"We're funding this initiative because we believe so strongly in helping small businesses turn Web traffic into ringing telephones via mashups," said Ifbyphone founder and CEO Irv Shapiro. "Interactive Voice Response systems and phone mashups should not be limited to large enterprises. By partnering with hundreds of independent developers this initiative will deliver this exciting new technology to businesses of any size."

"Phone mashups" are Web applications that combine data from more than one source into a single integrated tool accessed from any phone.

Speaking at the eComm2008 Conference being held at the Computer History Museum here this week, Shapiro said: "Phone mashups unleash the power of all phones, from your mobile phone to your landline to your VOIP phone, even old-fashioned rotary-dial phones. That means owners of small- and medium-sized businesses with no knowledge of computers can have their phones ring from the Web. Ifbyphone launches conversation starters that lead to sales."

There are three ways to take advantage of Ifbyphone's offer:

• Phone-Me-Now. This calling technology makes it possible to dial phones from a wide variety of locations, including Web sites, e-mail messages, Microsoft Word documents, PDF documents, PowerPoint presentations and more. Free Phone-Me-Now accounts are limited to 100 minutes of U.S. phone calls per month and expire in six months. At the end of six months, the subscriber may upgrade to a traditional Ifbyphone subscription beginning at $14.95 per month. To try out this service, go to http://public.ifbyphone.com/services/phone-me-now.
• Free Ifbyphone Facebook Widget. Facebook users will be able to make anonymous phone calls to people on their Friends list. A friend visiting your Facebook profile enters a phone number and rings your phone. The first 1,000 Facebook users who sign up will receive free Ifbyphone's Facebook Phone-Me-Now accounts. Users receive up to 100 minutes calling time per month for six months and then can upgrade to a traditional Ifbyphone account for $14.95. This widget was developed using the standard Ifbyphone Phone Mashup API. The widget is available under Applications at Facebook.com.
• Developments for developers. Ifbyphone has established www.phonemashup.com to encourage developers to build phone mashups. It includes discussion forums and blogs to get developers talking, along with the tools to create mashups and a repository for distribution of phone mashups. Ifbyphone also is offering developers free phone mashup accounts with full access to the Ifbyphone Phone Mashup API, including Interactive Voice Response capabilities typically only available to major corporations. Free Phone Mashup accounts are limited to 100 minutes of U.S. phone calls per month and expire in 6 months. At the end of six months, subscribers may upgrade to a traditional Ifbyphone subscription beginning at $39.95 per month. All Ifbyphone services also include complete Interactive Voice Response (IVR) capabilities traditionally only available to major corporations. These IVR capabilities include interactive voice dialogs (Voice Forms), automated speech recognition and text to speech capabilities.