Portal teams with Vapps to allow Yahoo Messenger users to hold free VoIP conferences.
Yahoo Inc. is offering free group conference calling services from Vapps Inc. to the roughly 80 million users of Yahoo’s instant-message and Web telephone-calling service, the companies said in a statement.
Plug-in from conference-call services and equipment firm will allow up to 500 simultaneous participants per call.
The service, called ConFreeCall from Vapps, will be available for download through Yahoo Messenger with Voice service, allowing friends or families to hold free conference calls to complement Yahoo’s existing text, voice and photo-sharing services. A Vapps representative said the plug-in will be available within the next two weeks.
Vapps, short for “Voice over Internet Applications,” said it can offer free conference calls with high voice quality for up to 500 simultaneous participants per call. A moderator can control call volume control, mute, announce participants and recording, among other features.
Vapps, a US company that provides free conference calling via the Internet, announced that it would be adding the feature to Yahoo’s online message service.
The approximately 80 million worldwide users of "Yahoo Messenger with Voice" will be able to make conference calls using online telephony, or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), according to Vapps.
An application referred to as "ConFreeCall" would be added to the software "plug-ins" available for Yahoo users, Vapps chief executive officer Ben Lilienthal said in a press release.
“We used to look at the conference call as merely a business solution. With the introduction of services such as ConFreeCall, the landscape has changed to be a tool for online communities as well,” he said.
Vapps, a supplier of conference-calling services and equipment announced a similar deal in June with Skype, the international market leader in instant message and Web-based phone calling services with more than 100 million users.
Closely held Vapps, of Hoboken, New Jersey, has a plan to offset the cost of providing free conference calls by offering related premium services, including conference call recording, playback and 24-hour operator support for arranging calls.
Vapps counts tens of thousands of registered users for its existing audio conference call services. Previously it charged 6 cents a minute per user, meaning an hour-long conference call with 10 participants cost around $36.
"Partnering with a great brand like Yahoo is a tremendous opportunity for us to spread adoption of web-based conference calling as consumers look to be more connected and have a more advanced online experience."
VoIP has been making rapid strides around the world thanks to free Internet calling companies such as Skype. According to an April survey by eMarketer, it is expected to be used by 32.6 million US households by 2010.
Yahoo Messenger with Voice subscribers can find the ConFreeCall application in the Yahoo Messenger plug-in gallery at: http://us.gallery.yahoo.com/messenger. The service is also available directly from Vapps at: http://www.confreecall.com.