Good news for Americans. Yahoo Messenger with Voice (beta version) is being officially launched today and it can be downloaded from Messenger.yahoo.com. They are launching the general availability of Yahoo Phone and Yahoo Phone Out. Calls within U.S. and more than 30 countries can be made for two U.S. cents a minute or less. Specific rates can be checked at http://voice.yahoo.com.

So why was it being eagerly awaited?

As compared to Skype, Yahoo would be coming up with free voicemail and be directly integrated with Yahoo Mail so that one can retrieve email and voicemail from Yahoo! Mail. It would also display the presence information of buddies and enable to call them.

It also blends in the features of news headline delivery, Yahoo Music and access to Yahoo e-mail and much more.

For $2.99 per month one can select a personal phone number and receive calls at no additional cost.

The beta version is the first with GIPS codecs which ensures high quality VoIP call experience.

There is also a Contact Search Bar which provides a quick way of connecting with friends and families.

Certainly Yahoo is making a strong contention to integrate most of its communication properties into the IM client. Yahoo would stand to gain as has a better profile of users in U.S. and Western Europe as compared to Skype which has a stronger presence in Asia and Eastern Europe. With the brand image that Yahoo Messenger enjoys, certainly it is going to offer a tough competition to Skype.