Skype

[Alice Abbott]

I just set up an account and with the help of a mike spent the best part of an hour chatting with my Mom and two brothers in California for nothing via their PCs.

Nothing more to say really, except WOW!

[Green Aura]

It is great isn't it!

When my gal was at uni, she was always able to get us - even when out of phone credit.

And my neighbour speaks to her mum in South Africa regularly.

I'm a bit of a technophobe, but things like Skype make me less so

[TheGoodEarth]

We do the same with Canada. Just add a webcam and you can see each other too.

[red]

urgh - no webcam thanks.. when i chat to my brother in Oz, I'm often in bed...

[Martina]

Yep, it's pretty good. It's our preferred way to stay in touch with my brother and his family in Japan. I like the video cam, though, because I like to see people as I talk to them. I find the conversation just goes better that way. Maybe that's just me?

Martina

[contadina]

We've absolutely no chance of getting a landline, but with a skypein number family from the UK can call me from their landlines for the same price as a national call.

[the.fee.fairy]

Skype is fantastic! I downloaded it before i came out here, and i can talk to my family regularly, and when everyone was at my parents' house, they put me on loudspeaker to everyone knew i was still alive!

I do love Skype, and i like the fact that you can have pay as you go Skype for phonecalls too, just in case. One of the girls here has had to use it already - she locked her bank card, so having the Skype call function was marvellous.

[Grandmaibb]

Hi I'm new here but I just had to post to this thread. Both my daughters and my granddaughter live in OZ and I talk to them nearly everyday on the Skype. My granddaughter (4) and I often have breakfast/supper together and if they are having any gatherings we can join in as well. My DH also lived in Australia as a child and he told me that when they emigrated he never saw his grandmother again. With skype we are an active part of our children's and grandchildren's lives. Our granddaughter knows us and we know her. I love skype.

[Graye]

That's wonderful!

We have a great phone deal here. I thought it was expensive to begin with but I think it's actually excellent - I wish we could replace Tiscali with something similar in the UK but we are in the dark ages in Whitby.

Here we have SFR which includes free calls to 52 countries around the world PLUS a superfast internet connection. The quality is superb. As we are in the wilds here I'm really impressed. It cost €70 every two months but well worth it.

I DO use Skype but only to a friend living in the backwoods of Almeria in Spain who has a very poor satellite connection and no landline. It does pretty well considering!

[kiwirach]

can someone explain the difference between skype and msn messenger?. i use msn to keep in touch with my sis on Oz.....we use cams and microphones, or if its a quickie, just type!.

[the.fee.fairy]

Skype is like on online telephone service.

For me, particularly, it is very helpful! I've just subscribed to SkypeIn, and taken out a monthly subscription so that i get unlimited calls to UK landlines. I don't have a landline here, and neither of the mobile phones i have (1 UK, 1 Chinese) call out internationally, so if i need to ring someone in the UK who is not on Skype, i can call them using it. It was also helpful when my housemate locked her credit card - she could use Skype to call the bank in Ireland to get it unlocked.

If you're calling Uk-Uk (substitute country where applicable) then MSN's not much different, but i do find that now i can call landlines, its much easier for me!