Skype (and unlimited calling to the US and Canada)

It's simple: everyone should have Skype (a company owned by eBay). And I'm not just talking about college students with copious amounts of time to chat with friends in the other dorm to see where the party is. Travelers and businessmen could benefit from knowing how to use Skype.

Why is this? Because international phones and international travel are a rip-off. I recently paid US$36.00 for a 3-minute phone call from the Beijing airport to home in California. My dad has an international phone based in Hong Kong that he pays USD$40 per month to keep active, plus US$0.40 per minute for any call he makes when he's abroad. Cingular and Verizon charge exorbitant rates for use of their (internationally-compatible) phones when in other countries.

How Skype helps: Skype is only US$0.021 per minute to call most countries in the world. That includes places like China, France, Chile, Australia and many many other countries. Some places are a bit more, but there just aren't other rates out there that can top Skype (all the Skype rates are available here). Even better, you only have to pay if you're calling a real (land or cell) phone. If someone you know happens to have Skype installed on their computer, you can "call" their computer directly from yours for free, and talk as long as you want.

For the business traveler who wants to receive calls when he's abroad, Skype has a solution. For a US$38 annual plan, the traveler can purchase a phone number from one of 12 different countries (including the US, Hong Kong, Germany, etc.) and anyone around the world can call that number and be connected to that user's computer, provided he's online (the service is called SkypeIn). There are thousands of phone numbers to choose from, and the user can even choose what area-code his wants (this can be useful for his friends who are calling him). Then, it just looks like a local call to whoever is calling the Skype user. Free voicemail is included with this service.

Unlimited calling to the US and Canada
In addition, Skype is offering a new service (brought to my attention by this Wall Street Journal article). After running a trial version of free phone calls, Skype is offering one-year plans that give the user unlimited calls to Canada and the US for $14.95 (offer is available through January 31, 2006). Starting February 1, 2007 the regular price is $29.95 for a year of unlimited calling to those two countries. Since Skype runs over the internet, it doesn't matter where you are in the world to receive this rate: you can be in Ghana, and still call the US for free if you have this plan. For someone living abroad, or even for the savvy cell user who might consider cutting down on one of those expensive monthly plans, this can save a good chunk of change.




What you need to use Skype: The internet and a Skype (and spyware-free) download (available here at the Skype homepage). You probably want to buy a headset and microphone to make your talking experience a little better, but even that's optional. If only I had remembered all that when I was in the Beijing airport a few months back, complete with a wireless internet signal.