AOL is about to announce a new service, called AIMPhone, that gives its AIM users a free local phone number using VoIP technology. The free service will work only for incoming calls — users can receive calls at the number from any phone and can listen and talk with headsets plugged into the computer.
But for a fee of $14.95/month, users can make outgoing unlimited local and long distance (including 30 countries) calls.
This is an interesting development, and on par with what Yahoo is doing with its Yahoo Messenger with Voice service, also a no-cost offering that extends premium options. Unfortunately, AOL is pegging a relatively cool idea to a sinking platform — its AIM base.
The company is losing AIM customers at a rapid clip (13% over the past year) and AOL’s subscription service, a big driver of AIM, is also sinking. Which is too bad, because these IM voice experiments could pay off for online portals and service providers. The IM-VoIP efforts won’t necessarily pay off in the short-term but IM-based voice could be the thin wedge that cracks open more robust VoIP options.
But unlike Yahoo, AOL has to turn around a listing ship, it’s AIM platform, in order to make VoIP over IM into something bigger. Yahoo also has the added advantage of a giant telco partner, which is marketing Yahoo Messenger with Voice.
Cynthia Brumfield at 10:53 PM|Comments(0)
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