Well, at SuperComm 2004, Yahoo announced it would be supporting "click to call" over the PSTN for making PC-to-phone calls. Two possible PSTN providers include SBC Communications and Verizon Communications, which utilize Sylantro's VoIP infrastructure that Yahoo also uses.
With Yahoo's strong presence in the IM space, seeing them getting into VoIP with PSTN access capabilities will surely cause some heads to turn, especially Microsoft (Messenger) and AOL (Instant Messenger).
People love their "free" instant messages and "free" push-to-talk capabilities with their IM programs, so whether or not a traditionally "free" IM client can finally make a profit by offering PC-to-Phone calling remains to be seen.
]]>The PC-to-Phone facility, using Net2Phone technology, at last brings real competition to Skype. (Though the YM $ rates are marginally higher, I think).
I've tried it - it works fine, and while Skype is still the BEST sound quality I've ever heard, that is not a big issue as most VOIP progs these days range from "very good" to "excellent" anyway (and YM is sure "very good" ;-))
The other HUGE benefit in YM7 is the voicemail (a.k.a. voice message) facility - a FIRST for any IM prog that I know of. At last you can send a message to a buddy who's offline, using VOICE instead of text - and this works very well, though still obviously Beta with a few little rough edges.
]]>