January 4, 2008 on 1:37 pm | In Voice | 8 Comments
The New York Times recently had an interesting article about software for recording internet phone calls. Recording calls can be handy if you’re using your computer to make business calls, or there’s just a memorable conversation you want to archive (like my nephew’s first phone call with me when he was 2).
The article mentioned a couple of programs that work with Yahoo! Messenger – Solicall and HotRecorder. Solicall is a call enhancement program with recording options, while HotRecorder offers recording and archiving capabilities. I took HotRecorder for a test drive to see how it worked.
Download and installation for HotRecorder was quick and easy. I did notice it was set with Skype as the default program for recording calls from, and I couldn’t figure out right away how to change that to Yahoo! Messenger. But a quick search of their online help set me straight – right click on the HotRecorder icon in the system tray, select “Activate HotRecorder for…” and then choose Yahoo! Messenger. If you don’t see Yahoo! Messenger in the list initially, make sure it’s running on your computer.
I then placed a call in Yahoo! Messenger. I was hoping that HotRecorder would detect that a call was taking place and start recording on its own, but it didn’t. However the HotRecorder window is small and can sit alongside your Messenger call window, so it’s easy to just click the record button in the window to start. A timer appeared in the HotRecorder window to let me know the duration (note that with the free version, your maximum recording time is 2 minutes). Once my call ended, I clicked the stop button. The HotRecorder window changed, showing me the call duration and recording file size (a :27 conversation was 7 KB), and also provided data fields I could fill in for the filename, who the call was with and keywords. Then I clicked Save, a brief encoding process took place and I was returned to the original home screen.
HotRecorder also has a “Player” tab that allows you to access your saved conversations from that session (you can access recording from past sessions by opening them off your hard drive). You can search for conversations (by person, date or keyword), replay them, and even send a recording to a friend. When you send to a friend, it attaches the recording in an .ELP file format to an email. Your friend will then need to download and install HotRecorder on their own computer to listen to the .ELP file.
HotRecorder also offers some “Emotisounds” you can play on your call like “Booing”, “Baby’s Cry” and “Cheer” (15 in total). The good news is they’re different from the Soundboard sound effects offered in Yahoo! Messenger 8.1 and 9.0 so between the two, you can add a lot of fun to your calls.
HotRecorder is free if you only need to record calls that are 2 minutes or less; the premium version is $14.95. I found it very handy for recording both PC-to-PC and PC-to-phone calls from Yahoo! Messenger.
Sarah Bacon
Product Manager
November 30, 2007 on 9:18 am | In Voice | 46 Comments
If you make PC-to-Phone calls on Yahoo! Messenger, you’ll love the two new features we’ve added to the Yahoo! Voice website.
A frequent request from our voice users is a complete call history. Good news! Now you can view your entire PC-to-Phone call history on the Yahoo! Voice website. Be sure you’re signed in, then click the “My Call History” link near the top of the page. You can view your calls by month in a list showing all calls, or in lists of just outgoing or incoming calls.
Each call history includes the date and time the call was made, phone number, location, duration of the call, price per minute and total charges. The call history automatically displays your fifty most recent calls; click the page numbers near the top to go further back in your history.
The call history on the Yahoo! Voice site only includes PC-to-Phone calls made through a Phone Out account. To view recent call history for your last three hundred calls, including free PC-to-PC calls, click on the “Contacts” menu in Yahoo! Messenger and select “Call History”.
We also made the auto-recharge option for your Phone Out account more customizable. In the past, the Auto-recharge amount would automatically default to the last amount for the Phone Out purchase that you made. But now you can specify either $10 or $25 as your auto-recharge option. Just visit the Yahoo! Voice site, be sure you’re signed in, then click on the “My Services” link near the top of the page.
Speaking of Yahoo! Voice, we have a 2nd birthday coming up!
In December 2005, we began offering premium voice services in the Windows version of our product. You can use Yahoo! Voice services to make free PC-to-PC calls to other Messenger contacts, or purchase a Phone Out account to call your friends’ mobile or regular phones from Messenger for as low as 1¢ a minute. We also offer
Phone In accounts, allowing you to purchase a phone number which you can use to receive calls right in Yahoo! Messenger. With the recent release of Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 Beta, call forwarding was also introduced, allowing you to forward incoming calls to your Yahoo! Messenger to another phone number, even if you’re signed out.
