Microsoft announced that it has purchased internet-calling startup Teleo to expand the capabilities of MSN Messenger, a week after Google launched Google Talk instant-messaging service, emphasizing its voice-chat capabilities, reports CNET. Microsoft, however, is reportedly seeking capabilities such as those of internet-phone company Skype - and a key component of Teleo technology deals with making calls from a computer to an ordinary telephone, a feature that MSN Messenger will apparently receive by the end of this year.

ClickZ points out that with the Teleo acquisition, Microsoft has also gained click-to-call dialing capabilities, raising the possibility that MSN's upcoming adCenter service might offer pay-per-call pricing, though MSN wouldn't say whether its upcoming ad platform would offer pay-per-call advertising, which has been implemented by Verizon's SuperPages and America Online to attract local and small business advertisers.

JupiterResearch analyst Gary Stein told ClickZ that a pay-per-call capability is one thing Teleo offers Microsoft that it doesn't already have: "That seems like the most interesting thing they got that they don't already have… I would imagine they would want to include that in the adCenter. Pay-per-click isn't that attractive for local advertisers," which may not even have a website - but a phone call would constitute an actual lead.

"I think all (the IM companies) think that this (internet-phoning capability) is an idea whose time has finally come," Jupiter Research analyst Joe Laszlo is quoted by CNET as saying. "All of them realize that while voice chatting between IM users is a nice thing, what they really need to do longer term in order to make the platform more viable is make that connection out to the phone networks."

IM companies could also gain a new revenue stream, because people are used to paying for phone calls, Laszlo noted.