Gizmo

I've been relying heavily on Skype for Internet telephony, but Dr. Joe introduced me to a new VoIP service called The Gizmo Project. Like Skype, calls are free to other Gizmo users, and there is also a call out and call in service. Per-call costs are about one cent or so cheaper than Skype. The only drawback to Gizmo's call-in service is that they do not have any available 518 areas codes yet. Not that that should make even the slightest bit of difference, but some of us are territorial when it comes to our area codes. (In L.A., area codes are status symbols, which is colossally silly.)

I also like Gizmo's ability to record calls, which is useful when conducting interviews. There is also a link to Google Maps so you can automatically map the two parties on the line (which alternates between kind of creepy and kind of helpful when setting up meetings). Also, when someone leaves you a voicemail, an e-mail is sent that has a link to the audio file.

As always, the weak link is my crappy Logitech USB headset, but I think I'll ditch that in favor of my standard Mac external microphone and iPod earphones, which seem more reliable.