As though in response to Google+’s Hang Out feature, Facebook just announced plans to integrate a video chat feature powered by Skype. It will be built right on Facebook Chat and will be available to its 750 million users over the next couple of weeks. But you don’t have to wait that long to try it out – if you click here, you can test the video chat feature with your friends. Oh, and there’s no need to create a Skype account to use this feature.

One of the biggest limitations of VoIP is that it’s not reliable during an emergency situation. Not all VoIP providers have a direct connection to 911 emergency services, and even if you do manage to get connected, the address and location information associated with the VoIP number won’t be of any use to the dispatcher if the user forgot to update it. But if you’re an Ooma subscriber, consider upgrading to their Ooma premiere service for $9.99/month. The company will be adding a new feature that sends an SMS or email to pre-determined recipients if a 911 call is placed. This feature gives the user the peace of mind knowing that their emergency will be heard by someone who can call for help. For more information, visit the website www.ooma.com.

Back in February, we blogged about Viber, a popular VoIP app that allowed iPhone users to enjoy free VoIP calls to fellow Viber users through WiFi and 3G. At the time, Viber was only exclusive to the iPhone, but they finally released an app for Android devices today. There are a bunch of features unique to Android, including pop-up text message notifications, full call screens, and integration with your phone’s messaging and call logs. You can even set your Viber number as your default dialer. The Viber Android app is still in beta mode though, but you can start downloading it here.

Interesting developments in the VoIP world! Microsoft acquired Skype for $8.5 billion in cash today, and will be integrating the VoIP service to Microsoft devices like Windows phones, Xbox, Kinect, Outlook, and Lync. The deal was made by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, and is the most money the company has ever paid for a company. Even though Skype has had a total of $860 million in revenues last year and $264 million in operating profits, documents from the SEC report that the company also lost $6.9 million and has $686 million in debt. Only 8.8 million of Skype’s 170 million regular users are paying customers. Still, this acquisition can give Microsoft a much-needed kick-start in telecommunication. And it would be very interesting to see what Microsoft can do with Nokia and Skype.

Despite Skype’s integration with Microsoft devices, the company will continue to develop and support non-Microsoft Skype clients.

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Working from home is not an entirely new phenomenon but these days, it’s not just bloggers and technophiles who work in their pajamas. Even seasoned executives are working remotely these days, and it’s all because of VoIP and similar tools that make a desk-bound job almost obsolete. VoIP, video conferencing tools, and desktop videos are the technologies that make remote working possible, and Skype expects to see usage increase over the next two years. Where did they get this data? Skype just released a new report called The Living Workplace, where they surveyed 1,000 professionals at 500 businesses of all sizes. Indeed, flexibility about office presence is becoming the norm, at least for US companies.

You can download and view the report at livingworkplace.skype.com.

There are many VoIP clients available today, but vox.io is one to watch out for. For one thing, it’s a browser-based VoIP service that runs without Flash or installed applications, which means you won’t be using the same amount of bandwidth or resources Skype requires. When you create your vo.ix acocunt, it will ask you for your phone number – your actual one. Every time you make a voice call to someone, your actual mobile number will be displayed so you don’t have to give people two different numbers. While some people prefer keeping their “real” numbers private, this nifty feature from vo.ix makes it a lot easier for you to reach international friends on the cheap. Not everyone answers phone calls from numbers they don’t know. As for your contacts, you can get them from Facebook, Google, or add them manually.

vox.io isn’t entirely for free though – calls to fellow users cost nothing, but calls to other phone numbers will cost you about €.12/minute. Still pretty cheap for an international call, but it’s more expensive than Skype’s €.02/minute call.

vox.io is on private beta at the moment but you can request for an invitation.

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If you have loved ones residing in mainland China, contacting them is going to be much harder – that is, if you’re penny-pinching and rely on VoIP services to stay in touch. China just outlawed all VoIP services like Skype, and suggested that people use China telecom to make their calls to the capitalist world. The State Ministry of Industry (MIIT) released a report saying that there are 30 million users of these “illegal VoIP operators,” and even provided a hotline to report use of VoIP calls in their neighborhood.

At first, MIIT claimed to have made this move because of reports of criminals who use this technology to swindle people. But the real reason behind the VoIP ban has more to do with money and China Mobile’s falling revenues than national security. According to Business Insider:

The move from MIIT is more likely to do with China Mobile’s share price, which has performed poorly compared to its other state-owned siblings, China Unicom and China Telecom. For a long time, China Mobile was, by far, the leading mobile operator in China and the world. While China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom are all listed in New York and Hong Kong, their CEOs are appointed by China’s cabinet, the State Council, and are rotated from one company to another.

Because of its rapid growth, China Mobile was “rewarded” with China’s home-grown 3G standard, developed with Siemens, TD-SCDMA. Its competitors, China Unicom and China Telecom adopted competing standards which were developed in the US and Europe. In addition, China Unicom got the China distributorship for the iPhone, which has proven wildly popular among Chinese urban consumers. The end result? China Mobile, while growing, does not have a dominant lead in the 3G growth space, and is having to fight for growth like it never did before. On January 2, Zacks Investment Research downgraded China Mobile from “neutral” to “underperform”

At the same time, VoIP services like Skype’s cut into their most lucrative revenue source, international direct dial (IDD) access fees. All of the major operators count on IDD revenue to cross-subsidize the major infrastructure investment and marketing expenses they need to make the move to mobile, video conferencing and other modern services which Chinese consumers want. But if Chinese consumers opt to use VoIP instead, before China Mobile has completed its TD-SCDMA rollout and the service is completely installed, what will it do? The company would be staring down into a deep earnings abyss. As the biggest of the three, China Mobile has the most to lose of the three operators. In comparison, China Unicom has benefited from the growth and popularity of the iPhone, and also will benefit from the cheaper Android phones which are coming to market in 2011.

Well it’s just a rumor at this point, but developers who examined the Windows Phone 7 registry discovered entries for VoIP and visual voicemail. Windows Phone will be getting a major update on February 2011 and if these two features do make it, the device might just get a larger boost in terms of performance compared to Android and iOS. There’s no official news on what the February 2011 update will have in store to users yet.

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Google Voice just released a useful new call recording feature that allows users to record calls by hitting 4 on your keypad or clicking on the little red record button in the “call phone” section of your Gmail account. Of course, both parties will be notified that the call is being recorded. There are some limitations though – you can only record outgoing calls, and not calls that came to you. Additionally, it won’t work on voice calls between one Gmail user to another. Finally, not all Google Voice accounts have this feature, but expect to get yours in a few weeks.

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Women may have a reputation for talking a lot, according to men anyway. But a surprising statistic published by Harris Interactive and mobile VoIP company Rebtel reveals that men are more likely to use VoIP services for international calls. Of the 2,258 adults surveyed, 31% of the men are likely to make international phone calls through VoIP services like Skype (versus 19% of women). The survey also states that men are more likely than women to use their mobile phone VoIP services or applications to change the way they make international calls. Additionally, men are more likely than women to make video calls (16% and 11% respectively), and men are more likely than women to pay a monthly fee to be able to do so (42% and 24%, respectively). There’s also a lot of business opportunities for Rebtel, Truphone, and Skype, for most adults who make international calls do so using a landline (51%).

Looks like the data from this survey suggests that VoIP providers should consider marketing their services and rates to women who don’t quite see why they should switch the VoIP. If they can manage to convince the female market to use VoIP, they’ve just built themselves a brand new user base. Additionally, the survey shows that Hispanics make the most international calls (36%) followed by Black/African-American respondents (26%). It looks like VoIP providers also have much to gain from developing international calling services and packages for this demographic.

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