Cheap internet phone services

From NY Times by Thomas J. Fitzgerald

Internet telephone service is well on its way into the mainstream.

Companies like Vonage, using a technology called voice over Internet protocol, or VoIP, offer cheap long-distance rates and features not found with conventional phone service. Cable giants, too, are taking Internet phones to the masses.

Now a subset of VoIP services, called PC-to-phone service, is gaining momentum. With these services, users can make calls to and receive calls from regular phones on their PC's as long they have a broadband connection, VoIP software downloaded from the Web and a headset.

One advantage of such services is the ability to make calls through an Internet-connected laptop when cellular service is unreliable. Many people also prefer the convenience of talking while working on a PC; the services can operate while you are doing other tasks on the computer. Another advantage is price. PC-to-phone VoIP rates are less expensive than conventional phone calls and in many cases cheaper than phone-to-phone VoIP services, which route calls through broadband modems to regular phones.

Early versions of these services have been around since the late 1990's, but the rise of Skype, a mostly free VoIP service using file-sharing technology, has increased competition in the field.

Yahoo, America Online and Microsoft have each announced plans to add new phone services to future versions of their instant messaging programs. And last week, Google introduced Google Talk, a free service that enables users to talk through their computers and could be a first step toward a PC-to-phone service.

PC-to-phone services available today from companies like Skype, SIPphone, i2Telecom and Dialpad Communications offer many features like free PC-to-PC calling, conference calls, voice mail, choice of phone numbers, call forwarding and reduced long-distance rates, especially for international calls. But as with phone-to-phone VoIP services, call quality is not always perfect.

Skype (www.skype.com), a popular VoIP network based in Luxembourg, has had 51 million users register worldwide since its inception, with five million in the United States and an average of three million users logged on at any one time. To make free calls to other PC's, users simply download the Skype software from the Web site; the PC receiving the Skype call also has to be connected to the Skype network. For PC-to-phone calling, the company has added SkypeOut and SkypeIn. With SkypeOut, introduced last year and now having more than two million users, PC's with the Skype software are able to call conventional phones. Minutes are purchased in advance, and the price depends on the destination. Calls within the continental United States, for example, are 2.1 cents a minute; calls to New Delhi are 15.4 cents; São Paulo, Brazil, 2.5 cents; and Beijing, 2.1 cents.

Those international rates are below what Vonage charges for VoIP calls from the United States to those cities, at 17 cents, 6 cents and 6 cents, respectively.

With SkypeIn, introduced in March and still in the test stage, a phone number can be attached to a Skype account, enabling callers using regular phones to call you at your computer or leave messages in your Skype voice mail. You can choose a phone number from many area codes in the United States and also from several other countries. The service costs $12 for three months or $38 for a year.

Another new option, Skype Zones, allows access to Skype from Wi-Fi hotspots operated by Boingo (www.boingo.com), which has 20,000 locations; the Skype Zones unlimited access plan costs $7.95 a month.

A competing PC-to-phone service, called Gizmo Project (www.gizmoproject.com) from SIPphone, was introduced in July. Like Skype, Gizmo Project offers free PC-to-PC calls. It also offers Call Out, a service that allows calls to regular phones from your PC, and Call In, which enables a PC to receive calls from regular phones. Call Out costs 1.8 cents a minute for calls in the United States; the Call In plan costs $15 for three months or $30 for six months.

A PC-to-phone service from i2Telecom, called VoiceStick (www.voicestick.com), was introduced in March. Outbound and inbound calling can be controlled using VoiceStick's downloadable software or with an optional U.S.B. flash drive for portable access to the service. The drive, which costs an additional $34.99 and includes a mobile headset, comes with the VoiceStick software installed; it plugs into available U.S.B. ports on Windows-based computers, and a menu asks if you would like to begin using the service from the drive.

The company offers several calling plans, including an unlimited global option, for $24.99 a month, which includes your own phone number and unlimited calling to points in the United States, Canada and hundreds of cities in 38 other countries and territories. Another feature, called i2Bridge, enables you to make calls to any destination, including international locations, from your cellphone or home phone at VoiceStick rates.

Dialpad (www.dialpad.com), another PC-to-phone service, offers monthly calling plans as well as prepaid minutes for outgoing calls. Subscribers can get 300 minutes a month for $7.50, 500 minutes for $9.99 and an unlimited option for $11.99, covering calls in the United States and Canada, with international calls costing extra. Prepaid or pay-as-you-go plans can be purchased for $15 and $25. Dialpad does not offer a service that allows PC's to accept incoming calls from regular phones.

Dialpad was acquired by Yahoo in June, and its PC-to-phone abilities are expected to be added to a new version of Yahoo Messenger in the coming months, a Yahoo spokeswoman said. The Yahoo Messenger program was recently updated to include free PC-to-PC calling and free voice mail, and is now called Yahoo Messenger With Voice.

Microsoft announced this week that it had acquired Teleo (www.teleo.com), a PC-to-phone service with features that work with Internet Explorer and Microsoft Outlook, and plans to start adding components of Teleo's technology to MSN Messenger later this year. And AOL, using a partnership with Net2Phone (www.net2phone.com), introduced a PC-to-phone service in 1999 called AIM Phone. The company has plans to supplant that service with a more full-featured VoIP service in a new version of its instant messaging program, which is likely to be available by the end of the year, according to an AOL spokeswoman.

Net2Phone, the first company to offer PC-to-phone service in 1996, has expanded its services. With its software, downloadable from the Web, users can call regular phones worldwide. Most calls within the United States are 2 cents a minute, for example, and the service lets you fax documents from your computer.

Several other PC-to-phone services are available, including iConnectHere (www.iconnecthere.com), operated by Deltathree, which has a pay-as-you-go option in addition to monthly calling plans ($5.95 a month for 400 minutes within the United States and Canada, and $14.95 a month with 1,000 minutes in the United States and Canada and 250 minutes to selected countries overseas).

With the number of PC-to-phone services growing quickly, the features and choices available to consumers are certain to expand.