Skype charges?

[Brah]

A friend from the States said that Skype is now charging - anyone heard this?

AFIK, they only charge if you choose to contact a landline or mobile phone, not Skype to Skype.

[the lynx]

A friend from the States said that Skype is now charging - anyone heard this?

AFIK, they only charge if you choose to contact a landline or mobile phone, not Skype to Skype.

I believe it stays the same. No official announcement for such (yet).

http://beta.skype.com/en/what-is-skype/

[nakatago]

I'd like to see them try. See if they last one week in such a competitive space.

[ScoobyDoes]

I doubt PC-PC will ever change, always free....... to an extent even that Microsoft should be offering 60min free calls per month PC-Phone as part of an Office365 subscription...... later.

[Brah]

Thanks for the link Lynx, I forwarded it to him.

This particular friend said he has an iPhone and Mac, and seems to think it will cost for him.

He asked me to use http://www.oovoo.com/home.aspx , so I've downloaded it, but I don't like having multiple apps and accounts for these things.

Anyone heard of oovoo?

As it's night time in Chicago, will see how he responds tomorrow.

[Strong Eagle]

Thanks for the link Lynx, I forwarded it to him.

This particular friend said he has an iPhone and Mac, and seems to think it will cost for him.

He asked me to use http://www.oovoo.com/home.aspx , so I've downloaded it, but I don't like having multiple apps and accounts for these things.

Anyone heard of oovoo?

As it's night time in Chicago, will see how he responds tomorrow.

I don't understand people who try to escape minimalist charges for good service. Outbound Skype to most phones is around 2 to 3 cents a minute... OK... Philippines and other rip off countries go as high as 30. But, talk for an hour to USA for $1.80? What's the issue?

My inward Skype number costs me USD 60 per year... an 832 Houston number... FIVE dollars per month.

Why f*ck around with all these alternatives when simplicity is found for such a cheap price?

[zzm9980]

Well, ooVoo sprang up because it allowed multi-party video chatting for free. Skype charges for that.

Brah, some stuff Skype does is free, others they charge. I can't imagine them getting away with starting to charge for the things that are currently free though. Instant message, 1 to 1 voice or video, etc.

If the phone charges are too high from Skype, there are cheaper alternatives. Line.com is one of them. (Or maybe it's Line2, i forgot...)

[jsompinm]

Skype has always charged for calls to landlandlines and mobiles. The pc 2 pc calls have been free and will most likely stay that way. The charges vary according to country.

[Brah]

Thanks all, as suspected, Skype2Skype is still free and my friend is tripping. Or he has some tie with oovoo.

I just went through this nonsense with the wife, her friend in Malaysia refuses to use Skype and insists on Viber, the call quality renders it useless.

So there is some value in oovoo in case of a >2 person call, other than that I don't plan to use it.

[aster]

I don't understand people who try to escape minimalist charges for good service.

Why f*ck around with all these alternatives when simplicity is found for such a cheap price?

Exactly my thoughts, which is why with such low prices I don't even look at what the competition is offering (even if it were for free) simply because Skype gets the job done perfectly.

Come to think of it it's ironic that as an Apple user (macbook/iphone/ipad) I maintain such a strong link with Microsoft. Skype/Hotmail/SkyDrive, I use them all on a daily basis.

[zzm9980]

Exactly my thoughts, which is why with such low prices I don't even look at what the competition is offering (even if it were for free) simply because Skype gets the job done perfectly.

It's actually rather pricey for some calling destinations. For example, Vietnam used to be 39 cents a minute unless you bought it in large blocks of time that expired monthly. That would get it down to about 9 cents a minute. But then Google Voice only charges about 10 cents with no restrictions.

Also, there is nothing magical about Skype's quality vs other competitors. I saw Viber mentioned above; I've had just as good (or bad) calls on Viber as I have on Skype. Call quality on these services is just a function of the quality of your point to point connection across the Internet. One service may be better than the other from X to Y, but then suck from Y to Z. If you ever have such a good connection between Y to Z that both services have an optimal connection, you'd probably be happy with either. And while I won't generally penny pinch (unless calling Vietnam for hours a month), it's nice to use the free service that you just install and magically works vs the one which requires creation of an account, providing billing details, etc.

Really though, the main thing for these services is momentum and user laziness. Most people will just stick with the first one they started using and liked, not seeing a reason to switch.

[LynDas]

I doubt PC-PC will ever change, always free....... to an extent even that Microsoft should be offering 60min free calls per month PC-Phone as part of an Office365 subscription...... later.

[abbby]

And I don't think anyone uses Skype now that Whatsapp is what most are using?

[LynDas]

And I don't think anyone uses Skype now that Whatsapp is what most are using?

Yes but i think still skype is using for professional and office purpose. what do you say?

[Lisafuller]

And I don't think anyone uses Skype now that Whatsapp is what most are using?

Haven't used Skype in years. Now it's WhatsApp and FaceTime for personal calls, and teams and google meets for work.