Here’s the elevator pitch: Skype is free software that lets you talk to other users for free, to make phone calls around the world at low rates, and to rent a phone number in up to 10 cities in 14 countries including Australia, China, Japan, the UK and the US.
This is achieved by combining peer-to-peer (P2P) technology and low-cost telephony providers in various countries.
The P2P aspect means that participating computers work together to locate each other, with a small number of servers operated by Skype acting as a last resort and tying the whole thing together. Once a call has been set up the data flows directly between the two computers involved, or in some cases via a third computer that’s also running Skype. [For an investigation of the protocols, see http://www1.cs.columbia.edu/~library/TR-repository/reports/reports-2004/cucs-039-04.pdf]
SkypeOut and SkypeIn
SkypeOut is the name given to the service that allows users to call a fixed or mobile number. The rates are lower than you’ll normally get from a regular carrier, and comparable with VoIP providers and phonecards.
Calls to many countries including Australia, China, Greece, Italy, US and UK cost approximately three cents a minute. (Note that this means calling a local number via Skype can be more expensive than a normal call.) Higher rates apply to other countries and to mobile numbers in most nations (China and the US are among the exceptions).
SkypeOut credits are purchased in 10 Euro (approximately $16) blocks. Payment can be made with an international credit card or via PayPal, moneybookers.com or Click&Buy. As a security precaution you can only buy credits on one account from one source. So if you want to keep your business and personal calls separate you won’t be able to put both accounts on the one card. A workaround is to use PayPal for the second account and fund your PayPal account with the credit card. Credits expire after 180 days of inactivity, so unless you stop using charged services completely there’s little risk of losing an unused balance.
You can also use purchased credits to pay for SkypeIn, which associates a real phone number with your Skype account. If you don’t have a fixed line but you want a regular number (people who only have a mobile number are still viewed with suspicion in certain situations), SkypeIn is an easy and relatively cheap way of getting one—$16 for three months or $50 per year.
SkypeIn is also useful if you want a number in another city so that customers, business associates, family or friends can call you more cheaply. SkypeIn numbers are available in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.
Overseas numbers are offered in Brazil, China (Hong Kong only) Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and US. The available area codes are very limited in some countries.
Although SkypeIn has been offered for some time the company still classifies it as a beta test and warns: “the service may not be entirely stable.”
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