

Ask HN: Check out my little app - jmonegro
http://huddle.im

======
nir
This is beautiful. Simple, immediate and actually useful to real people. Great
stuff. I hope you don't add any features that will compromise its simplicity.

~~~
caffeine
I'll bite. Feature request: make it an iPhone app.

~~~
jmonegro
I can make an iPhone version of the website, but is it really necessary?

~~~
uuilly
You should build one if your customers ask for it.

And if you do well they will ask. Most iPhone apps are just web-apps w/a
"phone-top" interface. Running your app through Safari on the iPhone feels too
slow and looks crappy next to a native app. I think having an iPhone app is
going to be as standard as having website soon, if not already.

Also agree w/ sibling poster about access to your contacts + other richness.

Otherwise, good luck! I really like how you ritually slaughtered all the BS.

------
rythie
I'd note that there is already a company called huddle
<http://www.huddle.net/> and given they are fairly well known and do online
collaboration, I'd suggest getting a different name.

~~~
jmonegro
One of huddle.net's features is conferencing. I noticed they have an affiliate
program. I could put a link that says something along the lines of "Looking
for something more heavyweight? Check out Huddle.net!"

~~~
joez
I am not 100% clear on the law but I believe they'd have an infringement case
against you. Although, I did a quick search and did not look like huddle.net
has registered the huddle trademark. (A brief 5 minute search, looks like all
'huddle' communication related ones were abandoned)

But if they did have a trademark case, this would likely strengthen it. If you
benefited from a referral program, huddle.net could prove you profited from
domain infringement.

~~~
jmonegro
I don't think they do, because huddle is a dictionary word that means "to
crowd or draw together". I don't think they might have a trademark case
against me, especially since my huddle is not a company.

If they do, however, I think they might chill with the fact that I would be
giving them some customers. Even if not, it's a good thing that I'm not living
in the US at the moment (and not moving back until late 2010).

~~~
jrwoodruff
Yea, but the word 'apple' is a dictionary word that means "fruit with red or
yellow or green skin and sweet to tart crisp whitish flesh," but the lawsuit
between Apple the computer company and Apple the record company has been
pretty well publicized, not to mention lengthy and expensive. See
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Corps_v._Apple_Computer>. I would consider
changing the name, or keeping it and plan for a legal battle if this becomes
any kind of success.

It is a nice service though, and awesomely simple.

~~~
jmonegro
Touché ;D.

~~~
bobfromhuddle
Hate to be the bearer of bad news, dude, but to my knowlege Huddle have a
global trademark on the use of the word "Huddle" in relation to collaboration.
Would suggest re-considering the name.

IANAL, however, just a programmer.

------
jmonegro
I built this in about two hours. The phone number is provided by dropio, but I
plan to switch to twilio in the near future. I built it out of boredom, so
constructive criticism, even if harsh, is welcomw :)

~~~
jazzychad
Nice. I was wondering how you did this. I've not used dropio phone numbers
before, but I've done work with twilio. You could certainly add some killer
features using twilio. Very nice app.

[edit] Actually, I'm not sure about twilio's conference call abilities, so
maybe I spoke too soon.

~~~
jmonegro
They have the ability to connect calls, which is basically the same thing. I
bult it with Dropio first as a proof of concept, as I did not want to spend
much time with Twilio if no one was going to use it (TWIML is not very Ruby-
friendly if accessed through Twilio's ruby library).

------
javery
My first hesitation was... will this work? I would explain what service it is
using, or something to inspire some more confidence. Nice idea though and good
name.

------
tptacek
This is really impressive. I'd love to be using it. The trivial interface for
setting up a call is absolutely something I'd value over Freeconference.

The security of this scheme worries me, though. Here's several requests for
the same key:

Location: /chinashop

Location: /chinashop9556

Location: /chinashop3025

Location: /chinashop1230

Location: /chinashop5900

It looks like I could probably write a little program to slow-poll for
conferences on targeted keywords and find out other people's conference IDs.

