REDMOND, Wash. — Aug. 30, 2005 — Microsoft Corp. today announced it has acquired Teleo Inc., a provider of voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) software and services that enable the placement of phone calls from PCs to traditional phones and that deliver this technology in unique ways through a variety of software and Web applications. Microsoft expects to combine the technology and expertise of Teleo with the existing VoIP investments of MSN to further develop products and services that connect consumers to the people and information that most matter to them. Financial details were not disclosed.
It appears that Teleo was building a service that would integrate with Microsoft Outlook and Internet Explorer, and bring so-called "click-to-call" functionality to those applications. Not only could you use a "soft phone" to make normal calls, but Teleo was also working on a way to make phone numbers that show up in search results and e-mails "clickable" for the purposes of making a PC to landline or cellphone connection.
Teleo was focused on bridging the PC to Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) divide, a divide currently spannable only through such services as Skype, SIPphone, or Vonage's softphone (and other similar products).
Contrary to the knee-jerk reporting elsewhere, Microsoft already supports VoIP technology in MSN Messenger, and is not a Johnny-come-lately player in this market (that title would be best reserved for Google). Nevertheless, many believe that the timing of this acquisition is no coincidence. Google Talk, which was launched last week, includes amongst its minimalist feature set the ability to make voice calls to other Google Talk users. While Google Talk is essentially just an extremely basic Jabber client with voice support, the mainstream media has (unsurprisingly) represented Google Talk as a Major Internet Breakthrough™, as if it wasn't possible to have direct chats online before.
Teleo's tech probably won't appear in anything non-beta before the end of the year, when we plan to see an eruption of VoIP competition on the PC desktop. Not only are Google and Microsoft racing to market, but Yahoo purchased Dialpad a few months ago, looking to span the PC/PSTN bridge as well. Looking to the other Instant Messaging providers, we're waiting to hear an announcement from AOL's AIM or ICQ camps any day now.