Skype out! Cheap Calls

[Buntina]

Not sure if anyone here is aware of this, I have been trying this and am very happy with it;

http://www.skype.com/ free pc -> pc phone calls

Pc -> Land line to any of these countries:

Argentina (Buenos Aires), Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Canada (mobiles), Chile, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico (Mexico City, Monterrey), Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg), Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States (except Alaska and Hawaii), United States (mobiles) and last but not least: Vatican.

SkypeOut Global Rate:
1.7 Euro Cent per minute.

1.7 Euro Cent is approximately the same as 2 US cents or 1,1 pence.

Unless it is specifically mentioned, the SkypeOut Global Rate is only for calling regular landline telephones. Calls to mobile phones are more expensive.

Enjoy!

[floyd]

Don't forget to add VAT to those prices and, if in UK (or your French cards are not secure on the internet and you have to use a UK card), there may be exchange rate and currency transfer charge.

The funds fro calls last a limited time and there are rules around that so be careful and make sure you read all the small print (its not too horrible stuff, but there are constraints).

If you have other processor intensive stuff on your computer, then this can cause audio drop-outs every couple of minutes. Don’t mean to sound negative but there are limitations. You may have some issues if running a web server and firewall software on your computer

Whilst Skype has more limitations than some others (e.g. Wozie), it is somewhat more reliable software (and is available for MACs).

[Buntina]

You can either deposit money in Euro or UK pounds - so no exchange rates apply on deposits, The credit balance in your account expires after 180 days of inactivity, so with a 10 euro deposit I have 1/2 a year to use it

CPU usage is not too bad - you def need ADSL and at least a semi-decent PC

There is VAT on charges (15%) but if you are a business you may soon be able to aviod this, as an example here is a call from France to the UK 2 days ago

Date	Number	Destination	Rate/min.	Duration	Price
Dec 10 14:39	4412######	United Kingdom	€0.017	22:46	€0.391

 

22mins for 39 cents - not bad I say!

[Tonypowell2]

I use telerabais http://www.telerabais.com/ now for all my calls. especially to mobiles in the UK, as they work out at €0.15 per minute for that, and just local french rate for calls to landlines in the UK.

I was a bit worried in the first month, because I thought it might be a scam, but it has proved to be what it says.

You do have to dial an access number first then type in 00 44 29865etc... and it does not like 0800 or 0870 numbers, but apart from that is okay.

[Jonzjob]

I've been using Skype for a couple of months now and phone my daughetr for an hour or so, no problems. Top ups appear to be on a secure site and are done on our French account in €s. Yes TVA is added, but it is still a hell of a lot cheaper that any other method I have found. Plus if you phone anyone else on their PC then the call is FREE. I have been calling the praises of this lot for ages now and it appeared to be falling on deaf ears. Glad to hear someone else using and enjoying the benifits!!!

John.

[Racerbear02]

I have also been using Skype and have found it to be of reasonable quality, it is certainly a lot cheaper that any other alternative I have used and has the bonus that you can call any UK number even the free ones, which is not always the case on a normal landline.

The audio quality is variable and does depend on what else you are doing online at the time, don't try to send large email attachments at the same time for example as it will drop out, but you get what you pay for and most of the time it is perfectly acceptable quality, I use my bluetooth headset from my mobile phone and that makes it very convenient indeed.

[I1]

[quote]You can either deposit money in Euro or UK pounds - so no exchange rates apply on deposits, The credit balance in your account expires after 180 days of inactivity, so with a 10 euro deposit I have 1/...[/quote]

From Skype (14/Dec/2004) re: Billing Currencies:

-----------------------------------------------

Skype charge your credit card account in Euros. Your credit card company will convert this Euro amount back to the currency, in which your card is issued.

[Redcap]

Hi from Redcap!

If your family and friends own a PC then there is no reason to even have to pay a cent! Although I am not sure how it works on dial up, but we are on B/B and it's been great!  Please, if anyone knows of a cheaper method of calling family/friends let me know!

Regards,

Bob