August 30, 2005
Microsoft Buys VOIP Company
After the release of Google Talk, Microsoft quickly responded by buying Teleo today. Teleo is a company based in San Francisco that focuses on VOIP technology. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, although the company is known to have only 25 employees and was founded in 2003. Microsoft plans to integrate the VOIP technology to beef up MSN Messenger's capabilities. Furthermore the company will offer a "call the local business" feature for local web searches through the consumer's PC.With the advent of Google Talk, Skype, MSN, and Yahoo Messenger, it sure doesn't look likely any VOIP vendor will make any money soon. Vonage's pending IPO may start another wave of revenue and no profit business models made famous by the dot.coms in the late 1990s.
