7 Exercise Tips How to Stream 'Rabbit Hole' Roblox's AI Efforts 9 Household Items You're Not Cleaning Enough Better Sound on FaceTime Calls 'X-Ray Vision' for AR 9 Signs You Need Glasses When Your Tax Refund Will Arrive
Want CNET to notify you of price drops and the latest stories?
No, thank you
Accept

Microsoft, can you hear me now?

Redmond says several improvements to its MSN Messenger Internet telephony feature are now available to all users of the tool.

Microsoft says several improvements to its MSN Messenger Internet telephony feature are now available to all users of the tool. The most notable of the changes improve the oft-criticized quality of the voice calls. It's also now possible, Microsoft said, to have voice chats through firewalls, typically a major challenge for voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP.

The improvements, made possible through a partnership Microsoft has with operator Level 3 Communications, were announced by MSN in April as part of the introduction of the latest version of MSN Messenger. Because the improvements use third-party software, there's an expected charge of a few cents a minute.