VoIP is not a technology used just for communicating in business. The IP communications tool is finding its way into video games, making multiplayer games a heck of a lot more fun and interactive compared to the 8-bit Nintendo games we grew up with in the 80s.
What VoIP has done for business has now transcended into online gaming. With Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) growing in popularity on a multitude of platforms, VoIP has offered a means to assemble easily and communicate without having to gather at one friend’s house or another. For the gamer types who can spend hours online finishing a rather hefty quest, VoIP allows gamers to keep talking, regardless of distance, and eliminates a gigantic phone bill.
Online services for Microsoft's (News - Alert) Xbox game console and Sony's PlayStation 2 launched as the first major consumer application for VoIP service in gaming, enabling thousands of hours of daily chat for online combatants and quest seekers. While a far cry from the business and home installations seen as the major market for VoIP services, online gaming is providing valuable early clues about how to deliver such services cheaply and effectively enough to entice consumers.
Many of today's games have proprietary in-game VoIP support, so players don't have to run another program to chat. However, a lot of gamers have already settled on some popular programs out there that allow anyone to chat in any game regardless of platform. TeamSpeak is one that is offered as a free service for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android.
Recently at E3, DICE announced its fourth installment of Battlefield and, according to their Twitter (News - Alert) account, the PC version of the combat game will have out-of-the-box VoIP in addition to commander-to-squad communication, as requested by its audience and avid gamers.
While voice communication is used much less on PCs than on consoles, better overall communication was a popular request for Battlefield 4. For a game series that’s based on multiplayer and teamwork, communication between players was a missing key element that was soon remedied by VoIP.
Gamers today can participate and collaborate regardless of where they live. In this kind of interactive online gaming, VoIP allows voice chat between gamers all around the world, for free or cheap, linking to and interacting in real-time with friends about foes, making strategies and launching attacks or preparing defenses in a more effective and efficient way.
Edited by Ashley Caputo