We all know that Skype provides a great way to make calls across the world for next to nothing, and it’s merits as a communications tool are clear to see. I’ve always been a big fan of the app but am becoming increasingly wary of the amount of bandwidth it hogs, even when it’s just running in the background. It’s still a slick program but it’s starting to become a little too swamped with features for those who literally just want to make calls and don’t need access to chatrooms, file transfer and the like.
Step in Gizmo Call, a new Web 2.0 program that offers a very simple way to call anywhere in the world for free. Amazingly it’s as easy as typing a phone number onto the Gizmo Call home page and hitting ‘Call’. You can even create a ‘Call Me’ link and insert it into a web page or send it via email so others can ring you for nothing.
As for the drawbacks, you need to download a plug-in in order to use the service and, more importantly, you’re limited to a maximum free call length of ten minutes per day, after which you’ll almost certainly be reaching for that ‘S’ icon again. Nevertheless, Gizmo Call represents an interesting new model in the Internet telecoms sphere and once the service has been refined a little we can expect to see clones springing up everywhere.
