Slash your long-distance bills, use Skype

http://www.skype.com/

Tagline
The whole world can talk for free.

About
It is a free-to-use software for internet telephony. With SkypeOut (paid service) you can call anyone on any phone anywhere in the world, at local rates. SkypeIn is a phone number your friends can call. You answer in Skype. SkypeVoicemail takes your calls when you’re busy or offline. There is even a store in the website which lets you buy Skype related products.

You can download Skype for:

• Windows
• Mac
• Linux
• Pocket PC

Total downloads 254, 618,985 till now.

Skype’s Self Review
Skype is software that enables you to make free calls anywhere in the world. Skype uses innovative P2P (peer-to-peer) technology to connect you with other users. It offers several features, including SkypeOut calling from Skype to regular and mobile phones worldwide, conference calling, and secure file transferring. Skype calls have better sound quality than your regular phone and are highly secure, with end-to-end encryption.

Download.com’s Editor’s Review of Skype
Getting in touch with friends and family is easy with this Internet telephone software, but the functionality is conditional. Skype offers a graphically pleasing interface that’s much like a chat program. To make calls, you’ll need to create a contact list of friends and family or use the phone-like interface to dial people directly. You also can access a pull-down menu for painless conference calls of up to four people. To make free calls, both parties will need to have the Skype software installed. To call regular phones, you’ll need to sign up for a plan with SkypeOut, the developer’s paid service that offers cheap by-the-minute calling. We like the intuitive chat-like interface of Skype and we were surprised at the excellent sound quality, even with regular desktop speakers. Similar to a chat client, you can set your availability status, but we also would like to see a missed call indicator or, better yet, some form of voice mail. Overall, we think Skype is a strong contender in the Internet Telephony category, and anyone who’s interested in talking for free should give it a try. For international callers who have computers, this program is a no-brainer solution for long-distance bills.

Posted by Kuldip Garhwal (Recommended by Sybille Thierry)