Blog Story: Using Skype for Family and for Business Part I

My family and I have used Skype for I don't know how many years, to chat back and forth with each other and talk over video for free. Although within the last two years I have found a new respect for this fabulous piece of software. Today I'll go over a couple of the ways I've used Skype in the past that has saved me money and tomorrow I'll go over how using Skype can make you money.

How Skype Can SAVE You Money

My favorite way of using Skype is internationally. While my brother, Kenny was in Egypt for the last two summers my family was able to keep in touch with him by him using either his laptop or wifi PDA. On his laptop we could get a full video tour of where he was staying and see how he was doing. When he wasn't around a wifi connection we could also call him internationally for pennies compared to traditional landlines.

Personally, I am of the cell phone generation who for the most part are without landlines. While I like that this saves me money, I also don't feel comfortable with this living out in the country as I do. I now use the monthly subscription option of $2.95 a month for unlimited US and Canada calls to landlines and cell phones. This way if for whatever reason I don't have cell service, or if I misplace my cell phone I can get in touch with people (pending I have an Internet connection). This has also helped in cell minutes if I have a long conference call while in my home office or a teleseminar I am listening into I will use my Skype service.

Apart from outgoing calls, Skype also offers an incoming call service. I have used their online number feature in the past along with call forwarding. This was short lived as I used it only when my prior cell service had poor coverage. However, the service is extremely inexpensive and is ideal for businesses who would like a phone presence in multiple area codes. For example, if my company would like to target Western Washington I might get a Skype number with (425) and if I would also like to be approachable to those living on the Eastern side of the state I would get a second number with (509). Both numbers when called could be forwarded to any phone connection I am on at the time: my cell phone, office line, or home phone, etc.

In the second part of the Skype series I will go over the budding trend of using Skype to further your services offered and actually make you money. The final part will review some of the hardware we use to make sure communicating via Skype is easy and of high quality.

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