Microsoft, can you hear me now?

Microsoft says several improvements to its MSN Messenger Internet telephony feature are now available to all users of the tool. The most notable of the changes improve the oft-criticized quality of the voice calls. It's also now possible, Microsoft said, to have voice chats through firewalls, typically a major challenge for voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP.

The improvements, made possible through a partnership Microsoft has with operator Level 3 Communications, were announced by MSN in April as part of the introduction of the latest version of MSN Messenger. Because the improvements use third-party software, there's an expected charge of a few cents a minute.

[kurtpochert]

Just Skype it!

Skype.com is free - computer to computer, and it works great. They do charge, after setting up an account with a "calling card" type deposit, to call land line phones from your computer. I'm surprised that Microsoft didn't work with Skype on this. I'm sure there are lots of details we don't know about, though, to do such a thing.

[kurtpochert]

Just Skype it!

Skype.com is free - computer to computer, and it works great. They do charge, after setting up an account with a "calling card" type deposit, to call land line phones from your computer. I'm surprised that Microsoft didn't work with Skype on this. I'm sure there are lots of details we don't know about, though, to do such a thing.