Skype is one of the greatest tools ever built, IMO.
When I was a kid, it was a fantasy to think that you'd be able to do video phone calls, and today everyone can do it - and for FREE.
Skype is a fantastic business tool. I use the free version, but I know many people who pay for their services, and yes, I'd certainly recommend it.
Many of my closest friends and family now use it as well, to keep up on a more personal level than doing so by phone, email, IM, text, etc. Basically, its the next closest thing to actually being in a room with someone.
I like skype. I use my own phone number as the caller ID. I do pay for the service. It has ton of benifits. I also use Pamela for Skype for recording conversations. It is for me to review when chatting with sellers and buyers.
I mean I pay $60 right now for unlimited North America and skype offers it for $3/month, I mean that is 5% of what it costs me now. I will buy the wifi skype phone. does anyone have experience with that?
I use Skype and think it is a great tool. Much of my business is international and I really save if the person I am calling has Skype.
I have used both the free and the paid versions and the quality appears the same to me. The big difference with the paid version is that I can make calls people who are not on Skype. There are several different paid programs and you should look at the way you plan on using Skype.
The only problem that I have (and I think this will apply to every VOIP) is that I am using satellite for my internet for the moment and there seems to be some lag time.
In mid 2007, I had some trouble with connections on conference calls to and from Mexico. Some were dropped and difficult to reconnect. I did not have the problem later in the year and recently I have not needed to make any conference calls.
I have a 22 year old son, teaching in Taiwan. We see and talk to him almost every day. At Christmas, we set the computer up by the tree, he watched all of his family open our presents and we watched him open the presents we sent over. We also got to see he broke into the candy before Christmas morning. It was as if he was here, and made for a memorable holiday, instead of the first Christmas he was away from the family. Now all we need are the cars that the Jetsons flew around in.