Review of Skype Service

In my fancy new graduate apartment building there are no phones, at least not the traditional analog sort. Noting that most students have cell phones, we were informed by email that in lieu of landlines there would be four Ethernet jacks per bed and we could certainly use one of the jacks to connect a VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol …i.e. a phone that uses the internet) phone service. The suggested list of providers was: Skype, AOL, Gizmo, AT&T Callvantage, Verizon Voicewing, and Vonage.

I chose Skype because it seemed like the best deal. The basic service is free and lets you call other Skype users from your computer. For, $3 per month however, you can make unlimited calls in the US and Canada, and for an additional $30 per year you get a phone number at which people can call you (and you can choose your number from a list of available numbers). It includes voicemail but not call forwarding for which you must pay extra for the forwarded calls. [8/30/08 UPDATE: Call forwarding is included]

Also, I bought a special VOIP phone on Amazon, the Belkin Desktop Phone for Skype, for $80, although you can certainly use the service from your computer without a special phone. I bought the phone because it plugs directly into the Ethernet jack completely independent of my computer so I can use the phone even when my computer is off. So all told, I’ve got unlimited domestic phone service for under $9/month ($3 to call out, $2.50 to receive calls, and $3.33 for the phone if you depreciate it over 2 years).

The sound quality is surprisingly good. I’ve been making calls to landlines and cell phones for a week now using the Belkin and the call quality is almost as good as on a landline, and certainly better than on my cell phone. The only disadvantage so far is that to dial to the US from the Belkin phone I have to precede each number with +1, but that’s hardly an obstacle. (Other disadvantages include that the phone won’t work when the power is out, won’t work when the internet is down, and won’t identify your location to emergency services, but also having a cell phone mitigates those risks.) One feature I really like is that I can enter my contacts either on the phone or on my computer to the Skype program and the phone automatically updates to include these so I can speed dial them.

One piece of advice to others setting up their VOIP phones in a dorm room: give the phone half an hour to register itself with the network. My phone returned the message “cannot connect to the internet” for that long while I waited on hold for tech support before resolving itself.