Pinger

American telecom provider

For other uses, see Pinger (disambiguation).

Pinger

Company type| Corporation
Industry| Texting and VoIP
Founded| April 2005; 20 years ago (2005-04)
Founders|

* Greg Woock
* Joe Sipher

Headquarters| San Jose, California, U.S.

Key people

| Greg Woock (CEO)
Products| Textfree, Sideline, Index
Website| www.pinger.com

Pinger, Inc. is a US telecom provider for free texts, pictures, calls, and voicemails.[1] Pinger was founded in 2005 by former Palm, Inc. managers Greg Woock (CEO of Pinger, Inc) and Joe Sipher. The company is headquartered in San Jose, California.[citation needed]

## History

[edit]

Pinger was founded in 2005[2] by Greg Woock and Joe Sipher.[3] At first, the company created the Pinger Phone in 2008, which consolidated phone, email, and messaging contacts and communications.[2][4] The free texting features were converted into a separate iPhone app called Textfree.[2] Pinger was initially focused exclusively on mobile messaging, but started developing other smartphone apps after Apple released the iPhone software development kit (SDK).[2]

## Products

[edit]

The company has released several apps, mostly being available on iOS, Android, Microsoft Windows and Macintosh.

### Textfree

[edit]

Main article: Textfree

Textfree is an app that allows user to call and text using a real phone number for free. The app has a free ad-supported version and a paid version. The app allows you to text anyone in the world.[5]

### Sideline

[edit]

Sideline is an app that adds a second phone number to your phone using technology similar to Textfree. It's available for iOS, Android, Microsoft Windows and Macintosh.[6] Their official website is sideline.com.

### Index

[edit]

Index is an app that provides a designated business phone number with voice and text capabilities. Index also provides automated text messaging for businesses.[7]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Pinger's Polite Plans For World Domination, Forbes, 13 July 2011
2. ^ a b c d Trimble, Aron (February 17, 2010). "Pinger's Textfree Delivers Billionth Free Text Message". Engadget. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
3. ^ Saint, Nick (February 17, 2010). "Free Texting App Textfree Is Disrupting AT&T With Over A Billion Messages Handled". Business Insider. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
4. ^ Meyers, Michelle (August 6, 2010). "How To Text Without a Cell Phone". CNET. Retrieved July 2, 2024.
5. ^ "Textfree Web for Free Unlimited Texting From Your Computer". 29 July 2015.
6. ^ "Developer of Sideline and Textfree | Pinger". Pinger. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
7. ^ "Index". Index. Retrieved 2024-08-06.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* March 27, 2013 The Wall Street Journal. The Messaging Apps Taking on Facebook, Phone Giants
* March 19, 2013 CNN Money Turn your iPad into a free phone
* March 17, 2011 Biz Journals Pinger aims to dominate texting world

## Company products

[edit]

* Sideline - second phone number
* Textfree - free texting and calling

* v
* t
* e

Instant messaging

Protocols
(comparison)|

| Open|

* DDP
* IMPP
* IRC
* Matrix
* MTProto
* Retroshare
* Signal Protocol
* SIP
* MSRP
* SIMPLE
* Tox
* XMPP
* Jingle
* WFP
* Zephyr

|

Closed|

* MSNP
* OSCAR
* TOC
* Skype

Services|

* Band
* BBM Enterprise
* Beeper
* BiP
* DingTalk
* Discord
* Element
* Google Chat
* Google Meet
* Google Messages
* GroupMe
* Guilded
* iGap
* iMessage
* Imo
* Instagram Direct Messenger
* JioChat
* Jongla
* KakaoTalk
* Kik
* Lark
* Libon
* Line
* Marco Polo
* Mattermost
* Facebook Messenger
* Messenger Kids
* The Palace
* QQ
* Sandes
* Session
* ShareChat
* Signal
* Slack
* Snapchat
* Snow
* Tango Live
* Telegram
* Textfree
* Threema
* Trillian
* Viber
* VK Messenger
* WeChat
* WhatsApp
* Wickr
* WOLF
* Zoom
* Zulip

Clients
(comparison)|

| Single protocol|

* Baidu Hi
* BBM Enterprise
* Briar
* Element
* FaceTime
* Gadu-Gadu
* GroupMe
* HCL Sametime
* IMVU
* Jami
* Jongla
* Linphone
* Facebook Messenger
* QQ
* Retroshare
* Ricochet
* Session
* Signal
* Telegram
* Tox
* WeChat
* WhatsApp
* Wickr
* Wire
* WOLF

|

Multi-protocol|

* Adium
* Ayttm
* Beeper
* BitlBee
* Centericq
* eBuddy
* Jitsi
* Kopete
* Messages
* Miranda NG
* Nimbuzz
* Pidgin
* Finch
* Telepathy
* Thunderbird
* Trillian

XMPP (Jabber)|

* ChatSecure
* Conversations
* Gajim
* Psi
* Spark
* Tkabber
* Xabber

MSNP|

* Microsoft Teams

Defunct|

* List of defunct instant messaging platforms

Related|

* Backchannel
* Chat log
* Chatbot
* Circuit
* Comparison of user features of messaging platforms
* Contact list
* Emoticon
* File sharing
* FirstClass
* Flock
* Fuze Box
* Hall.com
* LAN messenger
* Online chat
* Presence information
* RingCentral Glip
* SMS language
* Status message
* U-Report
* Videotelephony
* Viva Engage
* VoIP
* Webcam

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