This is one of the most complex projects I’ve worked on, and it’s still ongoing. This project involves all of the knowledge that a technology company requires in hardware and software, as well as various fields that any, small or large, business requires.
The History
This project started in 2015 in New York. It began with the idea of keeping phone contact with my home country and the desire to learn some programming language (in those days programming was popular but not so much as today 2023).
So I was alone in New York, desperate to find an ability or knowledge that would allow me to earn money through intellectual knowledge. That idea came to me in 2013 when I saw an external technician visiting the company where I worked (Pepsi-Cola Venezuela) to create or update the Microsoft Excel files that employees shared. Those files are used to follow the company’s methodology, and the technician creates “Macros” to make the process easier and faster, allowing workers to keep the high quality of the job while adhering to the methodology (it doesn’t matter the department, it could be finances, providers, logistics, or work for all).
I noticed that the technician was an important person for the company, and this was because he was one of the few people who could create custom code, but the company knows that automation ensures the process.
Then, with the idea of coding, being unique, and also having a communication problem to solve, I had an idea I wanted to turn into a plan, and then I discovered a project called Asterisk that solves the telecommunication issue. I remember reading in the book that it is very difficult to code an Asterisk project, and I thought it would be more fun and interesting to be one of the few people who can develop in the Asterisk language.
The Project
I started out doing only outbound calls because I wanted to stay in touch with my family. The first international calls were for my personal use, and the quality was poor, but at least I was making international calls. Then I realized that having a local presence in other countries is sometimes necessary; I was in New York but wanted to continue receiving calls from Venezuela, so I included virtual or international numbers in the project without knowing all of the complex development that was involved. I just focused on solving that complex problem without thinking about how to do it because I felt it could be done by myself.
After moving to Ecuador in 2016, I began receiving local customers who required an international presence. I remember doing an offline campaign with flyers to offer services to local customers who shared my interest in remaining connected to Venezuela. The campaign was fantastic; I received customers in a minimum product viable, I earned the first awareness, and I received a lot of feedback that keeps me improving the system.
Then I began offering VoIP services to businesses involving other brands and technologies, with the main goal of obtaining all of the features available within Voipocel. The project is still ongoing, and we are now offering additional products and services, including custom development to send you data and connect with multiple platforms.
Accomplishments
This project requires me to learn more than just that book because I need to know about software development, servers, DNS, firewalls, and other topics. At the start of the brand, I had just graduated as a Mechanical Engineer and was self-learning how to do macros in Microsoft Excel, website development in WordPress, and mechanical drawing in Autocad or Solidworks.
So, from the beginning to the present, I can list the following personal and professional accomplishments:
- Take risks. Launching a service to customers who rely on it to conduct business is a risk taken and a commitment made to our users and customers that we will assist them.
- Organization. I learned how to manage my calendar, recurring tasks, and projects, as well as respect the time of our providers, customers, and team.
- Management of projects and products. Some tasks had to be delegated because the project was expanding and each activity was becoming more complex. It was difficult for me because I believe it is difficult to find the best tool to manage a process that is constantly changing, and as a result, I supported the development of a business methodology to manage tasks efficiently.
- Development. This is the final but most important knowledge that I have gained in the project; examples include the configuration of Google Cloud (instances, firewalls, ssh access, etc. ), Amazon web servers (instances, emails, ssh access, etc. ), code in Asterisk, PHP, Python, MySQL, and other VoIp technology related.
For me, the best part is that I learned to code without frameworks, so any new change that isn’t available in open source or the private market can be developed from scratch.
The project is still in progress, our number of users is expanding, and new ideas are being developed. As a result, I am confident that this brand will continue to grow and benefit many users and businesses. Personally, I am interested to continue developing products like this one while also collaborating with other brands to share my expertise.