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How It Works

Internet phone services let you communicate in a number of ways. You can make an Internet call from one PC to another by dialing the Internet Protocol address of your friend's computer. The software lets you type in the digits of the IP address, and you start talking. Seven of the ten products that I tested permit PC-to-PC calling, and Firetalk offers PC-to-PC only--no PC-to-phone calls. Seven products let you place a call from your computer to your friend's regular phone. The PC-to-phone feature is astonishing, even to a jaded technodweeb like me. The other person (like Uncle Sal) needn't be near--or even own--a computer.

About half the products can be used directly from the companies' Web sites or upon downloading a small program. Some of the software that I downloaded, such as PhoneFree, MediaRing Talk, and Deltathree, ended up supporting better-quality connections than their respective browser-based programs.

When you sign up, brace yourself for some intrusive questions, typical of free services. (My profile? I'm an unemployed high-school grad with 16 kids. I was born on January 1, 1900, and have an income under $10,000. Ethical? Decide for yourself.)

Once you've registered, a telephone dialing pad pops up on your screen. Punch in a number--or grab it from the service's address book--and click the button to dial the number. Wait a second or two, and you're connected. All services (with the exception of TalkFree) let you talk with no time limit.

Free Means Free?

Every product except for Pagoo allowed free calls within the United States. Deltathree, HotTelephone.com, and MediaRing also let you call Canada for no charge. If you're in the habit of calling directory assistance to obtain listings in other states, you can cut out the frequently exorbitant cost of those calls with Deltathree, Pagoo, PhoneFree, or ZeroPlus, which provide free directory assistance--a nice plus.

All PC-to-PC products can make free international calls. To date, only three products provide free overseas PC-to-phone calls: HotTelephone.com, to over 30 countries worldwide; Dialpad, to Korea; and MediaRing to China (Web-based service only).

But if the country that you're calling isn't a freebie, an Internet call may not be worth the hassle. Lucky Dog 10-10-345 traditional phone service to Japan, for example, costs a scant 5 cents per minute more than Deltathree--one of the cheapest Internet phone services. Deltathree offers a 5-cent-per-minute rate on calls to England from California, only 5 cents per minute less than Working Assets' rate (see our comparison chart).

Calls With a Catch

All the Internet phone utilities I looked at offer free services--but there's a trade-off. Not only must you deal with the prying questions on the registration form, but you also must contend with the online advertising that most Web sites rely on to survive. Many of the programs have irritating banner ads that scream at you in fluorescent colors.

The worst offender was HotTelephone.com--it crammed two eye-popping, flashing ads into the browser dialing window, then proceeded to open another ad window when I completed the call. Minimizing a program's window doesn't always work. Dialpad, for instance, pops back up when a new ad is displayed, and PhoneFree refuses to minimize when you're on a call.

I-Link's TalkFree is a hybrid that uses a PC to initiate the call--but its similarity to other Internet phones stops there. I type my phone number into a field on I-Link's Web site, then enter my friend's number in another field. I-Link calls me first on my landline, asking me to confirm my friend's number (by hitting the pound key); the call goes through, and then my pal and I chitchat on our familiar phones. And yes, it's a freebie for both of us. Like other Internet phones, TalkFree uses the Internet for transmission. But because of I-Link's proprietary hardware and software, the voice quality is incredibly good. When I called my cousin in Manhattan using TalkFree, she thought we were connected on a landline. At worst, she said, I sounded as if I were using a good-quality cell phone (minus the cotton).

If it's that impressive, you ask, why isn't TalkFree a PC World Best Bet? It has several snags. First, it's still in a testing phase, and the service tends to get overloaded--I often had to try a dozen times before I could dial. Second, calls can last for 20 minutes, but you have to click on a pop-up screen every minute after the first 4 to extend your call time. This infuriating inconvenience makes TalkFree a no-no for business calls--but it's worth a try for chatting with family and friends. (I-Link regards TalkFree primarily as a promotional vehicle for its fee-based services.)