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AOL to Enter the VoIP Ring

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the everyone-else-was-doing-it dept.

FiveDollarYoBet writes "Looks like AOL is entering the VOIP racket. The service is free but it's really a Skype clone with a copper local number. They're also going to offer an unlimited version for $14.95 a month but you have to make the calls from your computer. It'll be interesting to see if it's more of a IM live chat or a true VoIP. The article also outlines their plans to take on MySpace in the near future."

15 of 93 comments (clear)

  1. I can hear it now by castlec · · Score: 4, Funny

    You've got Phone Call!!

    --
    When I tell an object to delete this, am I killing it or telling it to kill me?
  2. Ya! by kitsunewarlock · · Score: 3, Insightful

    And once again AOL offers us another paid service any person can spend 15 minutes learning to get absolutely free and legal! Pity time and warner.

    --
    Ginga no Rekshiya Mata Each page.
    1. Re:Ya! by no_mayl · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Just good marketting.
      I'm old enough to remember the days when Compuserve (before being bought by AOL) had real TCP/IP that allowed Minix users to connect over a modem while AOL had some hacked up custom protocol that worked by replacing all network related apps on windows.

      Look who's still around...
      That's Marketting with a capital M
      or maybe just lazy/ignorant users.

    2. Re:Ya! by BoneFlower · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The average net use cannot figure it out in 15 minutes. A good chunk of them would be unable to figure it out if given full documentation written for their literacy level, *and* they dedicated the entirety of their being for their entire lifetime to meeting the challenge.

      Never underestimate the stupidity of your average netizen. There are people I get calls from where I am left wondering how the fuck they are sufficiently intelligent to succesfully sign up for the service, or how their much smarter friend who actually signed them up could possibly have been persuaded to unleash such a monster on the net.

      People are fucking stupid. Work a hell desk for the general public and you will understand completely why people need AOL to dumb things down for them. That is why AOL has succeeded thusfar, and why they probably will succeed with this. This stuff might not be for people who understand they need their computer out of the box before their ISP can get them online(hey, at least she knew she needed a computer at all), but believe me, a lot of internet users aren't even that qualified.

    3. Re:Ya! by zakezuke · · Score: 4, Interesting

      > And once again AOL offers us another paid service any person can spend 15 minutes learning
      > to get absolutely free and legal! Pity time and warner.

      According to TFA you get an inbound phone number with this sucker, for free. That's kind-of spiffy, that's almost worth running AIM. Think about it, your stuck at an airport abroad but you have your laptop and WiFI. You need to contact your non-technical person so you hit the website and msg their mobile, and boom "you've got a phone call".

      Now color me ignorant, but show me another service that would permit free incomming calls without a monthly fee.

      --
      There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
    4. Re:Ya! by Fred_A · · Score: 4, Interesting

      What's odd is that their current offer in France is an ADSL modem with an (optionally) included voip handset meant to replace your regular phone.

      Why don't they do the same in the US ?

      In France having a lot of stuff included is the norm for ADSL offerings and I know the US lags a bit because of the low population density, but adding a handset to a modem isn't that hard. Or do they target dialup users ?

      And for 6.90€ extra, you can change the colour of the modem! Yay!

      The ISP that typically sets the trend for bundling gadgets here is "Free". Currently their ADSL2+ offering comes with a kit consisting of the ADSL2+ modem with 1 USB port, 5 Ethernet ports, a WiFi Mimo interface, a phone interface. Then there is the multimedia hub with the TV tuners (including HD), a terrestrial digital tuner, a number of connectors (SCART, etc, including HDMI, S/P DIF), WiFi link to the ADSL modem and a remote. All of this is actually Linux based ;)
      You can also stream your computer's content to your TV on your LAN through VLC via the multimedia hub.

      The kit comes with the TV (through ADSL in a VLC like stream), free phone and ADSL2+ for 30€ per month.

      Why anybody would pick AOL over something like that is beyond me...

      --

      May contain traces of nut.
      Made from the freshest electrons.
    5. Re:Ya! by TapeCutter · · Score: 4, Insightful

      That is why AOL has succeeded thusfar..

      It's also the reason we have to put up with the concerted effort to take over your browser, spam your inbox, ect. People actually buy shit from random pop-ups and emails. AOL will happily promise to shield you from all the "hackers" for a fee. From what I can tell, (I'm not from the US), they are basically aimed at people who (for whatever reason) cannot use a browser for more than five minutes without calling a help desk.

