Skype and other great Voip services

Many of you have probably heard of Skype. It is a service that allows you to make phone calls over the internet to landlines and other skype users, either for free or for a very affordable fee ($14.95 for a year). I also use it for IM and sending files. I have been using Skype for over a year and can't express how valuable it has been. I have a fairly open crush on Skype.

But there are some other services out there that allow consumers to make phone calls over the internet either for free or for a great price. I thought I would list a few just to get the word out.

*Before you go trying these, make sure you are not using dial-up, it just isn't worth it.

Just another great product from Google. They have about anything you want and give it to you normally for no cost. This is an IM service, Call service and allows you to send files easily. I don't think it allows you to call to landlines yet, but it is a great service.

Palore takes a different approach. It is a browser plug-in that works with IE or FireFox. It searches company phone numbers and gives you a review of that company/restaurant in a pop-up window. Then it lets you call the number from the pop-up window. A great product if you are looking for a restaurant on a business trip in a city you are unfamiliar with. I am excited about this one.

With some clever marketing Vonage has become the leader in taking Voip into people's home. Plans start at $14.99 and they are trying to replace the traditional home phone line. I am not a big fan, but it is a simple option to get off whoever is charging your $30 a month to have a home phone #.


This looks to be one of the more promising communications programs. It allows you to talk, conference, text message, IM (Yahoo, MSN, AOL, Google, Skype, ICQ), file transfer, email support, offline messaging, and dial-out services to landlines for a small fee. That is a pretty promising list.

I am really excited about where the industry is going. I think there will be more and more impressive changes in how we communicate in the near future.