SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in news:47cee62f$0$36345
$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net:

> The big problem with Skype, IMVAIO are a) per minute costs are much
> higher than other providers, even though the unlimited service is a
good
> deal for big talkers, b) proprietary hardware, c) you have to have a
PC
> running to use it.
>
> It was interesting to use Skype when they had free Skype-Out, but it
> wasn't worth a higher price than free. Still, Skype to Skype is a
great
> deal for those that want to engage in endless gabfests. One place that
> it could result in big savings is for conference calls. It's easy to
> spend thousands of dollars a week on conference calls, and often the
> calls are between remote offices of the same company that could easily
> all use Skype.
>
>

Now I'm awful confused.... Skype Pro + an incoming phone number
someplace on the planet, not necessarily at home, is $5/month in the USA
and Canada for virtually unlimited calling in N America. That's NOT
"much higher"! That's almost FREE!

b) There is no proprietary hardware necessary. You need a PC you
already have...or...a Skype-compatible PDA or Linux tablet...or...ANY
KIND OF TELEPHONE you can make calls on! You don't even NEED a
computer, any more, to use Skype!
http://www.skype.com/allfeatures/togo/
Skype-to-go is INCLUDED with Skype Pro for $3/mo.
"To Go is currently available in the Australia, Chile, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, Ireland, New Zealand, Poland, Sweden, UK and the US."
I can pick up a phone in Ireland, call the Skype-to-go access number in
Ireland, then call at cheap Skype rates to anyplace on the planet from
my account. No proprietary hardware, except an Irish telephone, is
necessary. It will cost me 3.9c/call to start the connection, a
pittance because I'm in Ireland. If I start the call in the USA or
Canada, there's no fee because I'm a Skype Pro customer under this
terrible $3/mo financial burden and they feel sorry for me.

I can pick up the phone in your living room, call Skype-to-go, identify
myself, and call Japan for 2.1c/min FROM YOUR HOUSE PHONE, a proprietary
instrument to be sure! A 10 minute call is 21 cents! If I call New
Brunswick, there's no extra charge....FROM YOUR US OR CANADIAN PHONE!

c) You do NOT have to run a PC to use Skype out or Skype in from your
sellphone or any POTS phone. You do have to briefly operate your PC to
type in your CALL FORWARDING number so Skype In knows where to send the
incoming calls when someone dials one of your (10) incoming phone
numbers. I hardly ever run Skype on my PC or the tablet, unless I'm
making a call to the other side of the planet and want to see the video
from another Skyper for free or swap files with him/her/it. I do call
from one of the computers if I don't want the company I'm calling to
steal my caller ID so they can put me on some boiler room's call list to
be spammed to death. All caller IDs FROM Skype are 000-123-4567, no
matter who I'm calling, even the cops, IRS or FBI! I use Skype from my
Alltel sellphone all the time, both incoming and outgoing. I even have
stolen the Skype ringtones so the sellphone sounds like Skype on the
computer when someone calls me from one of my Skype In numbers...(c;

I know a small company that has Skype connected between 4 offices in
different states, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week...with full color video,
Skype's instant messaging conferences and sharing files. They never
disconnect it. I don't think they've ever paid Skype a dime as they
don't use their POTS interconnects at all that I know of. There's
probably 24 desktop computers all linked together between the 4 offices
at once....