Vonage is giving Facebook users a way to call each other for free over iPhones, iPod Touches, iPads and Android devices. The new Vonage Mobile for Facebook app lets users call their Facebook friends over both cellular and Wi-Fi connections for free. You just find a friend through your Facebook directory on the app and make a call. Both parties need to have the app to complete a call though you can also instant message with friends who have not signed up for the service.
The app doesn't use your cellular minutes but rather uses data. It pushes us further down the road toward Internet calling and upends some notions about calling a specific phone number. Here, you don't call a number, just a Facebook contact and their phone rings just like a normal call.
If you have international friends, this is an easy and cheap way to reach out to them. Skype also allows free calls between users but for most people, they have more friends on Facebook. And this is a community that already exists; you don't have to create a new identity to participate.
Owners of iPads and iPod Touches may also enjoy the app. Those devices don't have traditional phone features but this will help turn them into mobile phones of sorts, provided you have connectivity.
Vonage is looking at rolling out text messages and video calling down the road though those may include a fee. The rollout will also include more phone platforms and possibly more social networks as well.
This article appeared on page D - 4 of the San Francisco Chronicle
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