has anyone used skype for voice calls both nationally and internationally? i've been thinking about trying it and wanted to hear others opinions.

I use it for international calling from my laptop..works fairly well and if you have a webcam you can use that along with it.

Downloaded and use it for free

My daughter downloaded it before she went on her study abroad this year so that we could talk cheaply. The download was free but she paid $30/yr (as I recall) so that I could use my regular phone to talk to her instead of using a headset with my computer. (She uses a headset with her computer.) We do not use a webcam.
I have been pleasantly surprised by how good the connection is and it's saving us both a ton of money.

We live in the UK but our family lives in the states. My younger family members, college age or so, use Skype to call us and it works great. My in laws can't make it work but I think that's operator error more than anything else!

We've used it extensively, especially to talk with daughter who's studying in Greece this semester. Set up is easy. Best thing since sliced bread!

Actually it's the best thing since someone discovered chocolate!.

You should ask this on the European board. I've heard lots of folks using it over there.

a relative uses it all the time to talk to relatives in South Africa

You need to have a good, high bandwidth connection for Skype to work well.

I've had mixed results when traveling. Sometimes voice quality is great, other times it sounds like darth vadar - it all depends on the internet connection you have.

I've given up on using webcam when traveling - it requires too much bandwidth that I prefer to reserve for voice quality.

For domestic travel I just use my cell phone.

J62: don;t forget, sometimes what goes on on cam is worth much more than words

I use it to speak to my daughter who is in Rome for a semester. it is nice to see her beautiful face once in a while! She uses it every night to talk to her boyfriend, and says that the internet connection is variable but I don't know if she has limited bandwidth in Rome.

We use it almost daily and LOVE it. Our entire family are Skype addicts. We use it to talk to relatives both in other areas of the states as well as overseas. In fact, my 4 year olds were showing their art work to their uncle in Hong Kong just this morning. The grandparents love it most of all as they can talk to and see the grandkids whenever they want. We love it as it is free and also when we travel we can see as well as talk to our kids (assuming they are not with us). We have not had trouble finding internet cafes with skype in other countries which is great (there must have been two or three on every street in each town in Peru we recently visited). Just make sure you have a skype sign in for travel as well as one for home.

I live in Bermuda and we (all my friends and myself) use Skype - I use it to call back to the States, my BF uses it to call England - we call landlines and cell phones mostly, which costs about 2cents/min - so easy to set up, rarely have a call-quality issue - I agree that it is the best thing since sliced bread!!

I LOVE Skype. I used it just the other day to talk to my friend in Paraguay, South America. It was like she was sitting in the room. And for $3.00 USD a month you can get unlimited US/Canada and call to land line and mobile phones. Skype has won me over completely! Its clear and intuitive in everyway.

We've been using Skype to call our son in Germany, and the voice quality has been excellent. The price, at 2.1 cents per minute is petty good, too.

Last time we did a webcam, we had trouble with the voice cutting in and out, so our makeshift solution was to have our son (who gets free calls to the US) call us on the phone, and we just used the compter for the video.

Skype is great - I used it for the first time in Italy this year calling home - $.06 per minute vs. $1.25 per minute on my cell phone...still not perfect, but for that price it far beats the alternative options!

A quick question...when do you pay? Skype has always been free for us. Is it if you call someone who doesn't have skype then do you pay?
taitai

Yes, when you call a landline or cell phone, then you have to pay (unless someone can tell me otherwise, which would be even better!) For example, when I call my spouse at work during the day...otherwise, you are correct, at home we both use Skype and it is free.

With a 7 hour time difference, it isn't always easy to catch a person at home when it is a reasonable time of day in Europe.

Got it. We are all on Skype so it is all free for us.

taitai

My wife and I use it to video call my family whom are all over the US. I rarely talk to my two sisters over the phone any more and can see my two toddler nieces in Florida(we are in Colorado). My niece will never know a world without video phone...It allows us to watch her grow up and know who we are as well. Have not tried it on an over seas connection but have used it from all over the US. You need a broad band connection to use it. Video can be choppy during high web usage periods. I personally have not experienced and audio issues but do see video problems. You can shut off the video and just send the audio only.

We only use the free version/options.

We love it!

];')