Popular social communities are adopting VoIP telephony to better serve users with new instant communication features based on the latest VoIP technologies. With services such as free worldwide calling, conference calling, instant messaging (IM), online presence display and more, users are now interacting in real-time with friends rather than by posting static text replies. Today LiveJournal, one of the web's leading online communities hosting over 10 million users, became the first major social network to roll out integrated voice and instant messaging software for their users, SIPphone Inc. announced. The new software is available as a free download at www.livejournal.com/chat/download.

LiveJournal's integration of SIPphone's "Gizmo Project for LJ Talk" software lets users easily stay in touch with their friends. With one mouse click, they can make PC-to-PC, landline and mobile calls, initiate conference calls and send instant messages using their existing LiveJournal account information. The website and software will stay in sync even as new contacts are added on the LiveJournal website. Icons displayed on the LiveJournal website and in the software show online presence of friends (available, away or offline).

Furthermore, users can update their LiveJournal content via instant messages, or by using the software to record "voice posts" without leaving their computers, ideal for International users who wish to avoid the high cost of calling U.S.-based access numbers. People who are not yet users of LiveJournal can sign up for a free account at www.livejournal.com/create.bml.

“Social communities such as MySpace or LiveJournal must constantly innovate - to compete and to keep users. Adding VoIP and IM services for everyone immediately takes the whole community to a new level,” said Jason Droege, president of SIPphone. “Today LiveJournal just beat everyone else to the punch.”

Key benefits include:

• High-quality free voice calls between users of Gizmo/LJ Talk and Gizmo Project
• Low-cost landline and mobile calls
• Instant messaging between LJ Friends or anyone using a Jabber-based IM network including GoogleTalk
• Presence display to see which LJ friends are online
• Synchronization of LJ friends lists with Gizmo/LJ Talk software, including userpics (avatars)
• Free conference calls
• Voice posting for LJ Paid & Plus members; International LJ users avoid high-cost calls to voice post
• Ability to easily record interviews (podcasts) to augment journal content
• Journal posting via Instant Messages

“We're very excited to work with a partner who supports open standards such as Jabber (XMPP) and SIP. The Internet needs more companies like SIPphone who understand that interoperability is the key to breeding creative and surprising solutions. Gizmo Project for LJ Talk is an example of such a solution,” said Brad Fitzpatrick, LiveJournal founder and Chief Architect, Six Apart. “Both of our companies have worked hard to make the integration smooth and powerful. Users will benefit from having both voice and IM capabilities, and LiveJournal is excited to be able to keep building on this, providing ever more features on top of this platform," Fitzpatrick added.