VoIP Monitor - VoIP Providers|Yahoo Messenger

JAJAH Selected as Yahoo Outsource Partner; Gains 97 Million Yahoo Users

VoIP Monitor — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:01:03 GMT

Jajah has been selected by Yahoo! as its outsource partner for its premium voice service. Calls made by the nearly 97 million worldwide users of Yahoo! Messenger will now be routed over the Jajah network. In addition to telephony infrastructure, Jajah will provide payment processing and customer care services.

This partnership leverages Jajah’s open VoIP communications platform to support the existing Yahoo! Messenger voice offering. Through this collaboration, Jajah provides Yahoo! Messenger users with an instant Internet telephony network, merging the best of traditional and IP telephony.

As a result of its unique investment strategy, QINO Flagship AG is the only publicly-listed stock that allows participation in Jajah.

Linksys Dual-Mode Cordless Phone

VoIP Monitor — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 16:02:53 GMT

Yahoo! Messenger and Linksys, announced the availability of a new dual-mode cordless phone. The Linksys Dual-Mode Cordless Phone for Yahoo! Messenger with Voice (CIT310) gives consumers the flexibility to make and take low-cost Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls using Yahoo! Messenger with Voice(a) as well as place and receive phone calls using their traditional landline/PSTN connection.

The dual-mode cordless phone provides Yahoo! Messenger users with a convenient and fun alternative to make free Internet-based calls to friends and family on their Yahoo! Messenger Contact List. People subscribing to Yahoo! Phone Out can use the cordless phone to make an Internet-based call to any traditional or mobile phone at very low rates. With the use of the USB base station, the phone gives people the freedom to take their Yahoo! Messenger with Voice calls away from the PC and into other rooms, just as they do with mobile or cordless phones. People have the flexibility to instantly switch over from VoIP to a traditional landline phone service with the touch of a button.

Additionally, people can search for local business information directly from their phone using Yahoo! Local Search. For example, by programming the phone with a local zip code, people are able to search for a local restaurant (or any other local business) and effortlessly call the restaurant with one click. People also have access to weather forecasts through a weather search setting.

“The CIT310 is our first product to couple the Yahoo! Messenger with Voice experience and access to Internet services like Yahoo! Local Search,” said Tarun Loomba, senior director of product marketing for the Linksys Consumer Business Organization. “We share the same vision with Yahoo! of not just improving the experience of internet phone calling, but also offering a valuable combination of internet-enabled features and services that customers will use and really want.”

“Yahoo! Messenger and Linksys are giving consumers the flexibility to make and receive free Internet calls from the same phone they use for their home line,” said Jeff Bonforte, senior director of Real Time Communications, Yahoo! Inc. “The CIT310 cordless phone is also embedded with the industry-leading Yahoo! Local Search service, to provide consumers with an easy way to find local restaurants and businesses and quickly make a call with one touch.”

The Linksys Dual-Band Cordless Phone for Yahoo! Messenger with Voice includes a handset with color display, and a USB base station that plugs into a computer’s USB port and a port for a traditional landline/PSTN connection. Initial customers purchasing the Linksys Dual-Mode Cordless Phone will receive 100 free minutes to make Yahoo! Phone Out calls to any traditional or mobile phone. The dual-mode cordless phone also includes a number of convenient features:

Supports Yahoo! Messenger with Voice's Internet-based calling services
-- Free PC-to-PC calling
-- Phone Out: PC-to-Phone calling
-- Phone In: Phone-to-PC calling
Supports traditional landline/PSTN calls using a local phone line
Color Display
Yahoo! Messenger Contact List display and search
Yahoo! Local Search based on city zip codes
Weather search (get 2 days of weather info on the display, based on the zip code entered in the phone)
Yahoo! Messenger Status Message (available, online, busy, etc.)
Yahoo! Address Book access
Call waiting for both incoming VoIP and PSTN calls
Intercom Call between handsets
Caller ID for both VoIP and PSTN calls
Last Number Redial
Polyphonic ring tones, and Melodies
Single base station supports up to six additional DECT based phones for PSTN calls
Headset jack for connecting a headset
Multi-language support (English, French, Spanish)
A full charge on the battery enables up to 100 hours of standby time and up to 10 hours of talk time
Pricing and Availability

The Linksys Dual-Mode Cordless Phone for Yahoo! Messenger with Voice (CIT310) is immediately available through Amazon.com for $79.99 and will be available through other leading online retailers later this month. The Estimated Street Price is $99.99.

