Skype has become increasingly popular over the past few years. I had been introduced to Skype through a friend om mine 4 years ago. In the beginning I had installed the program onto my PC and used it mainly as a program for instant messaging. Until I found that Skype offers many more additional services, such as voice over IP (VoIP), video chat, and for a small fee making phone calls to a real telephone, all at the touch of a button on my PC.

Since I live in Germany, but originally come from The Netherlands, I make quite some long-distance calls, which can add up quickly to my budget. So I decided to purchase a headset, and keep in touch with my relatives and friends abroad. Either I would be able to call them on Skype when they are online themselves, or I could actually punch in their phone number in Skype, and give them a call on their land line or mobile phone. For me, it pays out great; the much lower costs I pay via Skype had easily saved me 20 Euros (approx. 29 US Dollar) per month… that is 240 Euros per year.

Quite recently I made another discovery: sitting in front of my computer all the time while talking with my friends and relatives was quite different; I did not have the flexibility of walking through my home as I would normally do with a regular phone. I solved the problem by purchasing a bluetooth headset; I can now plugin the headset while I am talking with someone over Skype, and walk around within a distance of 10 meters around my laptop.

VoIP does of course not only involve Skype; there is a variety of software available offering this service. However, Skype works best for me: the interface is well structured, there are no advertising banners, and if the camera is not turned on the sound quality is very good. Additionally, there is not any service in my area I know of which offers such low pricing as skype for long-distance phone calls.

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