google voice – One phone number, online voicemail, and enhanced call features

Google voice service is all set to be launched and take the internet telephony by storm. Google will now allow one number for all your calls and SMS. so no need of multiple phones and tracking for home, office and mobile. This service is provided by google free of cost and its the old GrandCentral, which google acquired in July of 2007 and is now providing the service free of cost. Google Voice is currently available by invite only . Get an Invite if you are interested in getting an invite for google voice. Please note that Google Voice is only available for sign up in the US. read more about google voice and its features from here.

One number for all your calls and SMS

• Call screening – Announce and screen callers
• Listen in – Listen before taking a call
• Block calls – Keep unwanted callers at bay
• SMS – Send, receive, and store SMS
• Place calls – Call US numbers for free
• Taking calls – Answer on any of your phones
• Phone routing – Phones ring based on who calls
• Forwarding phones – Add phones and decide which ring

Will we get this feature in India ? will we get google voice in India.  It would be worth the wait and I am sure telecom players like reliance, airtel, tata indicom would be gearing up for this.

But this would be a good solution for Indian software companies and entrepreneurs in Indian cities like pune, bangalore, delhi etc to use this service to virtually stay in USA and get a mobile identity. SO for those who are doing international business and are looking for setting up office in USA, this would be a great help. But you many not be able to eliminate phone services providers like vonage, skype etc as you would still need a US number to use this google service.

The Google voice is set to launch in the month of July in USA.

Payment Gateway selection from available service providers in India and abroad

In Continutation with the earlier Blog post - Payment gateway for ecommerce based website to accept credit cards online and bank transfer by ECS – short URL for wordpress -  http://www.techbizpeople.com/blog/155 - We try to put together all the available options for selecting the right payment gateway for your website. The options that are available are

1. Paysignet –  http://paysignet.com/keyfeatures.asp

The Paysignet payment gateway provides easy to integrate payment gateway processing. But they do not have a physical address for anyone to get in touch. Call Toll Free during Business Hours (10:00 to 18:00 hrs) : 1800-425-4111 . This is the only contact info available on their website.

Paysignet 

Product Features : credit cards, debit cards, net banking, mobile payments, cash cards

Startup Cost : 6000-50000

Transaction cost :  2.75% – 5%

Security deposit : Nil

Due Diligence : Nil

Recurring cost : 1500 – 5000

Integration : Easy – 1 Hour

Security : Yes

Additional Features : Live Chat, shopping cart ready, instant SMS, email, Detailed reports

Website : http://paysignet.com/keyfeatures.asp 

2. CCavenue - http://www.ccavenue.com/ 

The CCavenue is considered one of the best and most popular payment gateway for India. Many of the Indian  ecommerce based websites prefer this payment gateway of transaction in India Rupees as well as accepting credit cards with foreign currencies. All Major International and Indian Credit Cards are Processed by CCAvenue.

3. ABCpayments - http://www.abcpayments.com/pricing.html 

ABCpayments accepts bank transfers, credit card payments and prepaid cash cards payments. The internet banking trend has increased drastically in the recent years and use of credit cards online has been outspaced by online banking. ABCpayments claimis to offer the benefit to transact through all major banks in India by bringing them on one common platform that offers one point contact for all banking transactions.

ABCpayments

Product Features : credit cards, debit cards, net banking

Startup Cost : 10000 – 28000

Transaction cost :  5% – 7%

Security deposit : Nil

Due Diligence : Nil

Recurring cost : Nil

Integration : Easy – 1 Hour

Security : Yes

Additional Features : Live Chat, shopping cart ready, instant SMS, email, Detailed reports

Website : http://www.abcpayments.com/pricing.html 

3. EBS -  http://www.ebs.in/pricing_advantages.php

EBS

Product Features : credit cards, debit cards, net banking

Startup Cost : 6000 – 30000

Transaction cost :  3.25% – 6%

Security deposit : Nil

Due Diligence : Nil

Recurring cost : 2400

Integration :  7 working days

Security : Yes

Additional Features : Live Chat, shopping cart ready, instant SMS, email, Detailed reports

Website : http://www.ebs.in/pricing_advantages.php

EBS has provided detailed information about how the entire online ecommerce transaction takes place and how EBS handles the transactions.