Linksys CIT310 screens which help give you a better feel for the new product:

EQO Mobile Delivers Mobile VoIP

VoIP Monitor — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 21:25:01 GMT

EQO Communications, a leading developer of platforms for mobilizing online social networks, VoIP and instant messaging services, announced the immediate availability a new version of EQO Mobile, extending the most popular instant messenger services - including AOL Instant Messenger, ICQ, GoogleTalk, Jabber, MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Instant Messenger and Skype - to mobile phones. With EQO, users can access all of their IM services from their phone and exchange free text and picture messages with other EQO users. Supported on more than 300 mobile handset models, the latest version of EQO Mobile is an easily installed Java mobile application that downloads over the wireless data network.

Synchronize contacts from multiple IM buddy lists and multiple IM accounts
Check who's online and available with real time presence
Make and receive mobile VoIP calls using Skype
Create and maintain a personalized mobile profile, expressing their mood and location by uploading pictures and text directly from their phone
Exchange web-to-phone, phone-to-web and phone-to-phone text and picture messages with a simple click-to-call or click-to-IM feature

"The notions of presence, identity and community -- so crucial in the online world -- have been glaringly absent from mobile phones, the most personal of all personal technology devices," said Bill Tam, CEO of EQO Communications. "We're extending the most popular IM communities and social networks to the mobile phone to give people those capabilities anywhere they go."

In February 2006, EQO introduced EQO for Skype to demonstrate how an easy to use text, IM and voice service designed for mass-market mobile handsets enables people to "take their buddies with them on their mobile phones." With the launch of the EQO Me "widget" in August 2006, EQO empowered users of popular social networks such as MySpace, Friendster, Tagworld, Hi5, Xanga and Multiply to stay in touch with online friends on their mobile phones with web- to-phone and phone-to-web pictures and text.

EQO Mobile now incorporates rich new community features enabling users to add friends and see what they've posted from their mobile phone. It also allows users to include a call back phone number or IM screen name as part of an EQO message, enabling the recipient to start a conversation using a simple click-to-call or click-to-IM feature.

"IM networks are fundamentally online social networks," said Tam. "People create and nurture online identity to establish an impetus for others to contact them. People join alumni sites to reconnect with classmates and college friends; they participate in business networking sites to establish professional contacts. Community sites allow individuals to publish expressions of self that invite comments, messages and ultimately spur conversation. Beginning today with the most popular IM networks online, EQO makes that possible on the mobile phone."

The latest EQO Mobile is an evolution of the EQO for Skype service introduced at DEMO 2006. Since the launch of EQO for Skype, EQO has established itself as the premier mobile solution for Skype, with users in more than 130 countries across 260 carrier networks.

The new version of EQO Mobile and the EQO Me widget are available for free at www.eqo.com.

Worm Strikes Yahoo! Messenger Users

VoIP Monitor — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 21:59:17 GMT

Research experts at FaceTime Security Labs, the threat research division of IM and greynet security leader FaceTime Communications, have discovered a new threat targeting Yahoo! Messenger users, known as the w32.KMeth worm. The new threat sends users to a Web site serving a barrage of Google AdSense advertisements related to mesothelioma, a rare cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. Because of its relation to toxic tort litigation, the cost-per-click for the keyword "mesothelioma" is one of the highest in the online advertising pay-per-click market, making it a prime target for financially-motivated malware writers. Systems are set up by these cyber-rogues to funnel traffic through illicit means, generating clicks on high-paying keywords to produce higher returns on established advertising commissions.

Unlike the typical worm that propagates when a user clicks on a link to an executable file contained in an instant message, w32.KMeth downloads malicious files into the user's Windows temporary file directory when a user simply visits an infection site using Internet Explorer. When the user visits the infected Web page, the malware uses the PC as a launch pad, immediately sending infection messages to the user's Yahoo! Messenger contacts. The "status message" in Yahoo! Messenger can also be also hijacked, presenting enticing messages to their contacts, such as "check out my blog." The use of this additional social-engineering technique is designed to encourage more visits to the rogue Web pages. At the same time, the user's control panel is disabled, and the home page is hijacked to a Web page that contains text designed to generate maximum revenue through click fraud.

