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AOL Calls Developers On AIM Phoneline

WebProNews Staff — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 19:49:16 +0000

A programming contest for the most innovative and useful applications on the AIM Phoneline platform will pay out $4,500 in prizes.

The competition begins September 11th and runs through November 30th, 2006. Developers using the Open AIM SDK to create an application for AIM Phoneline could grab either the $3,500 first prize or $1,000 second prize.

AIM Phoneline debuted in May 2006. The service offers a free incoming phone number and voicemail for its users.

It proved so popular that parts of the country, namely the old Kentucky home of WebProNews, still do not have numbers available due to heavy demand.

A for-pay version of AIM Phoneline provides outbound calling for a single $9.95 monthly fee.

This gives unlimited calling to numbers in the US, Canada, and 30 other countries, according to AOL.

The start of the developer contest coincides with Boston’s Fall VON 2006 conference, also beginning on Monday.

At the conference, AOL should talk more about three new APIs they will provide for developers and phone manufacturers, as noted in a statement from the company:

• Personalize the AIM Phoneline service by adding ringback tones and unique ring tones for frequent callers.

• Enable a wide variety of USB devices such as speakerphones and phone adapters that will allow standard cordless phones to initiate and receive calls with the AIM Phoneline service.

• Build new call management functionality into the AIM Phoneline service such as context and relevance-based call handling that could treat each call on the basis of rules that use Caller ID, online presence, calendar activities and more.

A couple of companies will be on hand in Boston to put examples of what can be done with the APIs on display:

iotum(TM), a Voice 2.0 company that will show intelligent handling of incoming calls using their iotum Relevance Engine(TM), and MyNuMo, an online content community that enables artists to create, show, and sell digital content that will be demonstrating ringback tones allowing for personalization by caller.

The hardware device API will also be featured, and Mvox Technologies will demonstrate examples of its handsfree and wireless MV900 and USB MV100 speakerphones with AIM Phoneline.

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David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.

AIM Phoneline Has A Busy Signal

WebProNews Staff — Wed, 17 May 2006 14:52:36 +0000

AOL’s offering of a new VoIP option that provides a free phone number and incoming calls may have been just a little too good to be true.

On the tenth anniversary of AOL’s Buddy List feature, the company introduced its AIM Phoneline service. The new offering gives AIM users a free, local phone number to receive unlimited incoming calls online through the AIM service as well as free online voicemail.

The signup process didn’t go well with our test. A request for a local phone number from AIM Phoneline hit a brick wall:

Due to popular demand, it appears an AIM Phoneline phone number in your local area is currently unavailable. Please provide us with your email address in the field below, and click the “Notify Me” button, so we can let you know when one becomes available.

Not good. AOL knows it has some 22 million AIM users. They should have anticipated demand better and made a greater pool of numbers available.

We’re on the waiting list now, because AIM Phoneline does interest us. A free number with voicemail would be of use in a few scenarios as the Phoneline websites illustrated. Phonline also offers an unlimited plan for $9.95 per month of VoIP calling.

That service comes with additional features beyond making calls from the computer. Caller ID, call screening, and click-to-call from the Buddy List come with the service, and users can make Phoneline calls from wherever they can connect the PC. The Unlimited option is also e911 compliant.

The Buddy List seems like it has been around a lot longer than ten years. AOL launched instant messaging within its walled garden of content back in 1989. But 1996 was the year the Buddy List first arrived.

It has been copied a lot (just look at your Yahoo Messenger or MSN Messenger lists) and functions today as it did ten years ago. A number of features have been added to the Buddy List, yet it still serves its purpose, as a handy directory of people one wants to have on hand for easy contact.

We plan to blow out some candles and wish for a Phoneline number invitation to arrive in our inbox.

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David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.

AOL AIMs For VoIP Market

WebProNews Staff — Fri, 05 May 2006 18:07:30 +0000

As AOL loses subscribers by the boatload, the company says it’s on “offense” as it plans to launch a VoIP feature for it’s 41 million member strong AIM instant messaging service.

The Phoneline service, reports the New York Times, to be introduced on May 16, will allow AIM members to attach a phone number to their accounts. The free phone number gives members the ability to call each other through headsets or PC microphones as long as both are logged in.

Mobile and landlines can also reach a logged on AIM member or it can be set up to take voicemail and notify a member’s mobile phone.

“Our strategy is to protect and extend our instant messaging business,” AOL executive vice president for programming and products James P. Bankoff told the NYT. “You have to play offense.”

The company plans to offer an unlimited version for $14.95 a month. The fee wins unlimited local and long distance calls in the US and abroad. Early signups can get the service for $9.95.

The buzz is getting around the Net, as bloggers and writers are already calling the new service a “Skype killer.”

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