It’s like Skype - but not as good

Earthink has introduced a new service for their broadband subscribers:
Free Online Calling.

Their FAQ says "EarthLink Free Online Calling is technology that lets you make calls over the Internet using Session InitiationProtocol (SIP) technology. Instead of picking up a telephone, two or more SIP users can talk to each other over the Internet for free, whether it's across town or around the world."

I happen to be an Earthlink broadband customer, so I'll take it for a spin, but the I'll have to find another Earthlink broadband customer to test it with since the service isn't available on traditional phone lines. Granted,
Earthlink was the first major nationwide ISP to offer a VoIP and their prices are now on par with Vonage and the other VoIP players,
but it would be cool to see something more Skype-like from a major company.

On a related note, my own Vonage install kit arrived today. I finally took the plunge. Within about 10 minutes of signing up this past weekend, I had the
SoftPhone service added (you'll notice that Earthlink's free online calling service, uses the same software), the SoftPhone software for OS X installed and I was dialing like a mad woman. So far I am impressed. But more on that another time...