A phone call using Skype software is free to and from anywhere in the world if you are calling from your computer to another person with Skype installed and whose computer is connected to the Internet at the same time.
Skype-to-Phone calls are not free.
You can use Skype to call from your computer to anyone without a Skype account anywhere in the world. The rate per minute depends only on the destination of the call, and not on where you are making the call. Calls to Canada, China, and Chile cost 2 Eurocents (1 Eurocent equals 1.20 U.S. cents) per minute. The most expensive call is to Diego Garcia, the U.S. Naval Base in the Indian Ocean (1.278 Euros per minute).
For comparison, a Skype call from anywhere in the world to a telephone in China costs 2.4 U.S. cents a minute (or US$1.44 an hour), 12.6 cents per minute cheaper than an AT&T long distance call from the U.S. to China that costs 15 U.S. cents a minute.
Using your computer with Skype to call a mobile phone anywhere in the world costs a bit more – 23.6 U.S. cents instead of 2.4 U.S. cents per minute for calls to a mobile phone in Chile – although a call to a mobile phone in China costs the same as a call to a landline phone: 2.4 U.S. cents per minute.
Before you can make Skype-to-Phone calls, you need a SkypeOut account. Setting up the account can be done through the Skype website. You buy SkypeOut credits and pay using a Visa, Eurocard, MasterCard, Diners, or Moneybookers credit card. Your SkypeOut credits are valid for six months.
With SkypeOut, it does not matter where you are calling from, only where you are calling to. Calling your friend’s phone next door in New York costs the same as calling from Aruba or Brazil to the same friend in New York.
You can also forward your Skype calls to a traditional phone or mobile. It will not cost others any extra to call, and you simply pay the standard SkypeOut rate to call the number that you forward to.
The cost of a SkypeOut service comes out to less then US $8.00 a month in 34 countries.
Phone-to-Skype calls: Fixed Yearly Fee, caller pays long distance rate.
You can receive a call from anyone without a Skype account who calls you from a landline or mobile phone while you are on the Internet.
First, you need to buy a SkypeIn number for 12 Euros (US$15) a quarter or 30 Euros (US$36) a year. Anyone who wants to call you dials your SkypeIn number and then gets the call connected to your computer.
You just pay this fixed annual fee to receive non-Skype calls. The caller, however, pays the normal rates for a direct dial international or domestic call, depending on the caller’s area code and the telephone service used.
If you buy a SkypeIn number, you also get a free voicemail service, so that if you cannot receive the call for any reason, the missed call goes to a voice mailbox. You can access your voicemail the next time you activate Skype.
You can buy a SkypeIn number through the Skype website.