Los Angeles — Not content with playing home to more than 500 million-plus of your family barbecue photos or updates about cats, popular social media Facebook fans who have been chatting and friending each other are now able to make live voice calls via Facebook Chat across the world — with a service provided by Natick-based company Vivox Inc.
In what may be the first instance for Facebook as it is diversifying and taking on yet another aspect of social networking: the voice over IP market with a new application that will allow people to make voice calls from Facebook.
Vivox, earlier this week said that it was partnering with wireless carrier service T-Mobile USA to offer users a free “voice chat” Facebook application. By using the T-Mobile service, called “Bobsled,” this is an app and a service that allows zillions of Facebook users to call their friends for free over their internet connection.
So far, the humble little Facebook chat window, which dangles unobtrusively at the bottom of your Facebook wall, now offers you the chance to connect to any of your contacts for an actual chat. Surely, teenagers around the world might recoil in horror at the thought of it, but it is true.
“We are delivering a voice to social media networking,” says Brad Duea, senior vice president of T-Mobile USA.
In fact, Bobsled will ultimately be a suite of services but T-Mobile is releasing it first as an app for people using PC or Mac computers. T-Mobile said the Bobsled application for Facebook is available now as a free download for all Facebook users, regardless of whether they are also a T-Mobile cell phone subscriber or not.
For instance, once the application is installed, users will be able to place calls directly to people from their Facebook chat window. Further to making live voice calls, the new Bobsled app will enable Facebook users to send voice messages to their friends either privately or via their “walls.”
“Integrated voice on Facebook is a vital part of our roadmap for Bobsled by T-Mobile and Vivox is the clear leader in this area,” said Duea, “Vivox is a talented and innovative company, and we look forward to become successful partnership with Vivox.”
“This is a smart initiative for Facebook because it adds voice to their platform,” said Larry Hettick, an analyst at the research firm Current Analysis, based in Sterling, Va. “It is also significant for consumers, because it allows them to stay inside Facebook and use their friends list to make calls.”
Ultimately, the service will be available to iPhone and iPad users. T-Mobile may bring Bobsled to other social networks, Duea says. T-Mobile’s emphasis is to innovate to provide simple and economical communications for customers, empowering people to stay connected wherever they are, elaborated Duea.
“We are competing and innovating everyday to build the best asset we can no matter who the shareholders are,” said Duea. “Bobsled by T-Mobile takes our communications services innovation to a whole new dimension, bringing simple and cost-effective connections to more than half a billion people overnight.”
“It is a good beginning for PC, but will be more valuable when it is available on mobile phones,” says Yankee Group analyst Tole Hart, who has been briefed on Bobsled. “It should be pretty useful for Facebook’s (more than 250 million) mobile users. And it fits T-Mobile’s user demographic of young, heavy-duty data users.”
The service is very similar to Skype, which also allows free calling over the Internet.