AllFreeCalls Back From DeadPool, Free Calls Are Here Again
Michael Arrington
18 comments »
When AllFreeCalls shut down in February as a result of litigation, most people thought it was gone for good. The service, which allows people to call overseas for free by exploiting a regulatory loophole, was simply too good to be true.
Founder Pat Phelan vowed to bring the service back. And today he says he’s done it, under a new name and using a new back end service provider.
The new service is available at Yak4Ever. Like AllFreeCalls, all users have to do is call an access number in the U.S. and then forward on to an International number for free.
There are a couple of differences in the service though. First, users must register before making calls (this was not required previously). Also, international numbers must be pre-set. At registration you enter up to ten phone numbers and each is given a code (1-10). When you dial the access number you simply enter the code for the number you want to dial. The service is live now, but calls cannot be made until Monday.
There is now less flexibility in making calls to unique phone numbers, but for people who call the same friends and family all the time this will become very popular very fast. AT&T and others are going to continue to fight to kill this, since they are effectively subsidizing the service.
I’m removing the service from the DeadPool. For now.
We shall see if this will be successful after the first month or so. However, the service has already gathered fans from when it was named AllFreeCalls. They’re most likely going to follow now as well.
We really appreciate the mention Michael
Thank you
I know I’ll be using it.
I still can’t figure out how to have multiple accounts on my Mac.
The FAQ explains the fix for vista but anyone with osx that can help would be rad
the 4Ever part in the name is a bit ambitious … hope it will last a while…
I’m very suspicious and will not be using this new generation of the “service”. I’m not going to put my phone number and those of my family voluntarily in to some dude’s database so they can be spammed later.
Jayson raises a good point …. maybe?
Not registering is so much better than registering but i will still be using this.
Hi Jayson
We will not and I repeat WILL NOT ever use your data, my personal phone, our company details and my personal data is on the front page of my blog.
This is in place to satisfy legals and if we had our way we would not use this sign up but we have to.
Will this new service be a short-lived hype as the previous one? If so, what’s the point? If not, how will it work?
I have not seen any mention, let alone a convincing one, on how this business is planning to sustain itself. It was clear from the first endeavor that developing a business one legal loophole does not work.
So, I will join that suspicious group who thinks it’s a quick-collection-of-sellable-customer-data.
Too bad the Philippines isn’t listed on the site.
This can’t be for long… The only purpose of companies like this is to demonstrate how ridiculously complex the laws can be.
I am much less worried about Pat stealing my information, than at&t muscling out competition!
more on my worries blog at http://www.flatplanetphone.com/wordpress
OFF-TOPIC: Michael, just out of interest how many sites have crawled back from the deadpool?
i am happy to know its on again
http://www.voipsms.blogspot.com
mmmm…
Nobody seems to care about the real price behind the “free”.
I am really worry about using this… I think it is too good to be true…
I havent used this service before, and i have already signed up, but im scared to use it.
Is this really free??????????
please, can someone answer my question?
has someone had any kind of problem with this before?
please i would like someone to email me at vane_r77@hotmail.com if you know something.
thank you