03-13-2009, 01:12 AM
follow-up to pinkoos' thread: http://forums.macresource.com/read.php?1,689123
The hint was that international calls are cheap. Well I ask you, then what about domestic calls ... does a person still "need" Vonage, et al??"
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/displ...gle_voice/
KAI RYSSDAL: So as I understand it, no ads for now on Google Voice, right?
POGUE: No ads and no plans to make any. They are able to support the entire thing from another feature I haven't even mentioned, which is from any phone if you dial your own "Google Voice" number, you get these options. And one of them is press 2 to place a call. Calls in the United States are free. So this means you could pick up your home phone and make free long-distance calls. Calls to international locations are very cheap, they're like 2 cents a minute, 3 cents a minute, depending on the country.
RYSSDAL: So this is voice over Internet, right?
POGUE: It is. That's right.
RYSSDAL: Then what does that mean for companies that already do voice over Internet, like Skype, which has built a booming business?
POGUE: I don't think I would like to be one of the companies in the way of Google Voice right now. There are companies that, as you say, do Skype-ish things and connect your long-distance calls for very cheap, there are companies that turn your voice mails into transcribed texts. All of these companies are going to have to sweat it. They're going to have to get better or die.
The hint was that international calls are cheap. Well I ask you, then what about domestic calls ... does a person still "need" Vonage, et al??"
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/displ...gle_voice/
KAI RYSSDAL: So as I understand it, no ads for now on Google Voice, right?
POGUE: No ads and no plans to make any. They are able to support the entire thing from another feature I haven't even mentioned, which is from any phone if you dial your own "Google Voice" number, you get these options. And one of them is press 2 to place a call. Calls in the United States are free. So this means you could pick up your home phone and make free long-distance calls. Calls to international locations are very cheap, they're like 2 cents a minute, 3 cents a minute, depending on the country.
RYSSDAL: So this is voice over Internet, right?
POGUE: It is. That's right.
RYSSDAL: Then what does that mean for companies that already do voice over Internet, like Skype, which has built a booming business?
POGUE: I don't think I would like to be one of the companies in the way of Google Voice right now. There are companies that, as you say, do Skype-ish things and connect your long-distance calls for very cheap, there are companies that turn your voice mails into transcribed texts. All of these companies are going to have to sweat it. They're going to have to get better or die.