Tabrio Calls on Nitobi to Bring a Desktop-Feel to its Web Application

Tabrio (www.tabrio.com) is changing the way we think about digital communications. The company provides users with multiple interfaces to establish inexpensive long distance calls and two-way text messages. It combines the low cost of VOIP with high-quality connectivity to offer its customers a cheaper alternative to long distance calling without the hassles of most computer based VOIP services, like unreliable phone lines, software installs and reliance on special phones or headsets. Tabrio long distance services come in a variety of flavors, including a desktop application, a web-based calling service and a solution for mobile phones. Several other interfaces into their service will be launching soon.

Tabrio approached Nitobi early in the development process. They were looking for a development partner who could replace their existing .NET solution with a cross-platform, rich Internet application using Adobe’s Flex and AIR. They brought Nitobi on board to “add some muscle” to the application. “We chose Nitobi because we knew they could share our vision,” said Tabrio’s Christopher Bennett. “They have a great reputation and are known for innovative solutions.”

Nitobi scoped the Tabrio application workflow, re-architected the application and designed a rich and intuitive user interface for Tabrio’s web-based calling system. The messaging component employs a technology called XMPP –the same technology used by Google for its Google Talk chat application. Unlike HTTP, which only allows a server to respond to requests initiated by client software and browsers, XMPP enables both the server and client to send messages also know as “push”. That means Tabrio servers operating all over the world as connection points for incoming and outgoing phone calls can respond immediately when an event occurs. The servers don’t have to wait for client software to ‘check-in’ at scheduled intervals. As a result, web-based software running on XMPP feels a lot more like desktop software. Its features are instantly available and users no longer need to submit forms and wait for page loads.

Here’s how Nitobi did it.

First they used PureMVC, an opens source MVC framework for Actions Script, to wrap the generic XMPP connection interface with a Tabrio-specific SOAP interface, which places Remote Procedure Calls over XMPP. Nitobi then defined a list of all possible notifications that would be expedited from the server via XMPP. A client-side “model” (from MVC) was defined, which mirrored a similar server-side model. Most of the messaging back and forth between client and server are centered around keeping the two models synchronized. An additional set of notifications was defined that are triggered by updates to the client-side model. Once all the notifications were in place, a very complex chain of notifications and updates could be easily executed.

“Getting all the underlying groundwork in place for an XMPP application isn’t easy,” said James Douma, Nitobi’s lead engineer on the Tabrio project. “But, once it’s in place, it’s a pleasure to develop in XMPP. In fact, it’s my preferred architecture for most new, web-based software projects.”

“It was quite amazing to see it all in action and to witness how well it all worked,” said Bennett.

By enabling desktop-software speed and an intuitive, user-friendly design, Nitobi has helped Tabrio create a web application with fast and easy sign-up, account creation and usability. Tabrio is delighted with the results: “Nitobi’s turn around and quality is phenomenal,” said Bennett.