~~~
jmonegro
Random numbers are added to the name if it already exists. I will probably add
optional password protection in the near future. Also, I don't want to take
much credit for the system, because, as I said, it is provided by Dropio for
the time being - I just built a simple front end as a proof of concept.

If I see enough demand, I will make my own system with the Technology from
Twilio, which would allow me to have more control over the system, and add a
bunch of extra features like optional call recording and whatnot.

~~~
tptacek
Yeah, I see the random numbers there... they're just too small. =)

Use a 128 bit hex string from /dev/urandom or Java's securerandom or whatever
you have that isn't PHP's mt_rand, and you'll be fine.

~~~
jmonegro
I'll have it in mind.

------
Sidnicious
The first time I called (218-486-3891), I immediately heard someone speaking
(in a foreign language, not sure which). It went on for a minute or so, then I
hung up. I called again and got the expected prompt... something's a little
off here.

In other news, why not give this place a test? If you're reading this, call
in!

<http://huddle.im/hackernews>

~~~
stanleydrew
I did but nobody was there.

------
nobody_nowhere
Like it. When I use this service, what am I agreeing to as far as privacy? How
do I know whether or not my call is recorded? How comfortable should I feel
about discussing confidential information?

~~~
jmonegro
Good points. I will add a privacy disclaimer. And no, calls are not recorded,
neither is your phone number ;)

------
coglethorpe
How will you make money from this?

~~~
jmonegro
If/when I move to Twilio, I might charge a (very) small amount to power users.
Twilio isn't really that expensive and I'm not interested in profiting from
the app in the near future. Dropio is as hands-off as it gets, so I hope I can
achieve the same level of simplicity with Twilio.

~~~
PanMan
Can I ask what your using now? I haven't found many alternatives to Twilio.
--> Ah, found below that your using drop.io, no idea they offered phone stuff
:).

------
terrellm
It's an interesting idea and it seems a lot quicker to setup a call than going
through FreeConference.com. However, I'm a little more methodical and the site
doesn't explain how the process works.

A few questions come to mind: \- Who are you and why are you giving away free
conference calls? \- Will participants hear ads during the call? \- Is there a
limit on the number of participants? \- What about international callers (btw
what country is this for?)

I like the clean and simple design and I encourage you to keep it that way.
Perhaps linking to a FAQ or a page with a little more background.

Good luck and congrats on the release!

~~~
jmonegro
You are right. As I have mentioned numerous times (I will add it to the site
later), the phone number is provided by Dropio. I will move to Twilio in the
near future to provide a 1800 number instead of a New York one.

In fact, most of the information you want is in the links "learn more" in the
homepage, and "about this number" in the number page.

------
poli
Is it possible to make the drop.io workspace private? I created a Huddle named
testuddle and I can access <http://drop.io/testuddle> with no restrictions.

~~~
jmonegro
Yes. I mentioned in a comment that I will add password protection to Huddle,
which would protect the Dropio workspace as well.

------
joshuarr
It's nice. It's not initially clear exactly what it is or how to use it, but I
think that would be rather simple to fix. Keep it simple when you start
working on the visual front.

~~~
jmonegro
I did add that information at the "learn more" link, but I will try to make it
more apparent.

~~~
joshuarr
It's just such a simple app I think you should be able to sum it up in that
first blurb.

And maybe separating the phone# and the PIN would simplify it a bit. something
like "Call this number to begin a conference call: XXX-XXX-XXXX. This is your
PIN. You will be prompted for this after dialing." Or whatever..

------
param
1\. have the conference number generated be of lesser digits unless you are
expecting and ready to support 10^9 simultaneous conferences. Having something
like 4 digits should suffice.

