Everywhere you turn phone companies offer 3 or 5-cent long distance phone calls, or even unlimited long distance for a flat fee monthly.

Now you can make reliable calls using the Internet for anywhere from 0 to 2.3-cents per minute.

Welcome to Skype, the Internet telephony company that has set the traditional telephone world on its ear.

Recently purchased by Ebay for 2.6 billion dollars, Skype stands ready to revolutionize worldwide voice communication simply because they enable you to carry on crystal clear voice communication with anyone else in the world with a either a phone or Internet connection.

What's the catch you ask?

Well, to make phone calls, you need a computer, a microphone, speakers, a modem, an Internet connection and the free Skype software you can download from www.skype.com

To make a free phone call, you need someone on the receiving end with a computer, Internet connection, and the Skype software installed.

To make a call from your computer to a land-based phone virtually anywhere in the world, you must pre-pay for calling minutes in blocks of 10 Euros (approximately $12 U.S.).

One block of calling minutes gets you about 500 minutes of calling time, or a little over 8 hours of talking time.

Skype uses a technology called IP telephony.

IP telephony first appeared commercially back in the lat 1990's with services like Dialpad.com, which initially offered phone calls from computers to land-based phones in exchange for watching online advertising.

This model soon failed, but the thought of making ultra-cheap phone calls through a computer did not.

And, as the recent mega sale of Skype reveals, a market now exists that can put Internet telephony to work on a grand scale, or at least large enough to make eBay pony up with a lot of cash and stock to give it a try.

Once you install the software, you log onto the service and can make phone calls to other Skype users through their computers at no charge.

You can set up a call list, much like an instant messaging "buddy list" so with a couple clicks of the mouse you can ring your friends up for a chat.

Or, if you pre-pay for calling minutes, you can enter in the country code and phone number of your pals, click a button, and their phone or cell phone will ring.

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 feature which allows you to hold 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 video clips with your pals.

Tip: Get a good headset microphone.

It makes using the service more enjoyable and also eliminates the echo created by your own speakers feeding back into your PC's microphone.
About the Author

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A Quick Note From The Publisher... If you like the article above, you may be interested in the following article which is also related to VoIP... Considerations For A VoIP Service Provider VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, is poised to take the telephone industry by storm. It works by using the Internet to direct telephone calls, rather than land-based cable lines that are used with traditional telephone. Among the advantages are better affordability and greater functionality. Extra services that cost a great deal more with traditional telephone companies are often included in standard VoIP service, such as caller ID, call waiting, and conference calling. In addition, other features can be used along with VoIP, such as video conferencing and email forwarding to your phone. Because of the boom in VoIP, there are getting to be many VoIP service providers out there. It is important to look at all the options and research each provider before signing up with one. Some of the things that you should look for in a VoIP service provider include pricing, features offered, and guarantees. The costs for VoIP are traditionally lower than with land-based telephone service,...