LiveSide - News blog : VOIP

Windows Live Messenger: Telefonica’s Voype Web Calling Service Launches On Windows Live Messenger

Sunshine — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 15:46:00 GMT

A Messenger feature that got discontinued a little while back returns. VOIP! Telefonica, one of the largest telecommunication companies, brings their Web Calling Service Voype to Messenger in the following countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, the United States, and Venezuela. The integration of the service will be done in two phases. In the first phase, you’ll be able to make calls from your PC to any landline or mobile phone in the world. In phase two, you’ll actually be able to both send and receive calls on your PC.

All you have to do is sign-up for an account here. Note: a microphone and speakers (or a headset) and broadband connection required! Credits are available in amounts of $5, $10 or $20. The calls to and from Windows Live Messenger users will be free and calls to landlines and cell phones will be available for a fee. The rates are: about a penny to China, 2¢ to the UK, 5¢ to Canada, or 10¢ to Mexico per minute when calling landlines.

So how do you make a Call?

If you are using Windows Live Messenger 8.0, 8.1 or 8.5, just click on the phone icon either in the main window or choose a contact and click on the phone icon. From the drop down menu, select ‘Call a phone’. Add a phone number, click on enter and start talking! You’re all set. It’s that easy.

If you are already using the new Windows Live Messenger Beta , there are a few of ways you can make a call. You can hover over a contact and if you have a phone associated with that contact, just click on ‘call work’, ‘call mobile’, etc. You can also open up a conversation window with that contact and click on the phone icon and enter their telephone number. For ad hoc calls, you can launch Windows Live Call from the start menu under All Programs > Windows Live Call beta, enter their telephone number and click Call. Choose whichever way is most convenient for you!

Source: Inside Windows Live Messenger and On 10

P.S: Speaking about Windows Live Messenger, if you run into error message 810003c1 when you try to log in, make sure your Country/Region is set to your own Country at https://account.live.com/EditProf.aspx. This error can be caused if the region setting for your account is not set according to Sameer over at Inside Windows Live Messsenger.

Microsoft stops Windows Live VOIP services from July

Chris — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 00:30:00 GMT

Last year Microsoft announced that the existing VOIP partnership with Verizon would be terminating in 2008. Currently this service allows Windows Live Messenger users to call friends and family using regular landlines and mobile phones, but this functionality is set to expire over the next few months.

According to a Microsoft spokesperson, this service will terminate on the following dates:

EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) - July 15th 2008,
USA - August 31st 2008.

They confirmed that so far, no replacement service has been identified.

“Microsoft is actively investigating a successor to Verizon Web Calling in Windows Live Messenger in EMEA and the U.S. and hopes to offer the service again in the coming months. We apologize for the inconvenience to our customers.”

So what does this mean for Microsoft’s VOIP strategy? Its been disjointed, lacked development and made no visible progress over the past 2 years, and now we have the prospect of the service being discontinued indefinitely. However there is some hope on the horizon.

At the end of last month, Mary Jo Foley talked about a service codenamed Echoes. She explains how the different aspects of this project are expected to function with the help of network operators, in particular regarding the synchronising of contacts to and from all mobile devices, and enabling text message (SMS) to IM conversations. In addition parts of Echoes throw light on Microsoft’s own VOIP platform plans:

Step 1: “Echoes will assign a local mobile number to each Windows Live contact”
…
Step 5: “Voice calls can be connected through Echoes directly from the mobile to the Windows Live Messenger user’s PC”

Mary Jo mentioned this new functionality shipping with Windows Live Messenger v9 betas, following on from the TAP trials being undertaken in Europe and Asia over this summer. Swisscom and TeleNor are allegedly some of the EMEA partners, with trials in Asia rumoured to be using Starhub (#2) and M1 (#3). Anybody in these countries heard anything about the testing going on? If so drop us an email, we’d be interested to hear how what’s going on.

Given the expected v9 ship date of Q4 2008 however, it seems like a somewhat tall order for Microsoft to ship a working VOIP platform and cross-partner systems integration in just a few months. Echoes seems to be perhaps a more realistic aim for Windows Live Wave 4, which would mean Microsoft needs a stop-gap VOIP provider for the next 18 months. With only 1 month left to run in EMEA, anybody care to guess when the service comes back online?

(I couldn’t find any user stats for VOIP services except Skype, so its difficult to tell how many users will be affected by this.)

Microsoft drops Verizon for its Windows Live Messenger VOIP services

Chris — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 06:30:00 GMT

Verizon Web Calling has powered the VOIP integration in Windows Live Messenger since the public beta of v8 early last year, though the service is at best is described as basic. However last week users of Web Calling received an email from Verizon customer services, informing them that the joint service is to be terminated next year. Whether Microsoft partners with another telecoms company or they instead opt to provide their own voice platform hasn't been confirmed, though we've heard that it may be the latter.

So what does this change mean for Microsoft's voice and video aspirations? Well with the launch of Windows Live Messenger 8.5 this week, extending their VOIP offerings via a different platform would be a great addition to a new client version. The existing outbound-only calling is just not enough for users that prefer voice over text and so to remain competitive the new in-house service would need to provide an inbound option just for starters. Yahoo! has offered users a choice of USA or UK phone numbers for about 2 years now, which is incredibly convenient for those who travel globally and don't want to have multiple contact numbers, or those who want to speak to their international friends without paying premium rates.

