| With the influx of complaints regarding | | | | already offer their users, they are making a |
| Skype's fall from grace, Danny Wirken | | | | far smaller step than Skype or any other |
| measures up the top competitor and internet | | | | company seeking to offer competition in this |
| giant Yahoo!'s news internet telephony | | | | fast paced market. |
| service. | | | | |
| | | | With MSN and AOL also entering the fray, |
| Cheaper, faster, better quality, better | | | | Yahoo! is keen to gain immediate respect as |
| customer service and a brand you can trust. | | | | the new internet telephony Mecca. There is |
| These are the things Yahoo! want you take | | | | essentially no difference between Yahoo!'s |
| away from any of their promotional material | | | | business model and Skype's business model |
| for the new Yahoo! voice VoIP service. | | | | except that Yahoo! bundles many services into |
| | | | one piece of software. |
| The weird and wonderful continues to dominate | | | | |
| the Skype debate. A recent complaint | | | | Customers are predicted to trust Yahoo! with |
| published on a blog from a Skype user | | | | their personal details and payment |
| illustrates the issue at the heart of Skype's | | | | information more readily than Skype who |
| fall from grace well: | | | | already has a poor history of random charges, |
| | | | incorrect charges and general customer |
| "I recharged my account and then couldn't use | | | | service problems that have had the user base |
| it. When I emailed support I got a response | | | | up in arms for several months now. |
| four days later saying that my account was | | | | |
| not over 3 months old. Yet I am. Giving them | | | | Yahoo! claim that their top priority is to |
| the benefit of the doubt, I asked Skype | | | | provide the best communications service |
| customer service to recheck. They then said | | | | possible by blending the VoIP into other |
| it was because I have under 5 euros in my | | | | services such as mobile communications and |
| account. Yet I had over 5 euros. At that | | | | search. It is this kind of integration that |
| point I gave up." | | | | holds the key to the future marketplace - but |
| | | | is it one which Skype can easily keep up |
| It's hard to blame the customer support staff | | | | with? They have no instantly recognisable |
| though - with the daily torrent of complaints | | | | equivalence to the broad network of services |
| they are no doubt having to deal with the | | | | on offer from Yahoo! and this is a fact that |
| blame and responsibility falls squarely in | | | | customers will be aware of. |
| the lap of Ebay who now own Skype. Yahoo! | | | | |
| aims to offer a more competitive service. | | | | If you're fed up with the problems permeating |
| | | | the world of Skype right now then I strongly |
| The published list of prices are now | | | | suggest you check out Yahoo!'s offering. You |
| available on the Yahoo! site and it's plain | | | | might just be thankful that you did. There |
| for all to see who will eventually be leading | | | | are many more competitors on the books |
| on price for national and international | | | | however - pushing prices down across the |
| calls. | | | | industry. |
| | | | |
| Yahoo! certainly has the market - the users | | | | For more information on this and other VoIP |
| of its chat software are a rival market for | | | | related tips and advice, please visit the |
| Skype's exclusively VoIP based service. By | | | | website. |
| adding value to the service Yahoo! can | | | | |