The Yak VoIP service stumbled through our anecdotal tests of Yak-to-Yak calls. Both callers experienced a huge echo of themselves, getting a very clear repeat of everything they said immediately after saying it. At least the callers didn't hear an echo of the speaker on the other end of the line, and calls were fairly free of latency. On calls accompanied by video, the video feeds appeared only half of the time. Finally, several of our videoconferencing calls inexplicably cut out after a few minutes.
In CNET Labs' tests of Yak-to-analog calls, the service fared only slightly better. While the Yak user experienced satisfactory call quality, with no echoing and very slight latency, the analog user was continually accosted by a clear echo of his own voice--which he compared to "talking to three people at the same time." When initiating downloads before and during calls, the Yak user began to hear words break up, and the analog caller detected a low clicking. Uploading images caused the reverse, with the analog experiencing breakups and fade-outs. All told, these call-quality problems are among the worst we've encountered in a VoIP service.
Like most VoIP providers, Yak doesn't support its free VoIP service beyond offering a support e-mail address (though Yak reserves the right not to respond), online FAQs, and message boards. If you purchase one of its enhanced services, you can access all of the company's online support features, call a toll-free phone number, or send e-mail that Yak claims will be answered within 24 hours. After sending said e-mail, we received an autoreply that claimed we would get an answer within 48 hours; Yak ultimately replied within 24 hours.
