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Product summary
The good: Yak WorldCity VoIP offers free Yak-to-Yak calls using both voice and video, a Yak-to-analog calling option, and IM capabilities. The ad-free service is simple to install and setup.
The bad: Yak WorldCity VoIP suffers from inferior call quality with both Internet and analog phones, and incoming calls from analog lines are currently available only in very limited locations.
The bottom line: Yak WorldCity VoIP has some compelling features, but the overall offering doesn't yet measure up to the more flexible and full-featured Skype 2.
CNET editors' review
- Reviewed on: 02/13/2006
- Released on: 11/01/2005
Yak Communications' suite of VoIP services, collectively called WorldCity, is like the little brother who tries to keep up with the big boys but isn't yet strong enough to compete. The suite offers some intriguing features, such as free voice and video calls between Yak users, IM capabilities, and an ad-free dashboard. However, call quality over both Internet and analog lines is poor, and the ability to receive incoming calls from analog lines is currently limited to just a few dozen U.S. locations. Until Yak addresses these issues, we recommend sticking with Skype 2.
Yak currently offers three levels of VoIP service, each of which includes one-to-one videoconferencing. The first, YakForFree, costs nothing and enables you to make unlimited, free calls to other Yak users anywhere in the world. The second, YakToAnyone, functions like a VoIP calling card: you prepurchase call time in $5 increments, which you can then use to call any regular landline or cell phone. Per-minute rates vary according to geographic locale, though Yak's rates are on a par with most other VoIP providers', including Skype. Neither of these services is meant to be a replacement for a POTS line. The final flavor, YakUnlimited, allows you to choose a regular, North American phone number to associate with your account, which you can then use to both make and receive calls to and from analog and cell phones. This plan costs $19.99 per month for 3,000 domestic minutes, call forwarding, and voicemail; the same international rates available with YakToAnyone apply. There's just one catch--at the time of this writing, YakUnlimited was available only in areas that offer E911 service. In the United States, that amounts to about 25 cities and only a handful of entire states.
Though getting Yak up and running requires little effort, it still involves more than it takes to install Skype 2. Yak's first step is to download and run the executable file for its Virtual VideoPhone dashboard. A setup wizard subsequently appears onscreen, assisting you with volume and sound adjustments for your chosen calling device (USB headset, Webcam, microphone/speakers); Yak also sells a landline phone adapter, which works only with the company's fee-based VoIP upgrade plans. Unfortunately, the wizard ends there, failing to offer the extra help with importing contacts and placing your first call, which Skype 2's wizard provides.
The Yak Virtual VideoPhone dashboard looks somewhat like a pared-down version of the Palm Treo. Console highlights include a numeric keypad that you can click to dial your fellow Yak users' member ID number or a landline number (though you can also use the number keys on your computer's keyboard); six buttons that each represent an available line; volume controls for your headphones and microphone; and a conferencing button for establishing 3-way calls (Skype allows 5-way conference calls and 10-way calls if you're on an Intel dual-core system). Additional windows are attached to either side of the console; the left-side window displays both the incoming and outgoing feeds on videoconferencing calls, while the right-side window shows a record of incoming and outgoing calls, as well as your contact lists. Clicking a name or a number in those lists is yet another way to initiate a phone call. You can also IM any of your contacts by double-clicking his or her name.
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.
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