Did you know that if you sign up for broadband Internet service, you could actually reduce the cost of your phone bills? Many companies now offer free VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) services, which are essentially, talking over the Internet. A majority of these companies offer this type of service for free, and the technology has developed enough so that the quality of the phone calls is exceptionally good! Read on to find out what Yahoo is up to in the exciting and rapidly changing world of VoIP.
VoIP – Yahoo Announces New Service
In May of 2005, Yahoo announced a new beta version of their popular Yahoo Messenger service that will include an enhanced version of their already existent voice service. This new service will enable customers to make phone calls to friends and family anywhere in the world for free through high-quality, PC-to-PC calling, also known as VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol).
In order to use this new service, all customers need is a high-speed Internet connection such as cable or DSL, a headset, and either a microphone or speakers. The new version will allow users to leave voicemail messages for the first time and these messages can be easily found and retrieved through a detailed call history log that displays all voicemail messages and all in-bound and out-bound calls. What’s more, customers are able to customize ring tones for their friends and family, just like they do on their cell phones.
This new development will challenge some of Yahoo’s competitors which also offer cheap or low-cost calling via the Internet. In addition to the new VoIP software, Yahoo’s beta version also includes improved photo sharing and spam protection tools.
A free download of the software is available in 18 localized versions including Argentina, Hong Kong, the U.S., Brazil and “Yahoo en Espanol.”
Yahoo VoIP – Stay Tuned for More Developments!
In June of 2004, Yahoo also announced that it plans to acquire Dialpad Communications. Doing so will allow Yahoo to expand its VoIP services, which are currently offered over computer-to-computer connections, to allow customers to use their computer to contact someone on an actual phone. This is sure to be a profitable move for Yahoo, as it currently has over 63 million customers that subscribe to its Messenger service. This new development will not be free, but Yahoo has yet to announce how much the service will cost.
