AOL Readies VOIP Service

America Online has announced it will offer a new Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) service starting October 4, entering a heated race for Internet-based telephone services.

The service, called TotalTalk, will enable calls to be placed using a computer and standard telephone hardware together by connecting a telephone line and a cable or DSL modem to a broadband router. Users do not need to have AOL as their Internet access provider, according to a company description of the service.

TotalTalk will be "a little bit of a paradigm shift for telephone service" for subscribers, as it will allow the mobility to take a phone line anywhere, said Anne Bentley, an AOL spokesperson. Through the company's next version of AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), code-named Triton, users will be able to answer calls to their home phone from other computers, forward calls to their cell phones, and direct them to their voicemail.

The service's "dashboard" feature will integrate its messenger and dialing software along with voicemail, Bentley said.

Fees and Deals

Computer-to-computer calls--a feature of AIM for more than five years--will continue to be free of charge.

However, the new Triton software enables calls to telephone land lines or to mobile phones--whether local or international--and will be priced according three subscriber plans.

AOL's Local Plan, priced at $18.99 per month, allows unlimited local calls and long distance for 0.039 cents per minute. Unlimited long distance within the U.S. and Canada will cost $29.99 monthly under the Unlimited Calling Plan. A third option, the Global Calling Plan, includes unlimited domestic long distance for $34.99 monthly and international calls at unspecified rates, which AOL describes as "low." Prices of the three plans exclude taxes and additional fees.

AIM Update Due

A preview version of Triton, which requires Windows XP, will be released later this week, according to AOL spokesperson Cindy Harvey. Current subscribers to AOL Internet Phone, the company's first version of VOIP services that also uses a broadband router, will be upgraded to the new TotalTalk service, according to AOL.

The software phone feature will be accessible through AIM Talk to TotalTalk subscribers. Calls can be made through a personal computer using a headset or USB phone, as it features a dialpad, Bentley said.

Voicemail can be retrieved using AIM or a touchtone phone. Additionally, SMS alerts can be sent to mobile devices if a voicemail is left. Other features of the software include call waiting, caller ID, emergency 911 service, three-way calling, and use of so-called "star codes" for various telephony services.

AIM users who do not opt for TotalTalk will still be able to use AIM Talk.