Service Plan and Fees:  

Skype is primarily designed to provide voice and video communication between computers as opposed to between telephones. As such, it isn’t a suitable substitute for regular phone service, nor does it pretend to be. From a safety standpoint, it’s important to know that Skype can’t be used to make emergency 911 calls.

Skype’s main claim to fame is that it allows you to make calls from one computer to another, anywhere in the world, totally free of charge. The only requirements are that both parties to the call must use Skype and be online at the same time. This does require that you have a separate headset and microphone or to use ones that may be built in to your computer. What’s more is that with the simple addition of a webcam, your free Skype to Skype calls can be video calls. Many newer computers, particularly laptops, have the webcam, microphone, and speakers built in for just this purpose.

Other free services on Skype include: transferring and forwarding calls to others on Skype, instant messaging and group IMs and conference calls.

Paid Services

In addition to Skype’s free service, you can take advantage of a wide variety of paid services by purchasing Skype Credits on a pay-as-you-go basis or by signing up for a subscription plan. The most significant paid features are the abilities to make and receive calls from telephones. With SkypeOut, you can make unlimited calls to landlines as well as cell phones throughout the United States and Canada for $2.95 per month. There is also an Unlimited World plan for $9.95 monthly that allows you to make unlimited calls to landline phones in 36 different countries. The plan also allows for unlimited calls to cell phones in China, Hong Kong, and Singapore as well as Canada and the U.S. It’s worth emphasizing that this information refers to calling from a computer.

SkypeIn is a service which allows you to purchase an online phone number that others can call to reach you on Skype. There are numbers available in twenty countries. Someone using any standard phone can call your online number and you get the call on Skype, wherever in the world you log on. An online number costs $12 for three months or $60 for twelve months. If you also have a SkypeOut subscription, the cost of the online number is discounted 50 percent.

If you have a subscription or Skype Credits, you can establish a Skype To Go phone number. To use Skype To Go, you set up speed dial list online then when using any phone, you call your Skype To Go number and either choose one of your speed dial numbers or dial any other number. If calling from a cell phone, your wireless provider will charge air time which, of course, may be just a matter of charging against your plan’s minutes. This allows for making international calls at the usually competitive Skype rates, though we caution you to check the rate for the country that you’re calling as Skype’s rate isn’t necessarily the best.

The Skype application can be downloaded to compatible mobile phones manufactured by LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson. That allows you to access your Skype account from your phone wherever cellular service is available and essentially use it as though you were on your computer. There are also Skype specific phones made by Netgear and Belkin which allow Skype access using a Wi-Fi connection.