Wavigo is a free multi-protocol real-time communication software centered around a strong IM and VoIP core. In a single application Wavigo brings together IM, VoIP, SMS, RSS, email, podcasting and file sharing.

Wavigo supports MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, ICQ, AIM and Google Talk.

Wavigo fully supports voice over IP (VoIP) allowing users to freely talk to each other.

There are several other features in Wavigo that are very useful. The possibility of sending SMS and email directly from Wavigo is one. Wavigo is also an RSS reader and it even downloads podcasts. Since it comes with an integrated media player, Wavigo can be used to play the downloaded podcasts as well.

Once you have provided Wavigo with the access information for your other instant messengers, Wavigo will gather all the contacts from those different accounts and organized them in one comprehensive list.

From a single interface a user can chat simultaneously with all his contacts as if he was running the original instant messengers. The advantage is that only one application is needed instead of several.
Wavigo can also be integrated with Skype, the most popular VoIP application today. However, for that to be possible, Wavigo requires an extra piece of software which must be separately downloaded and installed. Not only. In order to talk with other Skype users it is indispensable to have not only Wavigo running but also Skype, which seems to defeat the overall purpose of being interoperable. The only apparent advantage of this feature is to make every contact accessible from one single list.

In terms of interface Wavigo is clearly a little rough around the edges.

It is not as intuitive and straightforward as its most direct competition (all major IM and Skype). In fact, it is likely that for the first couple of times you will find yourself clicking on the wrong buttons. Nevertheless, this is nothing to be worried about. Once you get accustomed to the mixture of text, buttons and boxes that characterize Wavigo interface, you will be able to uncover the full potential of this tool.

For now Wavigo only runs on Windows, but soon it will be cross-platform supporting Mac OS X, Linux, Palm, Symbian and Windows Pocket PC and SmartPhones.

This is only one of many new features to be introduced in the upcoming versions. You can see what is planned for Wavigo near future in this table and among the most interesting upcoming features are:

WavOUT - call regular phones around the World from Wavigo

WavIN - inbound service with a regular local phone number and virtual numbers in other cities

WavMail 7x24 - Voicemail all the time, on-line or off.

WavMail Enhanced - Voicemail with enhanced notification

The integrated media player can play music stored on your computer as well as podcasts from anywhere. An integrated podcast search engine taps into Podcast Alley to find the audio content you may be looking for.

The media player actually integrates even a feature called Karaoke mode, but I haven't been able to find out what this can be used for.

For more information visit Wavigo website where you can download Wavigo (2.9 MB) and the software bridge indispensable to integrate it with Skype.