I am an official user of both free services. Here's my report on feature comparisons.
I've been studying VoIM these past few months. Since Skype offered their free SkypeOut service at the start of the year (they waived the usual 2¢/min. SkypeOut fee so that us Americans (and Canadians) can practice using the PC for calling), I have been experimenting with it.And, now with the AIM PhoneLine service, I have been experimenting with that too. Listen to this podcast to hear the combination. I used Skype to call into my AIM PhoneLine: +1 (508) 635-2411 and recorded this impromptu podcast. The 2:18 monologue consumed only 272 kb.
So, in this competitive environment, I've captured the best of both worlds – Skype for outbound calling, and AIM for inbound messaging. When AIM (is IF a real possibility? doubt it!) delivers its Triton client for Mac, I'll be able to receive an AIM PhoneLine call. This is not particularly scalable since I will not be able to use Skype to reach a Mac-based (messaging only) user in real time, and similarly, they won't be able to reach me in real time.
Here's a little feature table comparing the two. Note that the Skype conferencing service may require long distance charges (does anybody in America pay for LD anymore?).
Skype vs AIM PhoneLine Free Service Comparison
|
Skype
|
AIM PhoneLine
|
|
|
Design
|
P2P, proprietary
|
SIP, Pingtel @ core
|
|
Dial in
|
N
|
Y
|
|
Dial out
|
Y
|
N
|
|
Voice mail
|
N
|
Y
|
|
Voice mail as email
|
N
|
Y
|
|
PC client
|
Y
|
Y
|
|
Mac client
|
Y
|
N
|
|
Instant Messaging
|
Y
|
Y
|
|
Conference calls
|
Y
|
N
|
|
Dashboard
|
N
|
Y
|
|
Call Log
|
Y
|
Y
|
|
APIs for VoIM
|
Y
|
Y
|
|
E911 support
|
N
|
Y
|
|
Customer-base
|
60 million
|
43 million
|
|
Free countries
|
3
|
28
|