"Typically, financially-driven malware attacks use botnets to fraudulently increase traffic to specific online advertisements," said Chris Boyd, director of malware research for FaceTime Security Labs. "In this case, the hackers have cleverly borrowed tactics from botnet-creators to create a bot-less network of hijacked PC users to drive traffic to sites populated with these specific Google AdSense advertisements. Introducing the human factor into the scenario makes these 'bot-less nets' much more difficult to detect."

Google AdSense is a convenient way for Web site publishers to earn money by displaying Google ads relevant to their Web site. Because Google pays the host Web site based on the number of clicks on their ads, the process can be susceptible to what is commonly called "click-fraud," or an inflated number of clicks on a given ad.

The cost-per-click for the term "mesothelioma" is among the highest in the online advertising industry, because searchers using the term are very likely to be seeking legal services. The cost-per-click ranges from $4 to $13 and higher on various keyword bidding networks.

The FaceTime research team offers a detailed accounting of the worm and the possible financial motives at http://blog.spywareguide.com.

Who is affected: Users of both Yahoo! Messenger and Internet Explorer

Threat Type: Worm

Risk Level: Medium

How to protect against this threat

This malware has the potential to infect any user of Internet Explorer who visits the infected Web site, but is specifically targeted at users of Yahoo! Instant Messenger. Users can protect themselves by not clicking on links sent to them by other users or contained in Yahoo! Messenger status messages of those contacts on their contact list. Currently, most commonly used anti-virus programs do not provide protection from w32.KMeth.

Companies that use FaceTime Enterprise Edition and IMAuditor and have auto-update features activated are automatically protected against this threat. FaceTime also recommends activating the Day Zero Defense System within IMAuditor. The system utilizes anomaly detection techniques to analyze multiple characteristics of IM-borne worms and other malicious code against normal behavior, and provides patent-pending protection against many IM threats -- in addition to traditional security signatures. FaceTime RTGuardian customers are automatically protected if they have auto update features enabled. FaceTime's X-Cleaner customers (formerly XBlock) should download the latest update and scan their PC for the worm.

Yahoo! With Voice Users able to Enjoy Free Conference Calling

VoIP Monitor — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 07:25:19 GMT

Vapps is extending its free conference calling platform to Yahoo! Messenger with Voice's 80 million users worldwide*, the global infrastructure supplier of VoIP conference calling solutions announced today.

Yahoo! Messenger with Voice users will now be able to engage in free conference calling with their friends and family through ConFreeCall, provided by Vapps. The announcement further demonstrates Vapps' ability to enable large scale social networking portals to offer premium conference calling services to their users, increasing the value of their service offering.

ConFreeCall (http://www.confreecall.com/) will allow Yahoo! Messenger with Voice users to enhance their instant messaging (IM) experience and enable them to connect simultaneously through voice conferencing with their growing network of friends, family and colleagues.

"With beginnings as a back-end conference calling provider, our team of seasoned programmers have revolutionized the way we look at web-based conference calling by developing web platforms that compliment technologies such as Yahoo! Messenger with Voice to create a more advanced experience for consumers," said Ben Lilienthal, CEO and co-founder of Vapps. "We used to look at the conference call as merely a business solution, with the introduction of services such as ConFreeCall, the landscape has changed to be a tool for online communities as well.

"Partnering with a great brand like Yahoo! is a tremendous opportunity for us to spread adoption of web-based conference calling as consumers look to be more connected and have a more advanced online experience," added Lilienthal.

Yahoo! Messenger with Voice subscribers have access to a complete plug-in gallery (http://us.gallery.yahoo.com/messenger) where they can choose to download the ConFreeCall plug-in and add high quality conference calling to their personalized IM experience. Users will be supplied with a conference bridge number as well as participant codes for use by up to 500 participants simultaneously. A variety of services will be available through the ConFreeCall plug-in including, standard call management (volume control, muting, participant announcing, conference locking and recording) along with sophisticated moderator features for Web-based on-demand call control. The service is free to subscribers.

