Skype Hype?

Using the Internet to make telephone calls is nothing new. In fact, Internet phone calls are carving out a profitable niche for itself in mainstream communications? Many computer users are unaware of the available choices that exist within Voice Over Internet Protocol or Internet telecommunications.
Companies such as Vontage provide Internet phone services to the masses. They offer telephone services to broadband Internet users for a low monthly fee. The inconsistency with a service like Vontage is that they advertise that their product is for broadband users, but this is a little misleading. DSL connections are a type of broadband, but Vontage only supports broadband cable connections. So what should those that have a DSL or dial up connection do if they want in on the cheap telecommunications benefits of the VOIP?
With the ranks of their users in the tens of millions, companies like Skype are not new comers to the Internet telecommunications market. Skype offers a free version of their software that will allow PC users to talk to other PC users that have the program installed on their system. The phone calls are computer to computer, but they are free. You simply dial using your computer, and talk via your headset and microphone. The free version of Skype software does not allow you to dial up a landline like a home phone or call a cell phone. This is the major difference between Skypes’ free software and Vontage. For a small monthly fee, you can upgrade your Skype software and make calls to traditional telephones, have a telephone number for your system, a voice mailbox, and ability to call any telephone worldwide for a few cents a minute. The affordability, features, and quality of such plans are making Skype and other software of its ilk, ideal for small businesses.
An additional benefit for Skype users is the free video feature. The video feature allows Skype users to have real time videophone capabilities with those in their phonebook. If you are not presentable, you can substitute a live video feed for an avatar or the graphical representation of your choice. This may help to bridge the gap that may be left by travel or the inability to travel. I can see the grandparents trying to load Skype so that they can visit their grandkids with out leaving home.
Not to be outdone, Yahoo is offering similar features through its’ instant messenger program. Like Skype, Yahoo has PC to PC, PC to phone, and phone to PC features. Although Yahoo has offered video enhanced email for some time, they are also including videophone features in their future release.
Vontage, Skype, and Yahoo all have their individual strengths and weaknesses, but I think that the universal theme is that the cost to stay in contact with loved ones or business associates is becoming down right cheap. I guess that I don’t have an excuse anymore for not call my mother more often.