In 1989, on the leading edge of the 976- and 900- pay per call wave, I "invented" a GAB service (Group Access Bridge) in the Twin Cities that allowed 1+1 and 1+8 callers to call and chat anonymously. I took several 10s of 1000s of calls per month.

When USWest stopped doing 976- billing in 1997, I chose to move to doing Internet things than 900- service (thru ATT, MCI, etc).

Just last year, a variety of products have emerged that allow GAB products to happen again, using popular VoIP services (Vonage and others), and a dedicated computer, running specific software, on the end of a good high-speed Internet connection... to make telephone chat rooms.

Because of the way VoIP works, you can be in Hollywood, such as I am, and have New York City phone numbers! So the possibilities of providing toll-free service is awesome. Also, most guys have cell phones with free long distance service, so the days of needing to provide 800- toll free inbound is growing shorter daily.


My thought is that such phone GAB lines would REALLY help webcam sites (actors would talk verbally rather than with keyboards - speech is sexier than keystrokes, which also leaves BOTH hands free!)...

If webmasters were interested, I would be pleased to help them design telephone chat rooms.