Have you taken a good, hard look at your telephone bill lately? If you're like most everybody else, a good portion of your bill can be attributed to long-distance calls. Maybe your home-business requires that you make distance calls, or perhaps your best friend lives in the next area code. Regardless of why your long-distance calls are made, the charges seem to add up with remarkable speed. Well, now you can make long distance calls over the Internet for free! All you need is a computer with MS Windows 95, 98, or NT; MS Internet Explorer 4.0+ with Java VM 5.0 or Netscape Communicator 4.5 or 4.7; a sound card, a speaker and microphone or headset, an Internet connection, and an account with
Dialpad.com.
The process to set up an account with Dialpad takes only minutes. Users are asked to fill out a form that includes his/her name, address, telephone number, likes, dislikes, and interests. As I tried to submit my completed form, I repeatedly encountered a server error. Slightly disappointed, I decided to e-mail Dialpad's support address. I received an auto-response to my e-mail immediately and a secondary response was received within 24 hours. The e-mail indicated that Dialpad had completed the account setup for me. I was impressed with their speedy response, and immediately pointed my web browser to
http://www.dialpad.com to make a call.
I expected that a lengthy download would be necessary before using Dialpad's service... I was wrong. No download is necessary, as Dialpad works with a Java applet that's run from Dialpad's server. After arriving at Dialpad's website, I only had to input my username and password before making a call.
As soon as you're logged in to your account, a dial pad appears within a window on your screen. To make a call, you must only dial the number, then click on the 'Dial' button. As you dial, realistic dialing sounds can be heard. The standard telephone ring is heard when the 'Dial' button is pressed.
The first person I called was a good friend who lives in the next county. I dialed, pressed the 'Dial' button, then excitedly waited as I heard the telephone ring. After the third ring, I heard the familiar sound of my friend's voice sayng "Hello?" From my end, the telephone call was crystal clear. I spoke into my computer's microphone, and my friend's voice was heard through my computer speakers.
The only downside to using Dialpad is that the person who you're calling hears a self echo as he or she speaks. In other words, when the person picks up the phone and says "Hello," the first thing he/she hears is their echo, responding back with "Hello." Though the echo is a bit annoying, a normal telephone conversation can be held.
Dialpad also allows you to create an online telephone book. You can input names, telephone numbers, and other contact information within the book. Once a telephone number has been added to the telephone book, it can be clicked on, and the number will be speed-dialed for you.
Since it was founded in 1996, Dialpad has grown with tremendous speed. More than 2 million people have already set up accounts with Dialpad and are saving enormous amounts of money. If you're spending big bucks on long-distance charges, you may want to give Dialpad a shot. After all, it's free!
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Free Internet Telephony by Robert Viers