July 21, 2006
TalQer Enhances VoIP For Google Talk
Someone was commiserating on their blog the other day that Google Talk had not had a great deal of success in the VoIP arena - it might have been Charlie Paglee of VoIPWiki blog, and head of Vozin Communications, but I can't remember. So why no full VoIP capabilities from Google Talk?
Fact is, I use Google Talk several times daily to text-talk with friends and clients via the IM. Surprisingly or not, most of these people do not have a mic/ headset; some have no Internet, computer or even cell phone. (My name is not Fred Flintstone.)
That means I have to call my neanderthal friends on their landline. But at present, Google Talk's VoIP capabilities are limited only to other Google Talk users, or those of any compatible softVoIP clients. So Vozin Communications, big fans of Google Talk and its open source code, decided to change that with their Talqer soft client.
Talqer (pronounced "Talker") is a downloadable client that either integrates into Google Talk or can run on its own. If you choose to run it from Google Talk, that client will now have a button to launch the Talqer dialpad.
Talqer keeps a history of your calls and has a mini-phonebook. It's also integrated with MS Internet Explorer, in that you can highlight a number on a web page, right-click your mouse, and select "Call with Talqer". Pretty cool. So why not with other browsers? Firefox integration is coming, they say.
So I downloaded Talqer and installed it to run with Google Talk, then called myself twice from PC to home landline. The quality was amazingly clear, even with my cheapo $1 microphone. But Talqer didn't tell me how much I owed for the call. So I Skyped Charlie Paglee, head of Vozin Communications. The Talqer call had been relatively clear; the Skype call was crackly. (That was actually my first VoIP call on Skype; I've only used the text mode previously.)
Charlie very kindly filled me in on a few details, indicating that new Talqer members get a few minutes free - hence the reason I could make the call without seeing a charge. After a few minutes use, you'll need to buy TalqOut credit, which is similar to SkypeOut, to call someone's landline or cell phone from your PC. Rates are better than Skype's, the Talqer site claims.
Or there's TalqIn, with free voicemail, which lets people call your PC as if you had a regular phone number. For US$3/mth, that's comparable to SkypeIn. A special, time-limited promo gives you a number in over thirty area codes in Canada and the US for 20% off the annual rate = US$2/m. Two bucks a month for a number? Not bad, I say.
If you're a Chatty Kathy like me, you can opt for UnTalq, which is their unlimited calling plan for calls to Canada (excluding area code 867) and the continental USA (excluding Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands). The rate is US$12/mth or $120/yr, exlcuding any applicable taxes. This plan also applies to someone living outside of the valid calling areas but who wants to call those areas.
Just my opinion, but with a seemingly better VoIP call quality and rates that are comparable to or better than Skype's, Talqer could potentially give Skype and other softVoIP providers a run for their money.
Charlie Paglee, by the way, is also the blogger who not only broke the story about the Chinese Skype clone, but got the call from the clone in the first place. He hinted to me during our conversation that Talqer will be announcing some very interesting services later this year. As a fan of Google Talk myself, I'll be watching.
--
Did you enjoy this post?
« VoIP Providers' Business Model Makes Sense | Main | Soft VoIP For Your Mobile Devices »