Sarah Bacon
Product Manager
November 20, 2007 on 9:31 am | In Voice | 14 Comments
In response to requests from our Yahoo! Voice users, we recently made some changes to the Yahoo! Voice website. Now it’s even easier to check rates and if you’re unfamiliar with Yahoo! Voice, you can even test the quality of a real PC-to-phone call for free.
Usually, seeing is believing. But when it comes to making phone calls over the internet, hearing the call quality is the true test. For awhile now, users have been able to call toll-free numbers from their PC for free using Messenger. With these recent changes, we also added a “Test a Free Call” feature to our website.
If you’re considering a Phone Out account, but don’t want to commit without first testing our sound quality, then you’re in luck! To test a free PC-to-phone call, visit http://voice.yahoo.com/ and click on the “Test a Free Call” link in the Phone Out section or on the lower right portion of the page. Or click here to try it now (you must be running Yahoo! Messenger 8.1 or 9 for Windows).
We’ve also made it easier to check calling rates. Go to http://voice.yahoo.com/ and on the right side of the page you’ll see a box that says “Check low rates to anywhere in the world”. Select the country you’re interested in calling and our Phone Out rate calculator will instantly show you the rates for calls made from your home country (ex. U.S. to India).
And if the voice quality and rates are enough to make you want to start calling around the world, just click the Sign Up button to create your account. Phone Out services are available to users on the following versions of Yahoo! Messenger 8.1 and 9.0: U.S., Singapore, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
Sarah Bacon
Product Manager
November 6, 2007 on 5:26 pm | In Voice | 11 Comments
Diwali, also known as the “Festival of Lights”, is a very significant Indian festival that symbolizes the victory of good over evil.
In honor of this popular festival, Yahoo! Messenger calling rates to India during the two days (36 hours) of Diwali will be reduced to 4.9¢ a minute. Check out the promotion page for complete details. This reduced calling rate to India is available from November 8 at 10:30am PST (Nov. 9, 12am IST) until November 9, 10:29am PST (Nov. 10, 11:59pm IST).
To get this great rate, sign up for a Phone Out account on Yahoo! Voice. Then just make your calls to India using Yahoo! Messenger during the promotion. If you already have a Phone Out account, you will automatically receive the 4.9¢ per minute rate on calls to India during the promotion.
IM the Diwali promotion to a friend
From the looks of some Diwali pictures I found on Flickr, this festival is warm and colorful. Lamps (called “diyas”) are lit in all households, brilliant fireworks light up the sky, gifts are exchanged and people feast on a variety of delicious Indian sweets and snacks made specifically for this occasion. To learn about all things Diwali, head over to diwalifestival.org.
Want to add a little bit of Diwali to your IM conversations? Click on one of the images below to make it your display image (you need to be signed into Messenger):
And the best news? Even after Diwali ends, you can still save with our low rate of just 7.9¢ a minute on calls to India.
Happy Diwali!
Sarah Bacon
Product Manager
May 29, 2007 on 9:45 am | In Voice | 5 Comments
Kensington recently released their Vo200 Bluetooth Internet Phone, a handy little voice-over-IP (VOIP) phone that’s great for laptop users. It works with most major online internet phone providers, including Yahoo! Voice.
Shaped flat and sized like a credit card, the Kensington Vo200 fits into a laptop’s type I or II PC card slot for storage and recharging. A two-way swivel flap doubles as a mouthpiece and a speakerphone. And because the phone uses a Bluetooth connection, you can talk at distances of up to 30 feet away from your laptop. Use Yahoo! Messenger on your PC to make a call, then pop out the Kensington Vo200 handset and roam freely while you talk.
PC World rated the phone an 82 out of 100 (very good), saying “incoming audio was surprisingly clear” and “I got the 30 hours [standby battery life] and at least 2.5 hours of talk time before recharges were necessary”. Read the complete review at PCWorld.com or head over to Yahoo! Shopping to compare prices at several retailers.
Sarah Bacon
Product Manager
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