Israel Virtual Communication FDC

Israel FDC
Name: Virtual Communication
Date of Issue: 08 September 2009

The Virtual Communication stamp series presents three technological breakthroughs that were developed in Israel and have become household tools throughout the world. These products embody the immense capabilities of Israel's elite technology industry and the innovativeness of Israel's software developers.

Denominations:
2.40 שח: Instant Messaging Software
Instant Messaging is a system that allows internet users to conduct computerized correspondence, with the recipient instantly receiving the sent message. Various messaging systems have been developed since the 1970's, but their capabilities were very limited.

In 1996, Israeli software developers Yair Goldfinger, Arik Vardi, Sefi Vigiser and Amnon Amir introduced an innovative system called ICQ, with the assistance of entrepreneur Yossi Vardi. For the first time, installation of this system allowed every internet user to know which of his/her friends was available to chat at any given moment and to communicate with them via instant messaging. This development led to a breakthrough in the use of this means of communication, which subsequently became extremely popular throughout the world. The technological and commercial success of the ICQ system inspired many others in the Israeli hi-tech realm.

Many further developments have been made to the Israeli instant messaging software since it originally came into use, expanding its capabilities to telephone and video calls, and similar programs currently exist around the world.

5.30 שח: USB Flash Drive
Many information storage devices have been developed over the years which were designed to allow computer users to upload them with information created on one computer and to make use of that information on other computers. However, these devices were not user friendly, as in some cases a preliminary definition process had to be executed before use, while other devices were not adaptable for use with certain types of computers.

In 1999, Dov Moran, an Israeli engineer and entrepreneur, along with his colleagues at M-Systems, invented an innovative device that could be connected to a computer quickly and easily. The device did not require a preliminary installation process and it operated using a standard connection that exists in any modern computer. It was small, reliable and enabled unlimited expansion of the scope of memory.

In addition to using the new device as a means of storing information in order to transfer data between computers, it may be uploaded with software, allowing it to operate independently, regardless of the capabilities of the computer to which it is connected.
This innovative development achieved immediate global success and gave rise to a new field of development in the computer world, becoming the standard portable computer storage device.

6.50 שח: Voice over Internet Protocol
VoIP technology enables telephone calls to be transmitted via the internet. Using the internet allows communication lines to be utilized more efficiently, greatly reducing the cost of the call.

The internet was originally designed to transfer computer data, thus a special application that would allow the transfer of telephone calls via internet had to be developed. This type of innovative software was first developed in 1995 by Alon Cohen, Lior Haramati, Ofer Shem-Tov, Elad Sion, Rami Amit, Opher Kahane and Dror Tirosh – Israeli software developers at VocalTec. The application was very successfully distributed worldwide by VocalTec, managed by promoter Dr. Elon Ganor.

Similar applications have been developed in recent years, based on the Israeli invention, changing the way the world's telephone systems currently operate.