If you've been paying attention to the newest breed of instant messenger clients pouring into the market, you'll have noticed that they all share a common new feature:  telephony.  If you think about it, the ability to call and chat with friends is a natural extension of the instant messaging service.  But what do the telecos think about all this free or dirt-cheap chatting going on over their lines?  And what's the ultimate agenda behind the instant messengers?

In an article at VoIP News, Paul Kretkowski looks particularly at Google and what the search giant might have up its sleeve when it comes to voice communication.

Kretkowski looks specifically at Google Talk.   According to his report, several in the industry have speculated that Google will institute some sort of audio recording and searching feature in a future version of Google Talk.  Current versions already support voice chat and some think that the conversations taking place with the service will one day become searchable record.  As Kretkowski points out, this could change the entire face of vocal communication.

The main point that comes from the article is that Google (and others) have a long road ahead of themselves to really get VoIP entrenched.  FCC interests, Congressional regulation, net neutrality, and other factors mean that any company looking to break into or control the market will have a lot of hurdles.  And that includes Google.

It should be interesting to see where Google and other companies go with all of this… and if any of it will be successful at unseating the telcos.