Microsoft and MCI yesterday announced a global partnership to provide software and services that enable customers to place calls from a PC to nearly any fixed-line or mobile telephone. The 'MCI Web Calling for Windows Live Call' solution will be available with Windows Live Messenger, the upcoming successor to MSN Messenger.
The companies are presently testing the service as part of a Windows Live Messenger limited beta available only in the US. They plan to deliver the beta to France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom in the coming weeks. With the beta version, customers can place calls to some 220 countries.
Calls to the US, Canada and Western Europe cost $0.023 per minute, though rates could change, the companies noted, with the official launch in 2006. To use the service, customers will reportedly buy pre-paid calling time from MCI in $5, $10 or $25 increments.
The announcement marks the latest in a string of VoIP activity over the past few months. Yahoo announced last week that it will offer PC-to-phone calling capability with its new Yahoo Messenger offering. Sony launched its Instant Video Everywhere video VoIP service with Glowpoint last month, and Skype launched version 2.0 of its VoIP software at the end of November.
The companies are presently testing the service as part of a Windows Live Messenger limited beta available only in the US. They plan to deliver the beta to France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom in the coming weeks. With the beta version, customers can place calls to some 220 countries.
Calls to the US, Canada and Western Europe cost $0.023 per minute, though rates could change, the companies noted, with the official launch in 2006. To use the service, customers will reportedly buy pre-paid calling time from MCI in $5, $10 or $25 increments.
The announcement marks the latest in a string of VoIP activity over the past few months. Yahoo announced last week that it will offer PC-to-phone calling capability with its new Yahoo Messenger offering. Sony launched its Instant Video Everywhere video VoIP service with Glowpoint last month, and Skype launched version 2.0 of its VoIP software at the end of November.