November 30, 2007, Newsletter Issue #41: Skype as a Primary Home Phone Company?

Tip of the Week

The popular PC-PC phone service, Skype, has the best quality of all of the PC based phone services and now boasts many millions of users. Service is free between Skype subscribers, and a low rate for PC-phone service is available through a service called "Skype-out".

Skype has become SO popular that some users have switched to it as a primary home phone service. USB "phones" with a base station and wireless satellites have made it possible to carry Skype throughout the entire home with ease.

Is this a good idea? It certainly is more cost effective, but there are always trade-offs to be considered.

The primary thing to remember when considering making this move is that Skype does NOT offer 911 calling. Although it is possible in theory to rely on your cell phone in the event of an emergency, cell service is notoriously poor when indoors. Do you really want to have your cell phone be your only hope when trapped inside a burning building?

Another consideration is voice quality. Skype has excellent call quality when compared to other PC-PC services, but it does operate over the public Internet. Occasionally, it is not uncommon to experience dropped calls, delays, or echos. If consistently good call quality is important to you, than making the move to a Skype-only home service is not the best choice.

Skype does make an outstanding supplemental phone service, and can really offset phone bills if you use a measured rate service and have overseas friends or relatives. It also comes in handy if you have teens that tend to monopolize your main phone line for hours!

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