Cheap international calls (Skype)

Member Name: shuttlex

Product:	Skype
Date:	22/08/09 (38 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Free software, good for people who make regular international calls

Disadvantages: See review

As everyone knows, Skype is a useful program for making voice over IP calls over the internet. Calling skype to skype is free, however calling a phone line, one has to pay. I've been using Skype for several years and generally find it an invaluable piece of software, especially in recent years with the introduction of netbooks and the increasing use of wifi. Only a select few of my friends have Skype installed on their computer so a lot of the time I'm using it to call international numbers. Compared to other international calling services, Skype is not necessarily cheaper. A call to Europe or the far east is generally similarly priced to any other cheap rate telephone service that one will find advertised in the newspaper.

Where Skype is usful, is perhaps convenience of use, especially when travelling abroad. I have all my contacts loaded in my Skype software, when I need to contact someone, rather than using the hotel phone, I simply take my netbook, find a wireless hotspot and start making phone calls.

Another useful service is the addition of skype-in. Register for a monthly skype contract, either single country, Europe or World and you can register a skype in number for half the price. This means you receive an actual landline phone number for any country you wish and people can call your computer directly from a normal phone. If you're not at the computer, you can either receive voicemail or have the call diverted to another number.

Probably the greatest advantage with skype is the ability to conference call, many times I have been talking to a contact abroad seeking to get in touch with someone. To speed things up I can just enabling a three way call and connect the other person immediately.

Overall for someone who makes international calls regularly I highly recommend skype, however for those who just want to make the occasional call every so often it may be better to just use a normal telephone line.

Summary: See review

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