My partner Sheryl and I had a chance to meet with Stephane Marceau from MOBIVOX last year at the ITExpo in Los Angeles. I've done a couple of podcasts and spoken with Stephane many times since, but not lately. He's one of those friends I really hope is at VON.x in a few weeks so we can catch up.

Here's a story about how one person is using MOBIVOX to cut international calling expenses that I think really tells the MOBIVOX story well.

When a Silicon Valley scientist signed up for MOBIVOX, he began cutting his international phone expenses by more than half, and dialing his overseas contacts by name from any phone.Easily convinced to join, his friends and family loaded contacts of their own, growing a social phoning network whose members call each other for free.

Dr. Vassilis Zarifis, a research scientist working as a project manager in aerospace, lives in Sunnyvale, Calif., and likes to stay in touch with his mother and sister in Greece, a friend in Germany and his in-laws and cousins in Ontario, Canada. So he makes a lot of international telephone calls.

To save on U.S. telephone carriers’ international calling rates from the Bay Area, he formerly relied on calling cards or “1010” services to make his calls. But that was before he learned of MOBIVOX.

MOBIVOX is an international calling service that connects family and friends around the world for free. Calls can be placed from any phone – mobile or landline. MOBIVOX members don’t have to use calling cards or PIN numbers, be tied to a computer, obtain special software or endure complex downloads.

After registering for free at www.mobivox.com and uploading their contacts, MOBIVOX members dial a local access number to connect with friends and family a world away. Upon calling, members simply say the name of the person they want to talk to, or dial their number.

Naturally, Dr. Zarifis quickly encouraged his mother, his sister, his in-laws, other relatives and friends to become registered MOBIVOX members so they can benefit from MOBIVOX themselves and be able to call each other for free.

He says he found MOBIVOX during a search online in late summer 2007.

“I was intrigued by VoIP in general. As soon as I saw something that involved free international calling over the Internet, and that I wouldn’t have to stay at home to call my friends, I jumped on it,” he recalls. “Registration was no problem. It took me a little while to register the numbers I want to call, but I was taking it on faith that it would work. And I had nothing to lose. That was it and I started using the service heavily.”

“I have a cousin who is enrolled in a graduate study program in the Bay Area and she started using MOBIVOX extensively after accepting my invitation. I invited my Mom and she registered. I invited a college friend in Germany; he joined and we talk for free now.”

Dr. Zarifis says he also likes the low, flat-priced MOBIVOX rates of 1.9 cents per minute to more than 40 international destinations for calling people who aren’t registered members. “The pricing is very good; I’m spending less than half of what I used to spend on international calls. With MOBIVOX, you’re not charged for the call ringing while you’re waiting to connect and the flat rate is good because calling cards and ‘1010’ services charge a connection fee upfront, which is wasted if you reach an answering machine.

“I like the convenience of calling anytime,” he says. “I travel for my work and with MOBIVOX you don’t have to be tied in to your landline at home, or even your home area.”

For instance, when he’s visiting his in-laws in Canada, Dr. Zarifis dials the MOBIVOX local number for the Ontario area and he’s connected to MOBIVOX just the same as when he’s at home in the Bay Area. And, to make calling internationally even easier for his in-laws, he programmed the MOBIVOX local number into their handsets and mobile phones.

In fact, one of the things he likes best of all about MOBIVOX is the totally hands-free nature of placing his calls. He is a heavy cell-phone user and he has his MOBIVOX local number programmed into both his mobile handset and his car’s Bluetooth® capability. When he wants to make an international call, all he has to do is say: “Call MOBIVOX;” once connected, MOBIVOX’s sophisticated IVR platform – VoxGirl – takes over and prompts him to say the name of the relative or friend he wants to call. He says the name and MOBIVOX connects the call. Users also have the option of dialing any number not stored in their contact lists.

“I’ve used it many times,” Dr. Zarifis said. “I used to have to stay at home on our landline until the call completed, but not with MOBIVOX. Now I can transfer the call to any of my registered numbers while still connected. All I need to do is press the * key, and ask VoxGirl to transfer my call. The whole process is simple, seamless and very cool.”

He also took advantage of a new feature MOBIVOX introduced in December 2007 when he gave his in-laws in Ontario a GiftVOX. GiftVOX lets every family’s tech maven set up free international calling for less tech-savvy family members. All the GiftVOX recipient has to do is call his or her local MOBIVOX access number and – during that first call – opt-in to activate his or her MOBIVOX account. No hassles. GiftVOX eliminates the need to ever go online, program a contact list or learn to use a new gadget. The benefits extend to the gift giver, too. Since MOBIVOX members talk for free, GiftVOX means both the giver and the recipient get free international calls.

Dr. Zarifis believes he has helped MOBIVOX improve its service via several contacts with customer support directly, and within the online discussion forums reached through the MOBIVOX website. He also has recommended that MOBIVOX allow its members to replenish their accounts without having to do so online – especially if their accounts are about to run out of funds during their calls. Based on feedback like his, MOBIVOX plans to add an automatic replenishment feature soon.

With MOBIVOX, Dr. Zarifis has said goodbye to huge bills or having to use calling cards or “1010” dial-around services for his international calls. Now his calls are free or cheap, which helps him stay in touch with family members and friends around the world.