HOWZAT

SkypeOut and Gossiptel’s keen pricing makes BT’s new Communicator charges look embarrassing. This is a newish extension of the Yahoo! IM service, with which you phone regular telephone lines directly from a computer, but the costs are charged to your BT account. Dave Axam, general manager of the future voice portfolio at BT Retail, maintained that Communicator pricing is “very aligned to” a normal BT package, the principal attraction being that customers “can afford to give their kids a second phone line”. When pressed that Communicator offers no real price advantage over a land line, he said: “The notion that ‘It’s all on the internet, and it’s all free’ isn’t true. A lot of network is involved in terminating calls, which means costs.”

This is true, but consumers expect an incentive for making calls through a computer, which probably explains why only 35,000 of the 2.5m people said to have downloaded the BT Communicator software have actually bothered to register.

The real power of VoIP will be seen in the new generation of services that do not use a computer. Instead, you plug your existing telephone into an adaptor that connects to your broadband modem.

Surprisingly, BT launched such a service, which it called BT Voice, way back in 2003; but again, as this offers no distinct cost advantages, it largely went ignored.

Smaller firms such as Vonage and Pipemedia pass on substantial savings to consumers (see box). Axam sniffs at the dramatic price disparity between services: “There’s a big difference between having a market-entry strategy and a sustainable business model.” We rang several times for more information, but Vonage did not answer its phone. Not a good sign.

Customer service has not deterred Doors reader Peter Barwich, from Co Cork in Ireland, from switching to VoIP. “The technology works, and, while still improving, it’s practical,” he said. “I have used two providers, iConnectHere, via Deltathree, and Pipemedia. Both give excellent service at extremely low prices — about €1.25 per hour to France. The voice quality is, if anything, better than a standard land line.”

VoIP brings benefits beyond cheaper phone calls. “It means a family could have several phone numbers in their home,” Fogg said. Thanks to Ofcom, we should soon enjoy a choice of geographic or non-geographic phone numbers, too. This means you can choose a London number even if you live in Aberdeen — so calls to and from other London numbers are charged at the local rate.

With VoIP, the advantage of non-geographic numbers (such as 0845) is that you can plug the adaptor into a broadband connection anywhere in the world and receive calls, with the caller paying UK local rates. Barwich explains: “I am based in Ireland, but have a UK local-rate number, so my daughter, at college in Scotland, can reach me cheaply and easily.”

There are many issues for service providers to answer before we switch over en masse. How easy is it to alternate between your land line and your VoIP provider? Would you be able to phone the emergency services? Because VoIP requires broadband, can it succeed when you must retain your land line, at a cost of perhaps £10 a month? VoIP is already a hit with travellers and people with friends overseas, and the pace will accelerate once the new generation of providers gives consumers lower prices and new functions, such as conference calling and digital voicemail. VoIP may not end up being entirely free, but we can look forward to better-priced and much more flexible phone services. No wonder BT and other telcos are rattled.

THREE ROUTES INTO WEB TELEPHONY

1 COMPUTER TO COMPUTER
Contenders MSN, AOL, Yahoo!, Skype.
Cost Free.
Kit required Broadband-connected computer, headset with microphone or speakers and microphone; webcam for video.
Verdict Brings free calls to computer chatterboxes using the same service, but both machines must be turned on and attended. Quality is often poorer than traditional calls; often impossible for both parties to speak at the same time.

2 COMPUTER TO LAND LINE OR MOBILE
Contenders BT Communicator, SkypeOut, Gossiptel.
Cost One pence per minute to America; up to 10p per minute to India (SkypeOut rates; BT is more expensive).
Kit required As 1.
Verdict Call almost any phone from your computer, often with remarkable savings. Quality can be erratic, depending on your headset, and is rarely as good as a land line, but the family can make simultaneous calls over the same home phone line — one by computer and one by phone.

3 NON-COMPUTER-BASED VoIP
Contenders BT Voice, Vonage, Pipemedia, Gossiptel.
Cost From £10 per month for unlimited calls.
Kit required Broadband connection, and either a specially compatible telephone or an adaptor for standard phones.
Verdict Heralds cheaper calls, as well as multiple numbers — one for each member of the family — and a choice of geographic (eg 0161) or non-geographic (eg 0845) numbers. Setup can be difficult, particularly with Pipemedia, but call quality equals land lines. Tariffs are confusing, but Gossiptel, Vonage and Pipemedia are much cheaper than BT. Vonage has a £10-a-month plan for calls within the UK and Ireland.

NOW CLICK HERE

messenger.msn.co.uk
uk.messenger.yahoo.com
www.aol.co.uk/aim
www.bt.com/btcommunicator
www.gossiptel.com
www.pipemedia.com
www.skype.com
www.vonage.co.uk

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