Not everyone in the world has sufficient internet access capability to take advantage of the benefits from VoIP. Shoot....most folks are lucky to have 1 phone line for that matter. This dose of reality kinda puts the dampers on the "VoIP will take over the world" conspiracy theory.

But hold on there Junior....the little guy may just have found a hero.

Mail2speak, a US-based company, is offering users cut-throat rates to place international calls. But wait until you learn how they do it....read on.

For example......

* You can call the US and UK from South Africa for R1.35 a minute. Telkom charges between double and triple the price for these calls. Calls to Australia from SA are also about 50% cheaper.

* You can call anywhere in the United States and most of Europe from Malaysia for just 45 sen per minute compared to 98 sen per minute at present charged by a local company using land lines. For mobile phones, the calls will be 68 sen per minute as opposed to 98 sen. A call to China costs 50 sen per minute on a fixed line compared to 1.98 RM by fixed line charged by a local company.

* You can call anywhere in the United States and much of Europe from Brazil for around 0.33 BRL.

* You can call Japan from Italy for 0.11 EUR......the US for 0.08 EUR.

* You can call India from UAE for 2.63 AED.......the UK for 1.74 AED.

Those are just a small sample of what is available.

How?

What makes the service unique is that unlike other Internet telephony applications, mail2speak does not require a microphone, a software download or a dedicated broadband connection with special equipment. All that is required to use the service is access to the website and an open phone line or cellphone to receive a call. You can place an international call from any phone or mobile/PDA at super low rates.

The process is simple. Just visit mail2speak and fill out a few registration details. After that enter the overseas number you wish to call and within seconds your phone will ring. The call will have been placed for you and you can talk to your loved ones....or business contacts.... at a ridiculously low rate.

The service is available to and from 280 countries around the world. Your relatives and business contacts overseas can also use this service to contact you and pay in their local currency.

If, as in many international homes with Internet connections, there is only one phone line available, Mail2speak will automatically call you again in one minute to give you time to end the Internet connection and receive the call. They do this because calls to cellphones cost more in some countries.

For business people who make frequent international calls, mail2speak is especially convenient because it allows you to store the numbers that are called and simply click on them to be connected automatically.

** In addition, if you do not need to have a two-way chat there is another great service that is offered.

You can use your telephone to leave a message for as many overseas friends as you want for just 63 cents a minute. This message will be e-mailed as an Internet sound file (voice email).

All in all....pretty cool solution for the average Joe around the globe. VoIP technology for the little guy. Gotta love it.