Yahoo Outsourcing Messenger Calls to Jajah

Yahoo is outsourcing the Internet telephony capabilities of its Yahoo Messenger program to Jajah, giving the relatively new company a major boost.

Yahoo—still standing in the looming shadow of a Microsoft hostile takeover attempt—has struck a deal with relative newcomer Jajah to outsource the Phone In and Phone Out Internet telephony functions of its Yahoo Messenger chat and instant messaging application. Beginning in the third quarter of 2008, Jajah will be responsible for connecting called between Yahoo Messenger users, and handle both billing and customer support for the service. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“This partnership with Jajah will help Yahoo continue to provide a great communication experience to our millions of Yahoo! Messenger users,” said Yahoo VP Sabrina Ellis, in a statement. “Yahoo Messenger is one of the first communication tools consumers see and use when they turn on their computers, so it is critical that our partner mirror our commitment to our users, and Jajah’s reliable VoIP network and proven customer- and carrier-friendly experience make it an ideal solution.”

Yahoo has offered its Phone In and Phone Out feature in Yahoo Messenger since early 2006 in an effort to keep up with VoIP leader Skype as well as other instant messaging applications. The pact could be a major boost for Jajah, since Yahoo Messenger claims to be the leading U.S. IM application with more than 97 million users, although it’s not clear how many use Yahoo’s voice features.

Jajah launched in Austria in 2005, although it’s now located in Mountain View, California, and claims to have 10 million subscribers to its international calling service. Jajah’s main consumer-facing offering is an international calling system that enables users to enter both the originating and destination phone numbers via the Web; Jajah calls both numbers, and if the calls go through, Jajah connects the call.