Webware

VoIP and telephony service babyTEL is launching a new Facebook application this morning called Telephone that gives you access to a phone and answering machine without leaving Facebook. Instead of going the embedded route, like YackPack, babyTEL instead relies on a small Java runtime that sits in your computer's taskbar, or the dock if you're on Mac OS X. Once you fire it up, there's a simple authentication process to pull up your list of friends on the social networking service, and allow you to call them for free--assuming you have a headset or speakers and a microphone.

You can initiate calls in two ways. The first is through the Java application's built-in directory. Assuming you have friends who have added the application, they'll show up on your buddy list. You can also start a call right from Facebook, although both parties need to have the Java application up and running, which could potentially be a problem if somebody's away. Luckily, there's a built-in voice mail service that will let your callers leave a message, which you can personalize at any time. Voice mail messages will go straight to whatever e-mail address you give the service, so you can grab them later. The application will also log each of your conversations by date, time, and with whom you were talking, although there's no way to record a conversation.

If there's one shortcoming to this application, it's that it requires both parties to add it to their collection of applications on Facebook, along with running the Java application on their Mac or PC. This is a lot more work than an offering like Yackpack considering you're basically getting the same functionality. You're also missing out on the complexities of status messages, to let you know if a friend is away and will return shortly, and the option to make such changes on your own status. If you're going to put anything on your computer, I personally think Skype is a far more compelling VoIP platform, and also has the extensibility of adding quick "call me" buttons on your blog or social networking profile.

If you've talked to somebody on babyTEL's Telephone Facebook application, the service will log it for you. To call them again, just click the giant green call button.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

I am in favor of any tool that saves me from listening to voicemail on a phone. I use CallWave (review) on my cellular line to shunt voice mails to my e-mail, and I've been using GotVoice (review) on my home phone for the same purpose. GotVoice, to date, has been a bit of a hack: It got your voice mails by dialing up your voice mail, just as you did, and then entering the right touch tones so your messages would play, which it then recorded and sent to you. Pure replacement voice-mail systems (like CallWave, SpinVox, and SimulScribe [review]) work better. Now GotVoice is joining that camp, and adding other tools to bring it up to feature parity. As long as you can set your phones to forward calls when there's no answer, you can use GotVoice's new visual voice-mail answering service. If you can't do that, the GotVoice brute-force approach to recording your messages will still work.

The system will now transcribe messages, just like the competing systems do. I've found these transcription services to have much less than perfect recognition, but they're good enough so you can tell which messages are important.

GotVoice also has a cool text-to-speech feature for replying to voice mails: On your PC or your mobile, you can reply with text to a voice or transcribed message, and GotVoice will send your text via SMS if the recipient is a mobile phone; for landline phones, it will convert your message to speech and read it to the person or machine who answers. That's clever.

You can also use GotVoice to blast one recording out to multiple recipients. Features the GotVoice team are prepping for future releases inlcude "barge-in," like CallWave offers, so you can listen in on people leaving you messages and pick up the call before they hang up, and the capability to have custom greetings for particular callers.

There's a free version of GotVoice, but the transcription feature is only available as part of the paid service ($9.95 a month). CallWave's transcription feature is free.

Google has just announced the much-rumored acquisition of communications service GrandCentral. TechCrunch broke the news about the acquisition last week and is now reporting the deal is rumored to be somewhere in the range of $50 million. Details about final price and terms are confidential.

This is Google's latest move into the telecommunications market and one of their biggest. For current GrandCentral customers, service will go uninterrupted. For users interested in signing up, GrandCentral is now limiting sign-ups to invitation only.

The other big change in place as of today is GrandCentral's RingShare service. Previously, users were able to upload their own MP3 sound files for callers to hear instead of the classic tone. Users are now limited to a small selection of licensed music.

There was no other news from either of the companies about integration into Google's various tools and services. Google insists that "there are no specific product plans to discuss at this time."

Hopefully, you don't hand out your phone number to just anybody you meet on the street or online. But if you'd like to gab with people while retaining some anonymity, Jangl can hook you up. Launched today, this service provides users with virtual telephone numbers that route calls to your real phone number and messages to your e-mail in-box. Rather than being designed as a buffer between you and the masses you meet out on the town, Jangl (also here) focuses on allowing voice calls for relationships that begin on the Internet.

This privacy screen could add a safety layer if you're selling stuff or dating online (Match.com already uses Jangl's technology.). You can add Jangl widgets to your blog, MySpace account, e-mail signature, and elsewhere. Sure, you could use Skype or other VoIP services to click and call people from your computer, but most of those options are tied to a PC and could lead inadvertently to sharing more about yourself than you intend.

I found Jangl's concept tricky to grasp at first. It doesn't assign you a single phone number that anyone can dial. Instead, each Jangl user receives a different Jangl number to reach you. As this works in 31 countries throughout North America and Europe as well as in Israel, Mexico, Hong Kong and Brazil, you're spared from high long-distance fees. When you call someone's Jangl number, the recipient finds out once you leave them a voice-mail, which directs them to sign up with and respond to you via Jangl.

Jangl lets people ring you without knowing your real number.

Unfortunately, if someone wants to cold call you, they only need to know your e-mail address. So if you're already tired of receiving contact requests via e-mail from users of LinkedIn and the like, brace yourself for potential Jangl voice-mail spam--especially if your e-mail is listed publicly. Just imagine the time you could waste listening to voice-mails from advertisers, suitors, or crank-calling middle-schoolers who decide to Jangl you. Of course, you can block pesky contacts permanently, but it could feel crueler to reject a voice-mail than an e-mail from a caller who seems to mean well. It's not Jangl's fault if you put your e-mail address on display, so be forewarned. At this point at least, you can't import contacts en masse from various e-mail or social networking accounts, so perhaps this will slow down potential Jangl spammers.

There are some other downsides. For instance, Jangl's 4-digit, sign-in PIN feels weak. If somebody guesses your PIN, they'd only need your real telephone number to sign onto Jangl and check out your messages and settings.

The founders of Jangl want its name to become a verb, a la Google and Photoshop. The success of their grand plan will depend upon how easy and cheap Jangl remains--and how it can minimize potential annoyances. To their credit, you don't need to hassle with any equipment or software; just visit Jangl.com to set up an account, and then click a link from a verification e-mail. You'll also need to make a call from your registered telephone. This process is simple enough, although I wish the verification note described the setup steps better.

You'll need to visit Jangl's site to organize messages and contacts, but within the next several weeks, you should also be able to check voice-mails via telephone. Jangl is currently free, but pricing plans are set to come within the next month.