aurora's blog: Facebook VoIP?

VoIP on Facebook hasn't gotten much attention, partly because Facebook doesn't natively support it. Sure there are paid third-party apps like the $1.99 Facebook Messenger app for the iPhone (renamed to Fone). However, it's only for the iPhone and doesn't work on PCs. Facebook has become the central place to interact with friends and family, share photos, IM, post comments, so why hasn't Facebook added VoIP support?

Yes Facebook lets you communicate via IM, but why not VoIP? Facebook leverages XMPP (Jingle) for chat, as does Google Talk for both IM and VoIP. So the technology is there to handle VoIP. In fact, you can use your preferred XMPP client, such as Trillian, to use Facebook for Chat. If Facebook opened up their network to XMPP federation, that would truly be the death knell for phone numbers! The average Facebook user has more contacts in Facebook than contacts in their mobile phone address book. Further, if you look at Skype, the very successful bellwether VoIP app, its users also have less contacts than Facebook users. Facebook offering VoIP to it's multi-million userbase would be an instant overnight sensation.

Of course, making a VoIP call using Facebook via a browser isn't your typical user experience. Most users expect a standalone application like Skype. However, Google's Gmail has had integrated VoIP calling since August of 2010. If Google is going VoIP over a browser, then surely they will increase market awareness of this capability. Not to mention the various browser VoIP apps based on Adobe Flash. Also, users are starting to use mobile versions of Facebook even more than PC/Mac browser-based versions. (Though desktop usage of Facebook still leads mobile usage.) So Facebook could have a nice UI that allows you to make free VoIP calls over your mobile phones WiFi or 3G connection simply by selecting one of your Facebook contacts. I should note that a Facebook VoIP button was reportedly seen in the wild back in January, but so far nothing has come of it.

Apple is getting serious about VoIP and video calling. If Facebook doesn't move now they can lose a huge opportunity. Apple's FaceTime application maps email addresses directly to a Facetime user, essentially acting as a large SIP registrar or ENUM registry if you will. You can make VoIP/video calls from your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad simply by "FaceTiming" your contact. No phone numbers to memorize, no special software to install. The firmware for these devices support FaceTime so its pretty seamless. They even launched Facetime for Mac late last year so you can also FaceTime from your Mac. Apple has a large, loyal fan base, but Facebook dwarfs even Mighty Apple.

I should add that Vonage launched their Vonage Mobile application for Facebook back in 2010. Their service allows users to make free mobile calls to all of their Facebook friends who have the app as well.

Look at all these 3rd party VoIP apps for Facebook. The big winner is FriendCaller with 66,251 monthly users. The others aren't even close, except for Alec Saunder's Calliflower conferencing / collaboration service with 1,509:

Calliflower Online Meetings

by iotum inc.

Calliflower is the World's Easiest Way to Meet Online. Includes Conference Calls, Document Sharing and more.

1,509 monthly active users

iCall VoIP Web Phone

by iCall, Inc.

Make free phone calls from within your web browser on facebook.

77 monthly active users

Google Talk

by Google Inc.

No reviews

Google Talk is a free Windows and web-based application for instant messaging and voice over internet protocol (VoIP), offered by Google Inc.

63 monthly active users

FriendCaller

by C2Call GmbH

The ultimate facebook VoIP WebPhone! Talk to all your friends for FREE through FriendCaller straight from your facebook account.

66,251 monthly active users

Skype Me

by Triana Group

Skype is a free VoIP service that will bring you closer together to your friends. You can make calls from right inside Facebook -- join now and see who's online!

38,589 monthly active users

Lo-Lo!

by B@ktun Software

Hello – Hello! Or should we say LO-LO!
Is a peer-to-peer (p2p) voip platform to communicate through a voice call by simply pointing and clicking on the “call” links next to your newsfeed entries below each one of your contact’s Facebook profile.

282 monthly active users

VOIP Flashphone

by Saloob, Inc

Flashphone is the world's first VOIP Flashphone.

10 monthly active users

rechargespot

by Rechargespot Limited | Supreme Option Technologies

No reviews

Rechargespot is a community where mobile phone users can earn FREE recharge cards, make FREE VOIP calls, send FREE SMS and do fun stuff.

14 monthly active users

VoIP User Presence

No reviews

This application shows within your profile if you have a SIP device currently logged into the VoIP User server and are available to take calls. The application page also shows a Google Map with your current location based on our IP geo-targetting.

11 monthly active users

FriendCaller has a decent userbase, but I just tested it and it's still a bit of a kludge to make a VoIP call to a Facebook friend. It's not a seamless 1-click experience. In any event, as seen above, third-parties are enabling VoIP for Facebook, while Facebook stays eerily quiet.

Surely, someone would have asked Mark Zuckerberg by now about VoIP for Facebook. The closest I found was a TechCrunch interview about a rumored Facebook "phone". Everyone was abuzz about the potential for a Facebook phone. In the interview, Mark said:

Continue reading Facebook VoIP?...

Tags: facebook, friendcaller, video calls, voip, xmpp Related tags: monthly active, active users, usage facebook, contacts facebook, facebook doesn, facebook