Miller To Boost AOL Through Free VoIP Service

Forget dial-up, AOL's dialing for dollars.



With its days as an Internet service provider receding into the distance, America Online Chief Executive Jonathan Miller is trying to remake his company on the back of its most popular product--the AIM messaging client that has accumulated more than 50% of the chat market.

The most recent AIM expansion plan will allow consumers to receive unlimited free incoming calls from regular phones through the messaging client. AOL is hoping at least some of its 61 million keyboard conversationalists will fork over the $14.95 the company will charge to make outgoing calls from the computer to telephones.



Called AIM Phoneline, the product could launch by the end of May, and will give each user a phone number to hand out to friends and family. EBay's Skype offers the same service, but charges $4 for a phone number and outgoing calls.



While Yahoo! , Google , Microsoft and AOL itself already offer Voice-over-IP services through chat clients, none of them offer the free phone number, which can be hooked up to phone handset connected to the computer. The Phoneline service will also notify a user's cell phone if a call is received on the home computer.



But Phoneline isn't the only product AOL will use to beef up its star player. AIM could also get full social-networking site status this month, as AOL parent Time Warner takes on News Corp.'s MySpace with a customizable blog page for everyone who uses AIM.



Don't like all the new ways AOL is making it easier for people to get in touch with you, wherever you are? Its time to start coming up with clever new ways to say "Leave me alone" in your "away" messages.



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