Skype phone? Now you can receive as well!

Phoning via internet for free is by now a widely known chance. Such applications as VoIP or Skype which allow phoning another computer for free or a fixed phone at an undoubtedly low cost, have indeed become very popular also to a big audience of non-experts. The real innovation is anyway the chance to not only to phone with Skype via internet, but to receive calls on one’s own computer by assigning a phone number to it: this might be the turning point towards a radical change in the market.

The new service is called SkypeIn and is quite obviously offered to the whole body of Skype users. In this manner, as well as calling via internet with no cost and calling from one’s own computer to a fixed phone, with SkypeIn one can finally receive calls directly on the computer from a standard phone device.

Whom is it intended for

One has first of all to be a Skype user, then download and install relevant software, which is provided for most platforms: Windows, Mac OS, Linux and Pocket PC. As expected, the application works through an internet connection and it’s not necessary to have an extremely fast line, even if the higher the speed, the more similar to a call made with a standard phone our call will sound (in terms of voice quality and delay).

How to choose a number to assign to the computer

Once Skype has been installed and an account subscribed, by clicking on the relevant “SkypeIn” link, a list of countries offering phone numbers to assign to the computer will be displayed. At present, a number can be chosen from following countries: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Hong Kong, Poland, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States. The cost for keeping the phone number is €10 for 3 months or €30 for one year.

How it works

Once selected the number, each time Skype is open and an internet connection active, the computer will be reachable by everyone in the world just by calling the chosen number. The caller will obviously pay accordingly to local rates. If, for instance, you have a French number, someone calling you from Italy will pay as if making a call to France. And what when you are not on line? They took care of this as well. Together with the purchase of a phone number, a free answering service is offered. So, when you are on-line the computer “rings”, while when off-line the answering machine takes the calls.