<p>Internet services provider Earthlink Inc. has launched a tour aimed at giving consumers a chance to test the company's voice products for free.</p><p>The first leg of the tour, in Seattle, will allow hesitant consumers to try out the Atlanta-based company's phone service and "see that it sounds like a normal phone call," said Steve Howe, the company's vice president of voice services.</p><p>"Voice over Internet is so new and confusing," he said. "But we're at the cusp of getting it mainstream."</p><p>The company has already launched its home phone service in San Jose, Dallas, San Francisco and Seattle, said Terry Griffin, the company's vice president of marketing.</p><p>Soon the service will be offered in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Diego and Washington, D.C. By the end of next year, the company said it could reach a potential of roughly 20 million households.</p><p>The opening of the Earthlink store comes a month after computer manufacturer Dell Inc. announced its plans to open two full-sized stores in Dallas and West Nyack, N.Y. Consumers will still have to order Dells online or over the phone, but the stores will offer customers a free chance to use the computers.</p><p>Griffin said the Earthlink tour will land in San Francisco next month and could be in Dallas later this year.</p><p>___</p><p>On the Net:</p><p>HASH(0x1cdc054)</p>
