For the more talkative members of MySpace, the last two months must have seemed like an eternity. In mid-October 2007, the social network and Skype announced that they had agreed to integrate the latter s Internet-calling capabilities with the former s IM (instant messaging) functions. The integrated service has finally gone live, adding 110 million MySpace members to the 245 million registered Skype users who can potentially call each other for free.
The question now is how and how much even the most eager MySpace talkers will use the new capabilities, particularly the inbound and outbound services. Related Articles: The Top 25 VoIP Innovations of 20075 Things to Avoid When Implementing IP TelephonyAnonymous VoIP CallingChecklist: Setting Up a Call Center The deal was one of a series of recent attempts to bring voice capabilities to social media.
Jangl Inc., which makes it possible to call anyone with an email address, tied up with Facebook in May 2007 . Jaxtr Inc., which makes it easy for users of social networks to add click-to-call widgets to their various online pages , recently reached 5 million users following its July 2007 launch. The Skype/MySpace deal similarly integrates Skype calling directly into the MySpace IM client.
MySpace users had been clamoring for the ability to talk, as well as text chat, according to Jin Kim, Skype senior business development manager. Now, MySpace members will be able to click to call other members directly while viewing their profiles. Users will also be able to make SkypeOut calls and accept SkypeIn calls, as well as make free calls to non-MySpace Skype users. In short, they ll be able to use Skype to reach the world beyond MySpace from within the social network.