Now you can make reliable calls using the Internet to anywhere from 0 to 2.3 cents per minute.
Welcome to the Skype Internet telephony company, which has set the traditional telephone world on its ear.
Recently purchased by eBay for 2.6 billion U.S. dollars, Skype stands ready to revolutionize worldwide voice communication simply because they allow you to perform crystal-clear voice communication with anyone in the world with a either a telephone or Internet.
What's the catch, you ask?
Well, to make phone calls, you need a computer, a microphone, speakers, a modem, an Internet service and free Skype software you can download from www.skype.com
To make a free phone call, you need a person on the receiving end of a computer, Internet connection and Skype software installed.
To make a call from your computer to a land-based phone from virtually anywhere in the world, you must pre-pay for call minutes in blocks of 10 euros (about $ 12
One block of calling minutes gets you around 500 minutes of call time, or just over 8 hours of talk time.
Skype uses a technology called IP telephony.
IP telephony first appeared commercially back in the lat 1990s, with services like Dialpad.com, which initially offered phone calls from computers to land-based phones in exchange for seeing online advertising.
This model does not soon, but the idea of making ultra-cheap phone calls via a computer does.
And, as the recent mega sale of Skype reveals a market that now exists that will allow Internet telephony to work on a large scale, or at least large enough that eBay pony up with a lot of cash and shares to give it a chance.
Once you've installed the software, log in to the service, and can make calls to other Skype users via their computers without charge.
You can create a call list, much like an instant-messaging "buddy list" so with a few mouse clicks, you can call your friends up for a chat.
Or if you already pay for call minutes, you can enter the country and phone number of your friends, click a button and their telephone or cell phone rings.
Skype also allows you to hold conference calls with up to 4 other people at the same time, making it easy to hold group meetings.
Skype includes a group chat function that allows you to organize a group chat session with up to 48 other people at the same time ... excellent for "webinars" or even planning that next family reunion.
Skype also allows you to transfer files to and from other users, perfect for sharing photos, music and short videos with your comrades.
Hint: Get a good headset microphone.
It makes use of the service more enjoyable and also eliminates the echo created by your own speakers feeding back into the PC microphone.
