Phone Home for Free
Want to call grandma on her birthday? Or catch up with an old friend you just rediscovered on Facebook? Or how about phoning home to ask dear ol' Dad for $60 to get you through the end of the month? Well now you can do all this and more for free, using your computer and the internet.
The Voice Over Internet Protocol (or VoIP) revolution has begun, thanks to companies like Vontage and more notably Skype. A few months ago Skype was bought up by eBay. At the time, the acquisition was deemed questionable by many industry "experts". But the partnership has been favorable to users of both internet services.
With its sucess in intagrating Skype calls into eBay, allowing buyers and sellers to talk to each other on neutral ground, Skype annouced that it was making its already popular "Skype Out" service free for all.
Skype Out allows users to dial any number in the world from their computer for free, forever!
All you need is Skype 2.5 and a microphone for your computer (many new laptops have them built in).
Download and install the program and sign in, and you are off and running making free long distance calls right from your desk!
On the flip side, there is nothing more annoying than someone who love to awkwardly extend phone conversations long past their expiration date. Grandma decides to fill you in with every unnecessary details of her recent life (bunions and all), that old Facebook friend seems have gone over the Emo deep end, or Dad blows his lid when you call for the 9th time this semester for him to replenish your beer and pizza money. Well now you can easily get of the phone with out offending the person on the other end of the line.
Sorry gotta go is a collection of fast downloadable mp3 files that you can play to slip out of your phone convo. My favorates include "I can't stop coughing", "Something's wrong with my computer", "The party is starting" and if you live/d in a dorm like my old one "There is a fire drill" should also work like a charm.
The Voice Over Internet Protocol (or VoIP) revolution has begun, thanks to companies like Vontage and more notably Skype. A few months ago Skype was bought up by eBay. At the time, the acquisition was deemed questionable by many industry "experts". But the partnership has been favorable to users of both internet services.
With its sucess in intagrating Skype calls into eBay, allowing buyers and sellers to talk to each other on neutral ground, Skype annouced that it was making its already popular "Skype Out" service free for all.
Skype Out allows users to dial any number in the world from their computer for free, forever!
All you need is Skype 2.5 and a microphone for your computer (many new laptops have them built in).
Download and install the program and sign in, and you are off and running making free long distance calls right from your desk!
On the flip side, there is nothing more annoying than someone who love to awkwardly extend phone conversations long past their expiration date. Grandma decides to fill you in with every unnecessary details of her recent life (bunions and all), that old Facebook friend seems have gone over the Emo deep end, or Dad blows his lid when you call for the 9th time this semester for him to replenish your beer and pizza money. Well now you can easily get of the phone with out offending the person on the other end of the line.
Sorry gotta go is a collection of fast downloadable mp3 files that you can play to slip out of your phone convo. My favorates include "I can't stop coughing", "Something's wrong with my computer", "The party is starting" and if you live/d in a dorm like my old one "There is a fire drill" should also work like a charm.
