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