Andy Abramson of VoIP Watch has figured out how to make voice calls using the data-only Aircell service on American Airlines. They tried Flash Audio (which isn’t blocked).
And guess what? It worked.
Phweet. Yup, the unfunded brainchild of pals Stuart Henshall and Mr. Blog David Beckemeyer (who I consider one of the true great minds in VoIP) made it happen.
I invited Joanna, she replied and once I figured out how to get Phweet to answer (I had to use Safari, not Firefox) Joanna and I were having a lovely conversation while she was on an Aircell flight. I don’t mean a five second hi, hello. I mean, a real conversation, as she held her Lenovo UMPC up to her face. I even heard the announcement from the flight attendants as she was about to land.
Here’s the logic. Flash audio is embedded inside Flash. Unless Aircell wants to block all Flash traffic, this is the way to talk.
However, this technique violates Gogo’s terms of service. Here’s an email we received following the posting of this story:
Hi Sam,I wanted to send through this joint statement about the use of VoIP on Gogo’s service on American Airlines on behalf of Aircell.
Q. How does Aircell block VoIP?
It is against American’s policy and Gogo’s terms of service to use VoIP. Aircell has multiple protocols and practices in place to prevent the use of VoIP. Obviously, it is extremely difficult to stop every instance of VoIP but Aircell is monitoring and working constantly to enforce American’s policy and Gogo’s terms of service.
Its a general statement but I believe that it provides a solid summary of Aircell and American’s position on the use of VoIP on Gogo enabled flights. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks!
Best regards,
Joe Gavin
Joseph Gavin Associate