International PC-to-Phone Calling for Yahoo! Messenger

VoIP Monitor — Wed, 24 May 2006 20:14:37 GMT

iBasis, Inc., the global VoIP company, and Yahoo! Inc, a leading global Internet company, announced that iBasis is providing international call termination for the Yahoo! Messenger with Voice service. iBasis is among the suite of providers delivering high-quality termination services for calls from the U.S. to international markets. The interconnection with iBasis enables Yahoo! Messenger with Voice to offer its customers high quality PC-to-Phone calling over iBasis' global VoIP network at very competitive rates.

Yahoo! Messenger with Voice provides enhanced PC-based calling capabilities for both making and receiving phone calls, depending on the combination of services purchased, at some of the lowest rates in the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) industry. With the Phone Out feature, which leverages The iBasis Network for international calls, consumers in the U.S. can make VoIP PC-to-Phone calls by using their PC to place calls to traditional or mobile phones to more than 180 countries(1). Calls within the U.S. and to over 30 other countries can be made for two cents a minute or less(2).

The interconnection with iBasis includes use of iBasis' PremiumCertified international routing product, which is specifically designed to deliver the highest quality of service for retail traffic, and the company's DirectVoIP Broadband IP interconnection service.

"Like the Internet itself, Yahoo! is ubiquitous," said Ofer Gneezy, president and CEO of iBasis. "By delivering innovative services and compelling features to their enormous customer base, Yahoo! is playing a major role in the transformation of how people communicate. They did it with Yahoo! Messenger, and now they will do it with Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. We're very excited to be an integral part of the service."

VoIP-Enhanced Services In the Home Offered by Siemens & Yahoo!

VoIP Monitor — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 00:52:25 GMT

Siemens Home and Office Communication Devices LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Siemens Communications, Inc., announced an agreement with Yahoo! to extend VoIP calling capabilities to Siemens' Gigaset Cordless Telephones. The relationship between Siemens and Yahoo! Messenger with Voice will enable consumers to enjoy voice-enhanced services not only at a PC, but from anywhere within the home.

Siemens and Yahoo! will offer the Siemens Gigaset M34 USB adapter, which IP-enables Gigaset telephones with the VoIP calling capabilities of Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. The adapter will allow users to make and receive calls through the free PC-to-PC calling feature of Yahoo! Messenger with Voice, and make cost-effective calls to fixed line phones through the Phone In and Phone Out features. Using their Gigaset handsets, customers will be able to easily access their Yahoo! Messenger friends' lists, view contacts and their presence status and change their personal presence status. The adapter is compatible with Gigaset cordless phones introduced after the fall of 2004 and that belong to the C-Class and above. The adapter will be available by the third quarter of 2006.

"It is rare that a business alliance is as seamless and complementary as the one we have just entered into with Yahoo!," said Martin Kinne, CEO of Siemens Home and Office Communication Devices. "While Siemens provides the plug-and-play cordless phone devices, Yahoo! delivers the 'killer-app' communication features that make in-home IP attractive to consumers."

The relationship reinforces the strategies of both players. Siemens Home and Office Communication Devices continues to expand Smart Home Connectivity by enabling a plug-and-play, in-home VoIP network and the associated feature enhancements and cost benefits. Specifically, users will be able to place free PC-to-PC voice calls, cost-effective calls to fixed line and mobile networks over the Internet and have access to their personal Yahoo! Messenger with Voice contact lists and corresponding presence information on their Gigaset.

"Yahoo! seeks to provide online products and services essential to people's lives. Our collaboration with Siemens enables us to offer our Yahoo! Messenger with Voice services beyond the PC, on additional devices. Working with Siemens will greatly increase the potential for new and existing users to take advantage of our rich communications suite," said Brad Garlinghouse, VP of Yahoo! Communications Products. "Today's announcement is a first step in a relationship that will expand and continue to benefit both Yahoo! and Siemens customers for a long time to come."

The global agreement gives users of Yahoo! Messenger with Voice the opportunity to order the Siemens Gigaset M34 USB adapter from a variety of retailers that can be found through the Yahoo! Web site.