Yahoo Delivers Phone In, Phone Out

In an effort to take on the head-to-head challenges of VoIP to the instant messaging market, Yahoo! Inc. has introduced a new public beta of its instant messaging suite, Yahoo! Messenger with Voice, with enhanced PC-based calling capabilities in the United States. News of the product launch was broken yesterday by TMCnet blogger Tom Keating.

Special features include Phone Out, which allows consumers in the to make low-cost VoIP calls using their PC to call traditional or mobile phones in more than 180 countries. Additionally, U.S. consumers can receive calls on their PC from traditional and mobile phones for $2.99 a month or $29.90 a year with the Phone In feature. Phone In gives people a virtual presence in their city of choice, and wherever they travel, their phone number will follow them.

The new PC-based calling features were initially introduced to international users in December 2005, and will continue to be rolled out in additional localized versions. The enhanced Yahoo! Messenger with Voice features will also be introduced into Yahoo!'s co-branded Internet access services, including AT&T (News - Alert) Yahoo! High Speed Internet, in the coming months.

“Yahoo!’s top priority is to provide a stellar communications service through a variety of easy, fun and inexpensive ways to stay connected with others around the world,” said Brad Garlinghouse, vice president, Communications Products, Yahoo! Inc. "We look forward to further incorporating voice features into Yahoo!’s global services, from communications to search, to help simplify and improve the Internet experience for our hundreds of millions of users around the world.”

The new PC-based voice calling capabilities join the suite of communications solutions in Yahoo! Messenger with Voice including text instant messaging, PC-to-PC calling, e-mail, mobile text messaging, photo sharing and video. In addition to Phone Out and Phone In, new enhancements to the service include: 

• Free Voicemail: People will now be able to take advantage of a free voicemail service with both their PC-to-PC inbound calls and Phone In calls. If a call is missed, whether from a PC, traditional phone or mobile phone, people can easily retrieve the message at no additional cost.
• Contact Search Bar: The new Contact Search Bar provides a fast way to find and quickly connect with friends and family. As people type their friends' names, Yahoo! IDs, phone numbers, nicknames or any other information stored in their contact details, matching results will automatically populate the Contact Search Bar.

The news comes as Skype (News - Alert) to continues to forge ahead to penetrate segments, which have long shunned peer-to-peer technologies. Earlier this month, the company introduced a communications solution targeted at the small businesses community.

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Cindy Waxer is a Toronto-based freelance journalist specializing in business and technology. She has written for publications including TIME, Fortune Small Business, Business 2.0, Computerworld, Canadian Business, and Workforce Management. To see more of her articles, please visit Cindy Waxer’s columnist page.

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