Skype is Awesome
I’ve used Skype in the past - just for Skype-to-Skype calls.
I’ve been debating how to stay in contact with my wife without literally killing myself. With her in Alaska, the prime time to call her is around 10-11 PM my time. On top of that, I have to walk a mile and a half to the nearest phone, wait in line, deal with base operators, crossed phone connections (I don’t want to hear about the crazy, sexy dream you had about your wife - I’m trying to tell my wife about the one I had of her).
So, early today, it just clicked: Skype! I can even continue using my phone cards for free and when those run out, it’s only $0.056 per minute which is cheaper than any phone card I’ve seen around and about three times cheaper than the cell-phone places here. Plus, I can lay right in my bed and talk to her - whenever I want.
The sound quality is great which is saying a lot for their service because our connection sucks (average 10k/sec download). Expect to see Skype gracing the Recommended Products section in the sidebar. I’ve always enjoyed it for quick chats with my clients but I never really “got it” until now - I’m so excited.
I moved from the Atlanta Georgia in the USA to the coast of Brazil almost 3 years ago. I’ve used Skype for all my phone needs. And love it.
I also purchased an Atlanta exchange based phone number through SKYPE. Costs a flat $49 a year. Folks call that number in Atlanta and it rings here on my computer. No long distance charges for them. No charge beyond the $49 to me.
I can also call forward that to my Brazil landline. They call an Atlanta based number. It rings on my phone here. Slight charge for that. But not much.
All in all it is a great way to keep in contact long range.
Thanks to Swedish and Danish entrepreneurs and Estonian software developers
Skype (wikipedia)
Hey Michael,
It’s definitely an awesome service, and for you needs it’s the perfect fit!
You may want to look into their subscription-based services too. They offer unlimited calling to any land/mobile phone in the US and Canada for $2.95/month:
http://skype.com/allfeatures/subscriptions/uscanada/
Worth a look…
@Walt
I have considered doing something very similar with GrandCentral - getting a local number from where most of my family/friend live and forwarding it to my real number (plus, it’s free).
@Frank
Thanks for pointing out the subscription services - I didn’t see them the first time around, I’ll have to take a closer look. Sounds like a great deal!