2\. Not sure how serious you are about this app, but the next features I would
want would be to allow users to register and permanently reserve pin numbers.
This will ensure I can set up numbers and put them into my meeting invite for
that meeting next week

~~~
jacquesm
I disagree that only 4 digits should suffice, after all, that means that once
there are 10,000 simultaneous conferences going you can basically just try
pins at random and see whose huddle you drop in to. And with less conferences
the chances would still be pretty good, just try a couple of times.

The pin is the only thing between an outsider and your conference. (assuming
the phone number is the same, which seems to be the case right now).

~~~
param
That would be the next level feature - ability to define your own pass key
that you pass on to invitees and change every time.

Professional conf systems offer that all the time

------
Aegean
Here's my 2 cents:

Pluses:

+++ It is very nice and simple. I never subscribed to any teleconferencing
solutions simply because I think it may get complicated and it probably
requires subscription.

Minuses:

\- The phone number & pin shows up intermingled in Firefox.

\-- I need a global teleconferencing solution, and I don't see myself saying,
come on guys lets call this number in new york for connecting up.

Good luck.

~~~
jmonegro
I have only tested in chrome, I have to optimize it for other browsers.

And, one of the reasons I would like to redo it in Twilio would be the ability
to provide a 1800 number instead of a NY one, which would make it easier for
people in the US. Unfortunately, I haven't found a way to provide numbers
outside the US.

~~~
Ragin
I assume you are not making any money per minute on those inbound calls?
That's the model that Freeconference call uses, and apparently the same thing
that drop.io is doing. That's why the number is based in either Iowa or
Minnesota.

------
awolf
The learn more link doesn't do anything in MobileSafari.

Nice simple and clear introduction.

Your target market are business execs that are currently paying a lot more
than free for thus service. Convincing them that your app is stable and
credibile is your challenge.

~~~
jmonegro
Like I mentioned in a previous comment, the phone number is provided by dropio
for the time being, while I make the switch to Twilio and add a 1-800 number
instead of a NY one (if I can figure out a way to even out the costs.).

My target audience isn't really business execs, rather the more causal web
users market who want to collaborate together. Let's say a twitter user and
his/her followers, or a freelancer and his/her client(s).

------
jsm386
Great idea. Quick thing. The app says 'The number is based in New York City,
for the time being (sorry!).' but the number that displayed for me was
218-486-3891, which is Duluth, Minnesota according to Google. Should that
output read 212?

~~~
jmonegro
I'll check up on that.

------
revorad
This is great, well done. I have one minor suggestion: make it a one page app.
Don't make the user go to another page when they click create. Use ajax to
show the results just below.

------
raquo
I'm not exactly the target audience of this, but I discovered this fact only
having created a number. A little more description on the home page will
definitely help.

~~~
jmonegro
I will take that into account, thanks.

------
ashishk
it's cool (love the name), but I would just use drop.io for conference calls,
since I use it for other stuff.

what i would LOVE though, is a free, simple, web-based screensharing tool.

i've used skype but it requires, obviously, installing their software. drop.io
comes close, but only allows me to share content already on a drop. and
tinychat sounds cool, but isnt free.

thoughts?

~~~
poppysan
dimdim?

------
perezd
Add an API. That would be sweet! Then this could be integrated with any sort
of collaboration web app!

~~~
davidalln
I think that all the backend of this uses drop.io's (<http://drop.io/>) API to
get the phone number. This (quite cleverly) adds a simple interface to it.

I would also check out Twilio if you're interested (<http://www.twilio.com/>).

~~~
jmonegro
Hit control+find and search for Twilio ;)

I do plan on adding twilio, I am playing with their conferencing API as we
speak. I'm also checking out an alternative, that looks pretty promising. I'll
see how it turns out.

I made it with Dropio as a proof of concept.

------
Concours
I love the interface, very simple and no fancy features. It's awesomly simple
and selfexplaining.

------
arijo
Is there a way to be notified of an incoming call?

~~~
jmonegro
Unfortunately, no.

~~~
arijo
Thanks, I was thinking of having the phone number in google ads and being
notified of calls. Congratulations for the great app!

