Make Free Calls Over the Internet
I used to enjoy making the tin-can phones when I was a kid. You simply poked a hole in the end of two tin cans, pulled a string through each can and Voila! If you kept the string taught, you could talk and be heard from one can to the other. Come to think of it, who needs Verizon or Sprint to make phone calls?
Let’s go back to buying Campbell’s Soup cans. It’s much more cost effective, and you can even recycle the cans when you want a phone upgrade. But for those of you who are looking to find a very simple and free (or almost free) way to make calls over the internet, I invite you to read on.
For the rest of you, I’ll meet you at Whole Foods and we’ll get the soup cans. Using the internet to make phone calls is simple and your options are plentiful. You can utilize a company called Skype by visiting their webpage at www.skype.com and downloading the latest version of their program. (Download means to get something that is not on your computer and put it there) You will be greeted by a friendly page reminding you to “Take a deep breath†. I always find this refreshing (especially after the exhale) because for a lot of people, computers can be very intimidating, and they really do remind you, hey, relax, it’s just a computer.
Skype’s web page is smart, meaning it will know if you are visiting it from a Windows PC machine, an Apple MAC, IMAC, etc.
Once you click the download button, it takes less time to get the program than it does to order and drink a grande double half caff espresso cappuccino latte mocha frappicino. If you have friends or family that are as tech savvy as you are now, and they are Skype users too, you can look
them up on the Skype directory and talk to them over the internet 100% free. What is amazing is if you have one of those little cameras attached to your computer (not by duct tape!) you can SEE and HEAR them too.
Wait, you mean you don’t know anybody who uses Skype? Nobody at all? Not a single person anywhere in the entire United States or Canada? Well worry not, because Skype is still there for you. For a measly $29.95 for a YEAR – you can use your new Skype program to call ANY phone number (landline or cell phone) in the United States or Canada. No limits, no blackouts, no minimums, no maximums.
You sit, you dial and it calls. The people you call will have no idea you are calling while sitting at your computer. If you really want to go nuts, you can call internationally too and the rates are amazing there too.
By now I know what you’re thinking. The mere thought of having to sit at your computer to make a phone call is giving you a cramp in your side. I feel your pain, I sit at a computer pretty much my entire work day too, so to get up and do something else, anything else, is great. So can we use this concept of Skype calling and not have to sit at a computer to do it?
All I can say is, yeah baby! When I was at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January in Las Vegas, they had prototypes of phones that would work with Skype that did not need to be anywhere near a computer. Sounds like a dream come true! There were several models being shown, most notably the Netgear Skype Phone SPH101. It’s the size of a typical pretty cell phone, with a color screen, and you simply dial out on it like any other phone. However, instead of using Verizon, Sprint, AT&T etc, you’re connecting over the internet. As you can imagine, I had to wipe the drool off my mouth at least half a dozen times….be still my heart. Anywhere there is a wireless internet signal, aka WIFI (like at Starbucks, Coffee bean, your office, or home) your Skype phone will jump on board and connect itself to the internet.
If you want to find out about the different phones out there that will work
with this technology, just do a Google search (www.google.com) and enter wireless Skype phone. Additionally, you can visit a good online store located at www.brokeit.com where you can find lots of information as well as deals on these devices. Or, if you want, feel free to shoot me an email at westsidegadgetguy@westsidetoday.com with any questions,
comments, suggestions and even complaints. Don’t worry I’ve been
married 14 years, so I’m thick skinned enough to handle anything you say.
