An
answering machine that allows you to hear messages left by people that call while you are connected to the
internet. The messages download in
WAV format and are played direct from your computer.
A free program until recently, CallWave cost only the 75ยข the phone company charged for the busy call-forwarding service. In order to support the free service, the CallWave program displayed advertisements in the small (approx. 3.5" x .75") always-on-top window.
Within the past month, CallWave sent out notices stating that the revenue from the advertisements was not enough to keep the answering machine service free, and so CallWave was going to begin charging a fee of $2.95 - $3.95/month. However, this fee also enables the CallWave subscriber to leave a personalized message for callers to hear instead of the standard one CallWave provides and use of the Caller ID service, and see who is calling, even if they do not leave a message.