NEC Australia has announced availability of the SL2100 Smart Communications System for Australia. This is a SMB communications platform that offers VoIP, mobility and Unified Communications and Collaboration features.

Android/iOS: Starting today you'll be able to start up group VoIP calls right from the Facebook Messenger app, which pairs up nicely with regular free voice calls already available in the app.

Recording your own podcast is a pretty complicated affair, but Zencastr is a web app currently in beta that allows you to record audio on multiple computers, then upload that all to Dropbox.

Hi Lifehacker, My parents live overseas and I'm so frustrated with Skype calls dropping out every two minutes, slap back echo, and other general annoyances. I know it's free, but will this stop if I use their paid-for service and buy Skype credit to call a landline or mobile phone? What are the best alternatives out there to make a cheap international call?

We all know the feeling, you're chatting with your friend or even your boss over the internet and you interrupt them awkwardly. A silence ensues as you both try to let each other talk. Then you interrupt each other again and face another awkward silence before sighing collectively at the failure of modern technology to make our modern lives as modern as we want them to be.

Just days after being purchased by Facebook for a cool $19 billion and saying nothing would change, WhatsApp is promising one change later this year: "free" voice calls . Support for voice is a useful addition to any messaging platform, but remember: it won't be free. Anytime you're using 3G or 4G, you'll have to pay for the data.

Android: One of the biggest problems with VoIP apps on mobile phones is that they require you to juggle multiple different apps for calling based on how the person you're talking to will receive it. Bolt simplifies that by using VoIP when talking to another Bolt user and your regular mobile lan with everyone else.

Chrome: Low-cost calling service Keku has a new Chrome App that gives you the power to assign "local" numbers to your international friends. You can make super-cheap calls one on one or in a group setting, right from your browser.

A new CHOICE survey has found that over half of Australians are taking advantage of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services as a low-cost alternative to traditional telco offerings.

If you're looking to top up on prepaid Skype cards, paying full price would be a bit silly. Coles, Woolworths and Target are all currently selling both the $10 and $25 varieties for half the recommended retail price -- $5 and $12.50 apiece.

Skype has added a new video messaging feature to its suite of apps. You can now leave video messages free of charge for any of your contacts.

iOS/Android: Free messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Viber are handy for free messaging to other people with the same app installed, but what happens when you want to make a call to someone on a regular number? FooTalk is a newly-launched VOIP app which offers relatively cheap rates for calls.

Here's a present from Skype to you: a free month of Skype Premium with unlimited worldwide calling. This promotion is similar to the one offered last month, except this time it's open to both new and existing Skype users, and there's no cutoff date to grab the promotion.

One argument sometimes used against voice over internet protocol (VOIP) telephone services is that they don't always identify your location when you make a call to the 000 emergency number. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is taking TPG to court for a more fundamental problem: a six-month period where some of TPG's phone subscribers apparently couldn't access 000 at all.

We've featured messaging/VOIP app Viber in its iOS and Android incarnations before. Version 2.2 of Viber enhances the app on those platforms with the ability to make group calls and send photos in messages.

In the last half of 2011, Australian federal politicians spent more than $140,000 on global roaming charges -- and shadow communications minister Malcolm Turnbull alone accounts for 13 per cent of that total, with more than $13,000 on one monthly bill. Why are the sums so high, and how can average Australians avoid running up the same charges? A Lifehacker exclusive analysis reveals all.

The government has extended the period in which Telstra can't charge more than 22 cents for untimed local calls until June 2014. Pensioners might think that's good news, but in reality paying 22 cents for a local call means you're almost certainly not getting a good deal. Here are five ways you could spend less to make calls.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) continues to bust communications providers whose plans aren't described clearly. Today it announced a $13,200 fine for TPG over terms associated with its offering of 'free' VOIP calls for broadband customers.

The newest Skype beta for Mac OS X isn't an enormous update, but it does change the (previously very cluttered) call UI into something a bit more usable.