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A much better strategy was already covered by slashdot a few months ago. The telcos just need to make other VoIP solutions suck, via COS (Class of Service). Then no one can get mad at them and they can roll out their own high quality VoIP solution.

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The Switchboard - the free browser based internet phone

Why EBay would buy an Internet phone which cannot be embedded in a webpage, when they are a completely web-based company is hard to understand. Of course if they can get Skype preinstalled maybe Joe Blow will use it, but I'd say Microsoft has a better chance of getting their Messenger/Teleo service preinstalled :).

So, EBay has payed billions of dollars for a system which they will procede to destroy with ads and Microsoft will preinstall the app that everyone will use. Perhaps phone calls will be free, but it won't be EBay that provides the service.

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The Switchboard - get a private browser based VoIP system for your web-site for $40

The articles pointed to by this article seem to be pretty blatant solaris propaganda (or at least solaris fanboyism). Just check out this gem that the article claims contains facts. Here's just one great quote from the article:

"Currently Solaris 10 patches are still free for servers without support contracts which is nice for enterprise, but is really important for home users and hobbyists. Of major Linux distributions only Debian and Gentoo has free patches available, but using Debian puts you into the situation that is called "Not a Red Hat"(NRH): Red Hat commands well over 60% of Linux marketplace and that instantly shows in the availability of RPMs, commercial applications, books and other things. "

When was the last time I wished I could go through rpm hell instead of just apt-get install? Idiotic.

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The Switchboard, a free, browser based, internet phone

Who cares if you use Linux, or OS/2 for that matter. If you're using a web-based IM client you can even log in from your local library terminal. Here is an example of a web-based IM client that let's you text, VoIP, voicemail, and conference call, all without any installation and on your browser and OS of choice. Forget this installable stuff :).

Use this and you can try VoIP anywhere you can get your hands on a java enabled browser. It's easier to use (no installation necessary) than either Skype or Google talk, but has better connectivity and voice quality IMHO. Being a web service The Switchboard is truly cross-platform (Windows, Mac, Linux, and OS/2 tested).

why install a client when you can get good features from "any" browser with java support?

http://theswitchboard.ca/

That's why you need to fail over to TCP relaying connections. You can't even use UDP from within corporate networks, because all communication must go through a web proxy server. In this case you need to do what The Switchboard does and tunnel through the web proxy and relay through a secure server. Of course this happens transparently. I don't think Skype has this capability (at most it is able to navigate SOCKS proxies, which is pretty useless).

Personally I'd rather have my calls routed through a proper, 100mbit capable, server than some home users spyware infested XP box, which is liable to be disconnected from the Internet during my call. And yes I am plugging my own creation, but it does do what I've said it does.

Lot's of VoIP implementations already use this, including The Switchboard, which also happens to be a web based VoIP client (i.e. doesn't require any installation, and can be embedded in a web page). Also, using other clients to route calls seems to be an inherently bad thing, as the routing computer can suddenly go offline and then the call ends (besides the fact that the routing computer's bandwidth is being used without the users knowledge).

People are pushing the limits of browsers using Java. The Switchboard is an Internet conferencing solution which requires no installation from the user. Just browse to the page and you're done.

Strange that I have seen no mention of http://theswitchboard.ca/ throughout all these comments.

hmmm... from what i know there are a disproportionate amount of brazilian users on http://theswitchboard.ca/ (mentioned in the cringely article).

Maybe this is because more popular VoIP software is already being blocked?