How an online Transaction takes place. Step 1: Customer select and adds item in the shopping cart And places the order on your (merchant) website. Step 2: Customer selects to pay via credit card . Step 3: Customer is redirected through EBS Payment Gateway to Transaction Processing Bank. Step 4: Customer enters credit card details on Secured Payment page. Step 5: Credit card information is transmitted securely to the corresponding bank for approval. Step 6: Corresponding bank sends appropriate information to the transaction Processing bank . Step 7: The result is forwarded to EBS (via the Transaction Processing Bank). Step 8: Customer receives a confirmation and is redirected to your (merchant) website.

4. Transecute –  https://www.transecute.com

Kindly note that Transecute is currently not giving out any new accounts.  

5. HDFC - http://www.hdfcbank.com/wholesale/corporates/payment_gateway_services.htm 

HDFC Credit card service provider. This is provided by HDFC Bank one of the most reliable banking service providers in India. HDFC payment gateway follows very stringent rules and does a lot of due diligence of the company who wants to have a payment gateway service. We at Dimakh Consultants have used their service for a few of our clients are we are very happy with the service provided by HDFC payment gateway.

HDFC Bank 

Product Features : Credit Cards

Startup Cost : 10000 – 50000

Transaction cost :  3.5% – 6%

Security deposit : 50000 – depends on Due Diligence

Due Diligence : YES

Recurring cost : 12000

Integration :  3 weeks

Security : Yes

Additional Features : Email and Telephonic support available

Website : NA

6. WorldPay - http://www.worldpay.com/business/content.php?page=pricing2&c=UK 

WorldPay is more used for those transactions which are for foreign transactions. They payment can be linked for Indian Payment currency. It has a very strong and secure system. The charges are very high as compared to other service providers.

WorldPay

Product Features : Credit Cards

Startup Cost : GBP 200

Transaction cost :  4.5% – 6% + GBP 0.50 per transaction

Security deposit : NIL

Due Diligence : NIL

Recurring cost : GBP 30 per month

Integration :   1 hour easy

Security : Yes

Additional Features : live support

Website : http://www.worldpay.com/business/content.php?page=pricing2&c=UK

7. Paypal - http://www.paypal.com/

Paypal is by far one of the most popular and widely used service provide for online payment worldwide. Paypal has a strong network and presence and also offers multi currency support. For India it has a special facility by which you can accept payment in foreign curreny and transfer the money to your Indian bank account at the prevailing $ rates. The payments reaches you in 5-7 working days.

PayPal

Product Features : Credit Cards

Startup Cost : Nil

Transaction cost :  1.9% – 6% +  $ 0.30 per transaction

Security deposit : NIL

Due Diligence : Applicable for Non Profit Organizations

Recurring cost : NIL

Integration :   1 hour easy

Security : Yes

Additional Features : Currency conversion fee - 2.5% added to the exchange rate

Website : http://www.paypal.com/

8. ICICI Bank Payment gateway – payseal

The Popular ICICI Bank allows companies to accept secure payments using credit cards via the Internet. They operate under the brand of Payseal. The integration is very complicated and needs knowledge of java for integration. The charges vary based on transactions volume. This is one of the oldest service providers in India.

ICICI Payseal

Product Features : Credit Cards

Startup Cost : 40000

Transaction cost :  3% – 6% 

Security deposit : 25000

Due Diligence : Yes

Recurring cost : 20000

Integration :   3 weeks

Security : Yes

Additional Features : Needs java support for your website.

