Software lets people search VoIP chitchat
For the price of tailored advertisements, an Internet ad company is peddling free add-on features, including search capabilities, for conversations on Skype and other voice over Internet Protocol services.
Privately held United Virtualities, based in New York, on Monday introduced downloadable software for recording and searching phone conversations via voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP--a relatively new technology for placing phone calls over a broadband connection. The application, called HotRecorder, also allows people to create a voice mail box for VoIP calls and to forward messages to e-mail in-boxes or cell phones.
HotRecorder works with PC-initiated calls through Skype, AOL Instant Messenger, Firefly, Yahoo Messenger and Net2Phone. The free version of the software is supported by advertisements that are targeted according to the consumer's location, gender or age. People can also buy the software ad-free for about $15.
"All these VoIP products are getting more mainstream, and they need services to help them be more interesting," said Mookie Tenembaum, founder and CEO of United Virtualities.
Services based on VoIP have seen rapid growth in the past year, thanks in part to rates that are typically below what traditional phone services charge. Skype, for example, provides free international Internet phone calls to roughly 74 million registered users.