Then there are the Windows Live cordless phones that Microsoft announced at CES 2006 and promoted heavily last year. Obviously without numbers its difficult to estimate the takeup of those, however it seems reasonable to believe that sales and impact on the market will have been less than desired. Comparing them to the LifeCams which are now on their 2nd generation, the last phone to be discussed was the Motorola device back in August 2006. This comes back to the poor VOIP offerings currently available and specifically the lack of features; the phone hardware devices just seem to have been pushed out too early.

Existing users of the Verizon WebCalling service are able to claim back any unused funds and will be alerted in the future once a final end date for the service has been agreed.

For reference here's the email as sent by Verizon:

Dear Verizon Web Calling Customer,

We’re writing to inform you that Verizon plans to discontinue Web Calling, a joint offering with Windows Live Messenger, on or before August 31, 2008. The exact date will be provided in a subsequent notice that you will receive at least 90 days before the final discontinuance of the product.

You may continue to use and recharge your Web Calling Account until Web Calling is discontinued. You may also request a refund of the remaining funds in your account at any time by logging into your Online Account Manager account and e-mailing Customer Service. The other features of Windows Live Messenger will not be impacted by the withdrawal of Web Calling.

Windows Live is currently working on a successor to Verizon Web Calling. Details of that offer will be communicated when they are available.

Any monies remaining on your account will be refunded to you when Web Calling is discontinued.

Thank you for your support of Verizon Web Calling.

Sincerely,

Verizon Web Calling Customer Service

Microsoft becomes even more mobile with Tellme

Matthew — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 16:19:00 GMT

Microsoft is clearly investing in more mobile technologies by announcing Thursday that they will be purchasing Tellme Networks. Founded in 1999, Tellme is a provider of voice-enabled services, which include their free service +1 800 555 TELL [8355], as well as customer service and ordering for companies such as Merrill Lynch, E*TRADE, American Airlines, among others. Tellme has the largest and most reliable VoiceXML platform in the world, providing voice applications for a number of Fortune 500 companies. In fact they provide automated information [411] service for large carriers such as AT&T and Verizon. They will even send information via text message from the voice application or by sending an SMS to 83556 [TELLM], for example "pizza san jose".

Tellme has in fact used Microsoft's MapPoint technology for their voice guided driving directions. Although the financial terms have not been disclosed, Tellme will continue to run operations in Mountain View, CA and executives from the company are expected to join Microsoft.

Microsoft and Tellme share a vision around the potential of speech as a way to enable access to information, locate other people and enhance business processes, any time and from any device. Combining Tellme’s talented people and expertise in high-volume voice services with Microsoft’s platform, resources and worldwide customer reach will inspire new and innovative solutions. "Speech is universal, simple and holds incredible promise as a key interface for computing," said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer of Microsoft. "Tellme brings to Microsoft the talent, technology and proven experience in speech that will enable us to deliver a new wave of products and revolutionize human-computer interaction."

Certainly Microsoft is going to be heavily investing in a wide range of products given Gates' vision of seamless computing across devices. With products like Windows Live and MSN Mobile, Live Search mobile, Windows Live "G2" client, Palm Treo running Windows Mobile, upcoming Windows Mobile 6, and now Tellme: Microsoft is really trying to win the mobile market.

For more information, check out the PressPass article, which has audio from the teleconference, as well as the press page on Tellme, which has a number of other news articles [they seem pretty excited about the deal].

@Matthew

Microsoft announces new Windows Live hardware

Chris — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 03:20:00 GMT

Microsoft has today announced the expansion of its Windows Live hardware line, both with the new range of voip headsets (LifeChat) and a wider range of webcams (LifeCam).

- The Microsoft LifeCam NX-6000 will be widely available in November 2006 for an estimated retail price of $99.95 (U.S.). This is a laptop only webcam.

- The Microsoft LifeCam VX-1000 will be widely available in September 2006 for an estimated retail price of $29.95. Readers have told us that this is already in the shops.

- The Microsoft LifeChat products introduced today will be widely available in January 2007 for the following estimated retail prices:

Microsoft LifeChat ZX-6000: $69.95 (U.S.)
Microsoft LifeChat LX-3000: $39.95(U.S.)

With these new LifeChat devices launching soon, it's a shame that Microsoft's voip product currently falls well behind the likes of Skype in terms of features and extensibility, something which no amount of attractive hardware can rectify. Maybe the upcoming VoiceMail service, to be integrated in Live Mail (and the desktop version) v2, will remedy some of these deficiencies.

Microsoft Press Release

Update: Pictures of these devices are available here.

Windows Live Session summary

Chris — Fri, 27 Jan 2006 07:19:00 GMT

Last night saw the first Windows Live Session in the UK, hosted at MSN London. Phil Holden gave some good demos of Windows Live beta products as well as outlining the history and intentions behind them. Several MSN UK staff were present too, some of whom...(read more)