      If AOL suddenly had a change of heart and tried to educate their users about "the tricks of the trade" they would loose their (sizable) section of the market, it is in their interest to "help" their users and at the same time treat them as mushrooms.

      "The average net use cannot figure it out in 15 minutes."

      I agree. Whatever your opinion of AOL, there are plenty of people who are willing to pay for someone else to "work it out" for them Many of them don't want educating, they want a device like a preset home theater where they only have a few buttons to remeber to get what they want. Push the wrong buttons (like 'mute' or 'AV3') and they simply call in a TV repairman (or pester a relative) to "fix it".

      "People are fucking stupid."

      I don't see that behaviour as automatically stupid, sometimes it is just willfull ignorance. All through the 80's I repaired my own cars and bikes, now my car looks like a dishwasher under the hood and tells the mechanic how badly I have neglected it (error codes). I have a good enough idea of how my car works to spot bullshit, but spare me the details, what's it going to cost and how long will it take?

      OTOH: Browse at -1 to see the stupidity of people on the net. While doing so remeber the 'netizens' who created the often nonsensical, bottom-dwelling posts were at least smart enough to work out how to post them.

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
  3. Triton by TubeSteak · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I bet if you want to use this, you're going to have to DL AIM's new "Triton" client (maybe they'll make it work with the older 5.x versions) and the ViewPoint advertising that comes with it.

    I can't imagine that AOL would make this a standalone product.

    So it will be ad supported, one way or another, if for no other reason than AIM already has ads built in.

    TANSTAAFL, unless you block the ads, which the vast majority of the user base has no clue how to do.

    --
    [Fuck Beta]
    o0t!
  4. Whut? Whut? by zephc · · Score: 5, Funny

    kan u here me know?!? LOLZ!! :::hugs:::

    --
    "I would say that 99 per cent of what my father has written about his own life is false." - L. Ron Hubbard Jr.
  5. Re:Already? by qortra · · Score: 4, Informative

    They've had user to user voice communication for quite a while now (long before Google for instance). Moreover, (AFAIK) they are the only IM service to allow PSTN termination; Skype was never really an IM service (it was primarily VOIP). The real contenders in this particular market (text IM services integrating voice communications) are MSN, Yahoo, AOL [AIM], and Google [Talk]. Of those, aren't they now the early bird?

  6. Decent headstart to compete against MySpace by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    AOL has always had a pretty family-oriented image, which was probably to their disadvantage in certain demographics but maybe not entirely in this case. At a time when there's a lot of concern about the so-called dangers of MySpace (child predators, etc), AOL could leverage their family-friendly image to tout a MySpace-like service that is also "family friendly": more safety features to protect children, parental controls for parents, and a number of other features that would score points with concerned parents.

    Whether a service like that will get them anywhere near as big as MySpace is anyone's guess, but it would definately take advantage of both the current concern over MySpace's complete openness and AOL's current image. Plus, if the government really does require sites like MySpace to raise their minimum age to 18 and enforce age verification, there will be an entirely new market (12-17 year olds) for a kid-friendly MySpace, one that AOL could fill quite well for the reasons stated above.

  7. I can see it now... by uvajed_ekil · · Score: 3, Insightful

    AOL Phone = plenty of incoming calls that are mysteriously lost, a staggering number of incoming telemarketing calls that get through to sell you replica watches and internet porn (despite your number being on the national "do not call" list), having to listen to ads before you get to your voicemail, you eventually paying way too much, and intelligent people nolonger taking you seriously.

    --
    This is a hacked account, for which the owner can not be held responsible.
  8. Its a good thing its Unlimited by masterpenguin · · Score: 3, Funny

    You're going to need that unlimited plan to get in touch with tech support

  9. Overuse of fighting metaphors? by noidentity · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What's with the overuse of fighting metaphors? Seems every third article or so is titled using a metaphor related to fighting. Most commonly it's "X to be the next Y killer?" Maybe some people need spend more time playing competitive video games.

  10. Yet another proprietary VoIP solution by Nurgled · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It saddens me that VoIP is going the way that IM went. I want something that will interoperate with everything else --including the traditional telephone network -- transparently. I don't want to have to care whether the person I'm calling uses Skype, or AOL, or Google Talk, or whatever. I just want to pick up my phone (software or hardware) and call them, like I can on the traditional phone network. Why does every new technology seem to degenerate into a mess of competing and deliberately un-interoperable implementations? How long will it be before the hacks of the IM world are repeated, and we end up patching up this mess with complicated multi-protocol client software?