VoxOx Does More Than Skype, Google Voice

Users can designate the assistant's voice as male or female, and program it for "dead end" mode, which will return a busy signal, disconnected service message, or a custom greeting for callers they want to tune out.

Unlike Skype or Google Voice, VoxOx lets users send instant messages to other social networks, including Skype, Facebook and MySpace. Users may also send Twitter tweets and surface friends with a "hover effect," which lets them mouse over any contact to see their Facebook status updates and learn how to contact them.

The service is clearly geared for consumers, but Bryan Hertz estimates 10 to 15 percent of VoxOx' users are using it for business. Expect TelCentris carve out special plans for businesses in the future.

Despite all of those features -- and there are more as you can see here -- the application is still in beta, though in its second iteration.

Pricing: Once users download VoxOx for Windows or Mac, all inbound and all in-network (VoxOx to VoxOx) connections are free. However, similar to Skype's model, telephony-based outbound communications (such as calling, texting and faxing) cost money.

TelCentris is charging $2.45 per month to let users make unlimited calls to landlines and mobile lines in U.S. and Canada, which is 15 percent lower than Skype.

The Worldwide Unlimited Calling Plan is $12.95 per month, which covers calls landlines in nearly 60 countries as well as a subset of international mobile phone lines.

The U.S. & Canada Unlimited Texting Plan is $4.95 per month, spanning two-way texting to the U.S. and Canada. The Worldwide Unlimited Texting Plan costs $9.95 per month for two-way texting.

VoxOx can also be purchased on a pay-as-as-you-call basis for pennies per minute.