Website : www.payseal.com

A few other payment gateway service providers are 

Authorize.net –  http://www.authorize.net/

Google checkout –  http://checkout.google.com/

HSBC Payment gateway – No Information available – contact your local bank branch

eazy2pay - https://www.eazy2pay.com/

Billdesk - http://www.billdesk.com/

This will give you all the details of selecting the correct payment gateway for your website. You can accept Visa cards, Master cards and also do bank transfers. Please send your feedback by commenting on this page or for more information do send an email to sales@dimakhconsultants.com

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• Payment gateway for ecommerce based website to accept credit cards online and bank transfer by ECS (techbizpeople.com)

DNSBL www.spamrats.com

A mail from Michael Peddemors of linuxmagic.com made me look at a relative new and free DNSBL offering service – http://www.spamrats.com/

They offer 3 types of rbls viz. Read the rest of this entry »

Payment gateway for ecommerce based website to accept credit cards online and bank transfer by ECS

A secure and safe payment gateway used for credit card processing is necessary for any e-commerce based website which allows payment transaction to buy and sell goods, products or services online. “Electronic commerce” means, The transaction of buying and selling of good and services through digital medium.

E-commerce websites should offer their customers, a payment option that is safe, convenient and widely accepted. The choice of establishing the right online payment system depends upon the company, its products or services and its customers. Many payment gateway service providers sell different packages of payment processing services to web site owners that allow them to accept different types of payments.

The payment modes that are offered by different e-commerce based websites are payments using credit cards , credit card fax back service, Telegraphic transfers, Netbanking using ECS , cheque/DD for India, Direct bank transfer, paymate within India, paypal across the world, cash cards etc. But by far its best to go in with a reliable payment gateway service provider called as credit card merchant service providers who offer different options in a single window and allow safe and secure transactions. The offer processing for visa credit cards, master credit cards, American Express and all other credit card banking services.

Before you select a payment gateway first try to get details for all the costs associated with the payment gateway service provider. Each payment gateway offers variable costs and transactional charges.

The different costs associated with Internet merchant account are :

Up Front Application Fees
Many Internet Merchant Accounts will require an up front application fee. This fee, supposedly, is to cover their costs for processing your application. But with gorwing competition, most of the companies now waive off this front application fee.

On Going Fixed Fee
This is a fixed monthly fee that you have to pay to the service providers irrespective of any transactions that you do over your website. Many a times a flat fee of $25 is charged on your account.

Fixed Transaction fee
Usually between $0.20 and $0.45, the fixed transaction fee is the fixed fee portion of each sale. The fixed transaction fee is the same for every transaction. Whether you get a $1 sale or a $100 sale, the transaction fee will be the same.

Variable Transaction Fee
The variable transaction fee is the amount that you pay to the merchant for every transaction that happens on your website. This transaction fee may vary between 2% to 5%. The percentage is dependent on the monthly volume that you do through your website.

Termination Fees
A termination fee is applicable if you discontinue the contract before the stipulated time. The minimum contract period may vary from one year to three years.

Miscellaneous Fees
A charge back fee may be applicable if a customer requests for a refund and if he wants his credit card to be credited. The merchant will charge a separate fee for this.

If you are developing an ecommerce based website and want to activate a online payment option for your website then you must be having questions like :-
Which is the best payment gateway for me? or
how to integrate credit card processing on my website or
what are the online payment options , can I do a bank transfer or Cash On Delivery – COD.
What are the online payment gateway options for India and can we have multiple currency options on my website. Can I use a debit card to make online payment or can I accept debit cards online.

Please read the next blog posting to know more about using payment gateway to accept payments online in India and world wide. I will also cover comparison of different payment gateway vendors. You can also  send an email to sales@dimakhconsultants.com for more details.

IPLT20 cricket updates – details with list of teams in IPL and official websites

As the IPLT20 – The DLF IPL Season 2 – IPL 2009 comes closer , the cricket fans across the world are hoping for a great season with good cricket and great entertainment. This year the cricket games have been shifted to South Africa after England lost the season citing bad weather and rain threatening to play a spoil sport and could adversely affect more than half the matches. Initially Indian Government and home ministry had withheld security clearance for the Indian Premier League despite tournament organisers submitting a revised playing schedule. The Home ministry had given the reason that providing security to the players may not be feasible due to shortage of security forces as the forces would be busy safeguarding the countries elections.

