Since we moved to Camdenton we have continued using our previous cell phone numbers from Phoenix. My wife and I decided we would like to get new local numbers. This meant we would have to deal with the cell phone companies.
We have been using Verizon without incident since we got married, 4 years ago. With me working from home now having 2 cell phones is not necessary. So we began looking for the best way to get down to one cell phone and a home line. We looked at AT&T and Verizon for the cell coverage and Charter, Vonage and a few others for home lines. The home lines all ran about $24.99/month. This seemed a bit pricey when we would still have a cell phone for $39.99/month.
This led me to look into Skype. I download the application and made my first free test call from my computer using the high speed broadband internet I am already paying for. It had some issues but likely because I was logged onto multiple computers, one running VPN.
The problem was that I could only make calls to people running Skype on their computer for free. This didn’t make sense as my family and friends aren’t going to be at their computers everytime I call. So I took a look at the subscription services offered by Skype. For unlimited US & Canada calling Skype offers a subscription package of $2.95/mo. This seemed like a deal. I could get a whole year of outgoing phone calls from my computer to any phone in the US for less than a month of Vonage or Charter phone service. I was intrigued. However, the big reason to have a home line was to have a local number I could put on my business cards for my freelance Camdenton web designwork. The subscription didn’t give me the ability to have an actual phone number or receive voicemail from clients.
That is where SkypeIn™ comes into play. This is a online phone number where anyone can call your computer. Once you have a monthly subscription you can add on the SkypeIn™ number for a small monthly price. You even get to select the local number from any state and city in the US. The lists aren’t extensive but you do get a choice unlike when going through the phone companies.
At the time we signed up Skype was offering 25% off the yearly subscription and 50% off of the SkypeIn™ number. So for a year of phone service from my computer, with voicemail, unlimited calling and a local phone number we are paying less than $6/mo.
I have made a few calls to my own cell phones for testing, using my webcam microphone and desktop speakers until we find a headset or wifi phone has worked well. My first real call tonight to my brother in Nashville went 10 minutes and it was clear with no problems. So after one day I think adding a Skype phone number will work out great and allow us to cut our cell phone bill in half every month.
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