You simply load the software, buy credits and start placing phone calls I bought $10 worth of Skype credits, used the phone over a 10 day period (daily) and still have $6.36 worth of time left. I was recently on a trip to a remote island in the Caribbean and used the SkypeOut International service to place calls from my laptop back to the office and home. Skype is so popular that a number of companies have developed ‘Skype capable’ USB phones that plug into your computer so you can use what looks like a regular phone that is connected to your computer (search Google for 'Skype Phones').Īnyone that travels abroad or has family in other countries can use Skype to avoid International long distance charges (as long as both parties have the Skype software loaded on their computers) or you can use SkypeOut to place a call to any standard phone number for a rather small fee One of the nice things about the Skype service is that it does not require both parties to have the software SkypeOut is one of their services that allows you to place a call from your computer to any standard phone SkypeOut calls can be placed for free to any land line or cell phone in the US or Canada until the end of this year.Īll you need is any PC or Mac, a high-speed Internet connection (it will work on dial-up, but the sound quality is not so great) and a headset with a microphone Most laptops have an adequate microphone and speakers built-in, so you won’t need the headset in those cases. Skype is one of the leaders in the consumer VoIP arena and a huge part of their success was that they created a non-technical way to call someone from your computer (They were acquired by eBay last year for a staggering 2.6 billion dollars plus options!)Īvoiding long distance charges was the main driver in the early days of consumer focused VoIP services, but the fact that most of us have lots of long distance minutes included in our cell phone plans has somewhat diminished the appeal of these services (for domestic calls at least)Īs long as both parties load the Skype software (domestic or international) on their respective computers, they can talk unlimited for free. There have been hundreds of ways to accomplish this task over the years, but most required both parties to be slightly tech savvy and load special software or purchase special equipment. Unless you have been completely out of the technology loop, it’s likely you have heard the term ‘VoIP’ which stands for Voice over Internet Protocol.Įssentially, VoIP is a technology that allows you to make telephone calls (local and long-distance) using an Internet connection instead of traditional analog phone lines. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.
This question was answered on June 8, 2006.
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