The official website of the Indian Premier League - www.iplt20.com – is getting updated to give all the latest happenings about IPLT20. The technology is going to play a major role in this year as well. Every team has come up with its own website and has a big fan followers online. Most of the websites are getting ready for the season 2.

IPLT20 2009 starts from Saturday April 18 , 2009 at Cape Town, South Africa. The first match will be played between Mumbai Indians and chennai super kings.

DLF IPL Logo with teams

Below is a list of all the teams with details and official website 

KINGS XI PUNJAB 

Owner: Preity Zinta, Ness Wadia (Bombay Dyeing), Karan Paul (Apeejay Surendra Group) and Mohit Burman (Dabur)

Franchise fee: $76 million 

Most expensive player: Yuvraj Singh – $1,063,750

Website: www.kingsxipunjab.com

_____________________________________________________________________________________

CHENNAI SUPER KINGS

Owner: India Cements

Franchise fee: $91 million 

Most expensive player: Mahendra Singh Dhoni – $1.5 million

Website: www.chennaisuperkings.com

_____________________________________________________________________________________

DECCAN CHARGERS

Owner: Deccan Chronicle

Franchise fee: $107 million 

Most expensive player: Andrew Symonds – $1,350,000

Website: www.deccanchargers.com

____________________________________________________________________________

RAJASTHAN ROYALS

Owner: Emerging Media Group

Franchise fee: $67 million 

Most expensive player: Mohammad Kaif – $675,000

Website: www.rajasthanroyals.com

_____________________________________________________________________________________

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS

Owner: Shahrukh Khan, Juhi Chawla, Jai Mehta

Franchise fee: $75.09 million 

Most expensive player: Sourav Ganguly – $1,092,500

Website: www.kkr.in

____________________________________________________________________________

DELHI DAREDEVILS

Owner: GMR Holdings

Franchise fee: $84 million 

Most expensive player: Virender Sehwag – $833,750

Website: www.delhidaredevils.com

____________________________________________________________________________

BANGALORE ROYAL CHALLENGERS

Owner: UB Group

Franchise fee: $111.6 million 

Most expensive player: Rahul Dravid – $1,035,000

Website: www.royalchallengers.com

____________________________________________________________________________

MUMBAI INDIANS

Owner: Reliance Industries Ltd

Franchise fee: $111.9 million 

Most expensive player: Sachin Tendulkar – $1,121,250

Website: www.mumbaiindians.com

what is qik and how to make use of Qik – rotary club video clip

I recently came across Qik and was pretty impressed with the gadget website. The ease of using the technology and getting good quality results attracted me to try this out at different occasions and events. As a member of Rotary Club of Pune sports city, I take the initiative of implementing Technology innovations in our club. During the last meeting we had a Yoga teacher and a 2 times medal winner at national Yoga competition in India. You can view the clipping of her demonstration of Yoga which was appreciated by all the Rotary members who were present for the meeting.

I used my Nokia E61i with Idea GPRS and was able to stream this live on to the web. Using Qik is very simple and I was able to configure my account and my handset in less than 5 mins.

As per Qik’s website :-

Share live video from your phone!

Qik enables you to share your moments live with your friends, family and the world—right from your mobile phone! 

The interesting features of Qik that liked were the capability of live chat with the user while the video was getting streamed, Large amount of handset were already compatible with Qik Viz. Nokia, samsung, iphone etc. You can also easily embed the video clips in your website or blogs. A good sharing capability with your friends over email or Qik with Facebook, qik with myspace, Digg it , Ovi by Nokia , Del.icio.us etc. You can also download the videos and keep it as archive offline. The attractive feature is also a capability of “public” or “Private” streaming which gives a control to the Qik user to decide what to make public and what to keep private.

