Online Dating Off The Hook

(AP)  The juggernaut of online dating services, Match.com, is trying to bring its members into even closer virtual contact by incorporating an old-fashioned device: the telephone.

Starting Thursday, members in San Francisco and New York who pay an extra $14.95 a month can arrange four-minute online phone "dates" with other members through Match.com's SpeedMatching Web site.

SpeedMatching, available in 47 cities, allows members to meet each other in quick, face-to-face chat sessions, with as many as 25 such "dates" in one evening. The new service, Online SpeedMatching, will let users have similar dates, but in prescheduled sessions by phone.

During the phone conversations, the users will be able to look at photos of each other and read their online profiles. Afterwards, they will be able to "rate" each other according to three choices: "Yes — interested," "No — not interested," or "Maybe it's worth considering." Online SpeedMatching will then monitor mutual interest and send e-mails encouraging future communication.

"It blends the things people like about online dating with the discreet, real value that occurs in offline SpeedMatching," said Match.com president Tim Sullivan.

Match.com members will pay a total monthly fee of $39.90 to access both Match.com and Online SpeedMatching.

As Match.com extends the service to more cities, Sullivan said, it will allow people to join "parties" of multiple people based on similar interests, backgrounds, and personality compatibility.

The company, which boasts nearly 1 million paying subscribers, hopes to eventually integrate live online videoconferencing.

Such technological enhancements can be important edges in the competitive business of online dating, an Internet segment that has continued to see strong revenue in recent years. Match.com's rivals include Yahoo Personals, Lavalife, Date.com and Matchmaker.com.