Long-distance phone companies have been touting bargain rates, such as 10 cents a minute to England and 17 cents a minute to Germany. Today, their partnership, which is expected to break even this year, is aiming to take the Internet calling world by storm. Free calling, just like free e-mail with Hotmail and other folks, is very compelling. Internet callers use their mouses or keyboards to click on a dial pad on the monitor.
Software digitizes their voices, and sends packets of data skittering over the Web.
More than 7 million people have signed on with Dialpad. The service has been so popular that some colleges have banned its use because it soaked up so much computer capacity. Spear and Nix are aiming to out-dial Dialpad. Nix, who earned a physics degree and logged time in the telecommunciations industry, including Chicago-based Focal Communications, and Spear, who has an engineering degree, believe their system's architecture is superior to the competition's. The interface is clear, quick and involves a one-click approach with no downloads or installation programs.