You could think of Skype as the big, free Internet telephony company. The software makes it quick and easy to get started. Download, register, install, plug in your headset, speakers or USB phone and start calling your friends. The calls have excellent sound quality and are highly secure with end-to-end encryption. You don’t even need to configure your firewall or router or any other networking gear. And it doesn’t just work on Windows, Skype is also for Mac OS X, Linux and PDAs using Pocket PC. Talking, sending instant messages or even file transfers work between different platforms like a charm.
SkypeOut lets you make calls to old-fashioned phone numbers all around the world. Landlines, mobile phones… it works with almost all of them. SkypeOut is not free but it is pretty cheap, actually.
You can also forward your Skype calls to a traditional phone or mobile. It won’t cost others any extra to call, and you simply pay the standard SkypeOut rate to call the number that you forward to.
Find out more about Skype’s free internet telephone services at www.skype.com.