Free Phone Numbers From AOL For AIM Users?

AOL throws its hat into the VoIP ring by offering free inbound phone numbers for AIM users. So now you have something to give your stalkers other than that fake number you’ve been handing out! Peter Svensson of the Associated Press (via Chron.com) reports:

AOL is set to offer its instant-messaging users a free phone number to use for incoming calls, and for a fee, the ability to call regular phones from the software.

The move brings AOL Instant Messenger, or AIM, closer in functionality to voice-oriented applications like eBay Inc.’s Skype and so-called voice over Internet services from Vonage Holdings Corp. and others.

Skype last week reached 100 million registered users. AOL has 80 million registered users of AIM and ICQ, a similar program.

AIM began a decade ago as a text-based chat program and gradually added voice and video communication tools. But without the ability to connect to the regular telephone network, AIM users were largely limited to conducting voice chats with one another…