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6 Skype Alternatives Offer New Services: Page 6 of 12



Jajah's lets you enter the number you want to call from a browser; the service will ring your phone and the phone you're calling.

(Click image to enlarge.)

To make a Jajah call you go to www.jajah.com and enter two numbers: the phone you're calling from, and the phone you're calling to. Your phone will ring, and you'll be connected to your call. Jajah is a European-based service, and it accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express, JBC and Diners Club. You can put in as little as $5 to start.

There is an incentive for you to get people you call regularly to sign up for Jajah, as well -- Jajah connects registered users for free. There are some restrictions -- calls to or from mobile phones are free in some countries and charged in others, for example, and no free service is available in some parts of the world. Call quality can be variable -- I experienced some strange clipping effects in some trial calls.

Rates for calling unregistered numbers are similar to other VoIP services: for domestic numbers in the United States it's 2.8 cents a minute; overseas rates go higher. And the difference between landline and mobile is significant, too -- a call from the United States to France, for example, costs 3.1 cents a minute if the connected phone is a landline, 17.6 cents if it's a cell phone. (That call to Wallis and Futuna is 82.5 cents a minute on Jajah.)