Google Talk and Skype

"Skype" is a great telephony product; quite feature rich.

"Google Talk" is also a great product but with more limited features.

For PC to PC calls they are both free :-)

I've been using Skype now for 12 months and it has revolutionalized my use of telephony BUT you need a minimum of 36.6 kbps dial-up or broadband for it to function well enough to overcome the latency factor (delay and breakup).

Google, on the other hand, needs only 24-28 kbps to maintain an excellent quality conversation without latency.

The only problem is that you must have a gmail account but they are not too hard to come by (if someone wants an invite then let me know).

So, for those of you with "not so great" dial-up that have been missing out so far then give it a go.