Toronto, Canada-based telephony services company Innofone.com Inc has launched what it says is the first free PC-to-phone international long distance telephony service. Hotcaller, due to go live September 15, will be advertising-driven, and targeted at groups such as traveling students or businesses wishing to offer their customer base added services.
The caller needs a PC with internet connection, speakers and microphone, while the call recipient needs a regular telephone. The system is, as the name suggests, based around the Hotmail model of web-based communications, and requires the caller to create an account on the Hotcaller web site by filling in an extensive profile used to target advertising. When the account holder wishes to make a call, he or she must view, listen to or interact with a series of web advertisements. The more messages viewed, the further and longer the user can call. From then the call is made via the user’s PC.
Innofone hopes to tap in on the targeted internet advertising market, which the firm reckons will reach $4bn by 2001. Rather ambitiously, company president Larry Hunt said: We believe we could easily surpass the leading provider of free email, which has over 35 million subscribers.
