Calliflower allows users to moderate multiple parties on the call, invite guests, chat, post images and other dashboard functions.[10]
Technology
Calliflower is a cloud based application that makes use of both soft switch and regular PSTN switches to provide a low-cost service through international backbones and VOIP. Direct Inward Dialing is available on numbers throughout the world.
Document sharing and white board collaboration is built on Flash with its own proprietary back-end technology. Calliflower being browser-based supports collaborative meetings on Mac OS, Windows, PlayBook. An iPhone version is available that does not include document sharing capability. For basic audio conferencing, regular phone dial-in service is available, or free dial-in via desktop VOIP through Skype.
Development
Calliflower was launched by Iotum in 2008. Primary application development was done in Ottawa, Canada. Originally developed as a free collaboration feature on Facebook ,[11] it evolved into a stand-alone service by the end of 2008.
In 2010, Skype was integrated fully into the application to provide free VOIP calls.[12]
References
- ↑ "Demo God awards announced". CNet.
- ↑ "Iotum entry on Crunchbase". Crunchbase.
- ↑ "Calliflower, A Complete Conference Calling Service". GigaOM.
- ↑ "Iotum's Calliflower Conferencing Service Targets Small Business". VoIP News.
- ↑ "Interview with Alec Saunders". Inside BlackBerry - The Official BlackBerry Blog.
- ↑ "RIM Developer Chief sees Benefits from Blackberry Outage". Forbes.
- ↑ "RIM Boosts Drive to Lure more Developer Apps". Wall Street Journal.
- ↑ Bradbury, Danny (30 June 2009). "Big apps for small business". Financial Post. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
- ↑ "Calliflower Rocks for Conference Calls". CBS News.
- ↑ "Calliflower Brings Easy Interactive Conference Calling to the iPhone". iPhone Buzz.
- ↑ "Iotum's Conference Call-Facebook App Picks Up Three New International Partners". ZDNet.
- ↑ "Calliflower Adds Skype Integration". Skypejournal.