WebPoint Communications announces the launch of FreeDigits ( http://www.freedigits.com ), a phone service that offers users a genuine U.S.-based telephone number plus voicemail, caller ID, 3-way calling and unlimited inbound minutes, all free of charge. Outbound minutes are billed at $.03 each.

"FreeDigits numbers are non-local and completely private," says Kha Phan, WebPoint founder and CEO. "The caller's name won't display on Caller ID and the number is impossible to trace. Our service lets people communicate freely, especially online, without ever having to reveal their landline or cell phone numbers."

FreeDigits employs VoIP (Voice-over Internet Protocol), a technology that enables telephone calls to travel cheaply over the Internet by converting voice signals to data and again to voice. Users can make and receive calls from any phone, anywhere by punching in their digits. Any call not answered automatically goes to their personal voicemail box. Users can forward these messages to another phone or to an email address, in which case the messages appear as .mp3 attachments.

Other than a broadband Internet connection, no special hardware or software is required. However, if a user wishes to turn their PC into a phone, they could download a free "soft phone" from the FreeDigits website and purchase a telephone adapter.

Internet Safety for Children

"In the past, it was enough to warn children to look both ways before crossing the street and not to talk to strangers," says Phan. "Now the Internet has given moms and dads a whole new set of worries, especially with kids posting their profiles on sites such as MySpace.

"As one parent explained in a recent blog, 'You think your kid is safe because they are in their own bedroom. Who can hurt them when you are guarding the front door? But the Internet is a bigger opening than the front door.'"

Phan, the father of three young daughters, urges everyone to have FreeDigits to use as a safety number whenever they're dealing with people they don't know. "We tell our children never to give out personal information, but predators have ways of figuring that out," he says. "FreeDigits puts a little more distance between them and the bad guys."