- Multi-party video conferencing (up to 4 buddies).
- Downloadable softphone client, but also web-based browser version, mobile (WAP) version for mobile phones and JAVA-based mobile version.
- Has a voice tag that can be added to your web site through which people can contact you at a click.
- Includes photo-upload and file-sharing tool.
- Supports other common networks like Yahoo, AOL and MSN.
- Has a language exchange mechanism
PeerMe shines over its other competitors like Skype, Gizmo and others, on two things: it has a multi-party video conferencing feature and it has a mobile java and mobile browser-based version for mobile phones.
Another interesting feature (which is web-based) is the search for buddies over a language exchange adventure. You enter your search criteria and you get the list of other users who share the same language interests. PeerMe also allows you (through generated codes) to place a voice tag on your web page, in the form of a button, which users can click on to start either a voice call or video conferencing session with you. Peerme has only basic features that should suffice for most users, but I was expecting it to have voicemail too.
Like many other softphones today, PeerMe supports other common networks like Yahoo, MSN and AOL. PeerMe users P2P technology, like Skype.
As I mentioned above, PeerMe is also good for mobile users. Users with simple mobile phones can have the browser-based mobile version installed on their phones and use WAP to access the service. Those with more advanced phones can have the mobile Java-based version installed, which comes with more features. The Java version allows, among others, one-click photo upload, which is practical for photo sharing. PeerMe also allows file sharing between clients online.
PeerMe has opened part of their APIs (application programming interfaces) for skilled users to add more functionality to their PeerMe service.
PeerMe is completely free for calls. This is possible because all it allows is PC-to-PC software-based calls. With PeerMe, you cannot call to or receive calls from PSTN or hardware-based phones. You can however do so with mobile phones that have the PeerMe client installed, but again it is software-based, through the Internet or WAP. There is no phone number.
The video conferencing, on its part, is not free. It is, as of the day I am writing this, $10 a month for one year subscription. If you want to try, you can do so for only two weeks at $10. The video conferencing tool also allows you to record the sessions.
Concerning the voice quality, there has been some complaint about it in the past, but now it has been considerably improved. P2P helps a lot in it. And then, if they can hold multi-party conferencing, voice is well-covered.
