(from minor in the shoutbox.) You bet they are. Microsoft has recently bought the VoIP company, Teleo. Here’s the official announcement on their website last August 30:
Interesting since Google has recently launched its own IM (dubbed GoogleTalk) with a nifty (clearer voice than Skype, IMHO) VoIP feature. Everyone is playing catch me if you can. Looks like Microsoft has an insider in Google. How else will they be able to predict where Google will jump into next? Or it is Skype?
Teleo allows customers to use their PC to make VoIP calls to cell phones, regular phone or PCs. Through its integration with MSt Outlook and IE, the Teleo service also facilitated “click to call†dialling of any telephone number that appears on screen – such as within a Web site, search results or e-mail.
We will see who dominates the VoIP arena anytime soon — Yahoo, Google, Microsoft with Skype currently leading the pack. Whoever takes the bigger piece of the pie, the consumer will still greatly benefit from it. :)
I think what Google and MSN are doing really validates what companies like eStara, www.estara.com, have been doing over the past few years. People that advertise both in print and online, want to be able to track the success of their campaigns. Click to Call and Pay per call advertising makes this possible. So far, eStara has been the leader with large enterprise customers. It will be interesting to see what happens now that there’s so much speculation about Google and Microsoft joining the race.