Elections 2009 – Technology Website and Politics

The 2009  elections in India are bound to be heavily influnced by Web technology.  We have already seen websites of bjp prime ministerial candidate Shir L K Advani. Website of Shri L K Advani has been creating a buzz in the cyberworld to reach out to a young audience. A huge percentage of first time voters and voters between the age group of 30 to 39 are the tech savvy crowd who spend more time on the web and are likely to respond via the web medium.

BJP has been making use of Web 2.0 and especially  of google adwords and making sure of its presence across the internet by spending heavily every day. The entire online campaign seems to be inspired from Barack Obama’s online campaign. The major difference in both the campaigns lies with the persons for whom the campaign is being run.. Obama is tech savvy and is able to speak the language of youngsters and the online trend but in case of L K Advani the picture is dark as he himself never seems to be in touch with technology. The age difference obviously is the deciding factor and another major factor is, Not just online but Barack Obama also used his technology offline and during his speeches and he made sure to refer to his website or address the youngsters in his social gatherings.

In person in all his speeches or social appearances L K Advani no where speaks about technology or doesnt even seem to refer to his website at anytime. Also surprisingly no other BJP politician seems to be even bothered about this web technology except the BJP’s very own Shri Narendra Modi. Infact it seems that both of them are trying to compete with each other over the internet and trying to prove himself one notch above the other. 

Will this really help BJP to earn votes is a debatable question but the very use of web technology ensures that politics is now getting web friendly and our only hope is that whoever wins will try and make the real use of the web technology in successful e-governance.

As the elections are just round the corner we will see increasing use of social media marketing techniques and all possible ways to reach out to the young audience. It will be important for the BJP team to work out a better and faster response mechanism rather than just reaching out the everyone. The web is a interactive channel and if people write back on the website or participate with comments on the blogs of Shri L K Advani then its important that he himself gets involved at some level in technology and respond back in time. If this does not happen then the entire campaign will backfire and will end up just like another “India Shinning” campaign which cost dearly to BJP earlier. 

So final success of this entire campaign will depend on how many youngsters and tech savvy people really come out to vote on the election day.

Google browser chrome initial feedback

Just a few minutes ago I downloaded the google chrome browser. Seems to be good and fast and it smartly got all my settings from IE. Has a few interesting features and I am writing this blog post using google chrome itself. One of the major drawbacks that I have noticed is it has NO GOOGLE TOOLBAR ADD ON. I was really surprised to figure out that I was not missing something.. but google has actually not provided google tool bar add on for their own browser. I am sure they must be working on something to provide this feature. I did notice that the good features like the search box has been provided in the “http” box itself where google chrome encourages you to “type to search” and makes life simpler. But I miss the google page rank, autofill to begin with and I am yet to explore other features. The book mark feature seems to be working fine. A new feature of the new incognito window is a smart idea and will be very useful and will help anyone who is using public terminals for browsing. But this may be harmful for corporates.

This is what google chrome has to say about incognito window

Pages you view in this window won’t appear in your browser history or search history, and they won’t leave other traces, like cookies, on your computer after you close the incognito window. Any files you download or bookmarks you create will be preserved.

And one of the most surprising aspect for google chrome is that it does not have a version for linux and Mac when it was launched.

give me your feedback at dimakh@dimakhconsultants.com and visit www.dimakhconsultants.com 

IT in Sports in India

Its the olympics season and the entire sporting fraternity is busy watching the games and the results. The beijing olympics website does give a lot of upto date information and gives a variety of analysis and statistics.
We at Dimakh Consultants are the web technology partners for the commonwealth youth games pune. Its a major event for pune but a smaller event as compared to any international gaming event. But still 71 countries (CGA) are participating in the event with more than 1300 international players expected to be a part of the event. We as the web technology specialist company are implementing a lot of new techniques and make the CYG website www.cygpune2008.com very attractive as well as informative. Read the rest of this entry »

Tryst with spam – II

After the “Great Spam Debacle”, I left spam-fighting for a few months. But I
kept reading about spam a lot. I finally reached the conclusion that the best
way to stop spam was at SMTP level itself. Read the rest of this entry »