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New Yahoo! Messenger with Voice for AT&T Subscribers
[April 26, 2006]

New Yahoo! Messenger with Voice for AT&T Subscribers


TMCnet Contributing Editor
 
AT&T and Yahoo! announced on Wednesday their new, integrated Internet-based voice communications services.

The companies will offer a co-branded version of Yahoo! Messenger with Voice to AT&T (News - Alert) (News - Alert) Yahoo! High Speed Internet subscribers and all Yahoo! users in AT&T's traditional 13-state local service area.



As part of this expanded relationship, AT&T will be Yahoo!'s preferred network termination provider for the PC-based calling services in Yahoo! Messenger with Voice service globally.

Yahoo! also today launched, out of beta testing, the newest version of Yahoo! Messenger with Voice to consumers worldwide.


“AT&T Yahoo! Messenger with Voice enhances and adds value to our broadband service,” said Scott Helbing, a chief marketing officer at AT&T, in a statement. “It also underscores our commitment to lead the industry in delivering the next generation of integrated communications and entertainment services.”

Consumers will get enhanced PC-based calling capabilities for both making and receiving phone calls, depending on the combination of services. With the Phone Out feature, consumers in the U.S. can make VoIP PC-to-Phone calls to traditional or mobile phones to more than 180 countries.

Calls within the U.S. and to over 30 other countries can be placed for two cents a minute or less. U.S. consumers can also 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: Wherever they travel, their phone number will follow them.

”Together we can continue to create seamless experiences that bridge the traditional telecommunications and Internet worlds. We are excited to bring together Yahoo!’s Internet community and applications with AT&T’s history of innovation, high-quality network, and leading voice and high speed Internet services,” said Steve Boom, senior vice president, broadband, Yahoo! Inc.

AT&T Inc. and Yahoo! announced their strategic alliance back in November 2001 and launched co-branded high speed Internet and Dial services in 2002. The companies announced two years ago a multi-year extension of their alliance to introduce home television and audio systems, Cingular (News - Alert) Wireless handsets, AT&T WiFi (News - Alert) and AT&T Home Networking equipment.

The Yahoo! Messenger with Voice IM client is partially powered by Global IP Sound (GIPS)'s VoiceEngine Multimedia technology. Yahoo! announced its partnership with GIPS back in March.

With the addition of GIPS VoiceEngine Multimedia, the new Yahoo! Messenger with Voice client will offer users enhanced audio quality. "With VoiceEngine Multimedia, applications developers can focus on their core competency without having to worry about complex issues such as jitter, delay, packet loss and acoustic echo," noted the companies' news release.

“Yahoo! Messenger with Voice will now be equipped with the best available voice quality to truly stand out as the market leading IM provider,” said Gary P. Hermansen, president and CEO of Global IP Sound in a statement. “We are excited to play an integral role in such an innovative product, and look forward to enabling Yahoo! to provide their IM users with an unmatched feature set and user experience.”

Yahoo!, Inc.
AT&T, Inc.
http://www.thenewatt.com

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Johanne Torres is contributing editor for TMCnet and Internet Telephony magazine. To see more articles by Johanne Torres, please visit Johanne Torres' columnist page
 

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