VoIP Now

Yahoo! has spread its wings into a brand new area by offering Yahoo! Voice. Although Yahoo! is primarily known as a reliable search engine, they’ve proven their merit in the areas of Instant messaging and now they are offering VoIP as an extension of that service. Yahoo! Voice can be fully integrate with a user’s pre-existing Yahoo! Messenger system to make free calls between PCs. By purchasing minutes and installing a small program, users can also make outbound calls from a computer to another phone, and an additional service allows users to accept calls on a YahooVoice phone number. With the addition of Yahoo! Voice, Yahoo! is proving its commitment to helping people stay connected over the Internet.

Installation an Interface

To use PC to PC calls, a user needs to download and install the free Yahoo! Messenger program. With Yahoo! Messenger PC to PC calling, a user can easily click on one of his/her current friends and be connected if that person is available. The only difference between Yahoo! Messenger PC to PC calls and standard Instant Messaging is that the user will select “call” instead of “message” on his/her Messenger window.

“Phone Out” or outgoing calls also use the Yahoo! Messenger window. Before a user starts calling, he/she will have to purchase minutes from Yahoo in $10 or $35 increments. The prepaid credit will then be used as the user makes calls. Rates vary but there is a standard of $.01 per minute for calls within the U.S. To use Phone Out, a user simply types in the number they are calling into the text box of Yahoo! Messenger. The call is connected and the user can continue using their computer while the other party uses their phone. One important note about PC-to-Phone calling is that the user will have to use the area code on all calls, even when he/she is in the same area code.

Phone In services are perfect for users who want to not only send but receive calls on their PC. With Yahoo! Voice Phone In a user will receive his/her own phone number for a very nominal fee. As long as a user is connected to the web, he or she will be able to receive calls. When a user is logged into Yahoo! Messenger and a call comes through, a pop-up window will appear which will inform the user of the caller’s identity (much like caller ID on a standard phone). The user can choose to accept or decline the call. If the call is declined, it will automatically transfer to voicemail where the message can be retrieved later. If a user is not logged into Yahoo! Messenger, all calls will automatically go to voicemail.

Features

Yahoo! Voice strives to be very user friendly and has many features that make it just that. The Messenger text box will automatically remember numbers that have been dialed before, and all of those numbers will be available from a drop down menu. A user can also direct dial someone who is on his/her messenger friend’s list by clicking on a phone number link in an instant messaging conversation. This makes it very simple to contact the people that a user is in touch with the most.

Performance

As with most personal VoIP plans, the quality and consistency of the calls will depend greatly on a user’s individual Internet connection. As long as a user has high speed Internet and a reliable headset/mic unit the calls are perfect.

Service and Support

Yahoo! customers can receive support from their Online Help desk located at the YahooVoice website 24/7.

List of Features Available on Yahoo! Voice

Support: Online Help Desk Guarantee: N/A Residential Plan: Yes Small Business Plan: No 411 Service: No 911 Service: No

Call Return (*69): No Call Waiting: No Caller ID: Yes Click-to-Call: Yes Fax Line (FoIP): No International Calling: Yes

IP PBX Solution: No Keep Your Number: No PC-to-PC Calling: Yes PC-to-Phone Calling: Yes Virtual Phone Numbers: Yes