Can I use the Internet to make free phone calls?

Have you heard the old adage, "there's no such thing as a free lunch"? Well, it's true, and there's also no such thing as a free phone call. However, if you and those you call have reliable access to the Internet, you might be able to save a lot of money by making calls though the Internet. Read on to learn how a trendy new service called Skype makes it easy to talk through the Internet, the technology behind it known as Voice over IP (VoIP), and a glimmer of what the future holds!

VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is technology for transmitting ordinary telephone calls over the Internet. VoIP has been available for a number of years, but only this year has it really taken off for regular, non-techie Internet users in Africa, and indeed begun to make traditional phone companies uncomfortable. The main obstacle has been and for most people remains getting reliable access to the Internet. I don√¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢t have to tell you about this challenge.

The next big issue is computer hardware. VoIP requires, as you might guess, speakers and a microphone to listen to others through the Internet and let your voice be heard. This can be complicated to set up, especially on older machines. Newer computers, though, especially laptops, come with speakers and mikes built into them. The cyber caf√É¬©s you frequent probably have at least one computer in a corner that is outfitted for Internet telephony. If not, you may have seen others pull out a headset from their briefcase and plug into the computer they are sitting at for making Internet phone calls.

Another piece that has been missing is good VoIP software that is free, easy to use and provides secure and clear connections via the Internet. They do exist. For example, if you use Yahoo! Messenger, you may have seen that the latest versions include √¢‚Ç¨≈ìvoice chat√¢‚Ç¨¬ù capabilities. Many people use Yahoo! for e-mail and instant messaging already, so it is quite possible that the computer you are using to read this already has the software installed to also make voice calls. Microsoft√¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s MSN Messenger tool also provides voice chat capabilities.

But the biggest hit this year has been Skype, a user-friendly program that you can download for free from the Skype Web site. Skype offers instant messaging, file transfers and voice calls with up to five Skype users at a time √¢‚Ç¨‚Äú all at no cost beyond your Internet connection. More features are offered for a fee. For example, you can get voicemail so that when people call you and you are not online, they can leave you a recorded message. You can also make calls to regular phone numbers at √¢‚Ç¨≈ìSkypeOut√¢‚Ç¨¬ù rates, which at the time of writing are standardized at 0.017 euros per minute for most √¢‚Ç¨Àúrich√¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ countries (see the Skype Web site for rates). For 10 euros a year, you can also get your own √¢‚Ç¨≈ìSkypeIn√¢‚Ç¨¬ù phone number that others can use to call you via Skype. No African
√¢‚Ç¨¬ùSkypeIn√¢‚Ç¨¬ù numbers are available yet, but a number of European countries, Hong Kong and the United States are. This means you can set it up so your colleagues in the United States, for example, can call you at local calling rates using their own phones.

The biggest complaint about Skype is that it is a closed, proprietary system. This means that to use Skype to communicate, the people at both ends need to use Skype. For the moment, when Skype is the most popular VoIP tool available and prices for "SkypeIn" and √¢‚Ç¨≈ìSkypeOut√¢‚Ç¨¬ù are relatively competitive, it is still the best solution for regular Internet users that just want to hear each other√¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s voices. In the future, however, keep an eye out for open standard VoIP solutions that will allow us all to talk as much as we want, all at the same price we now pay to browse the Internet or check our e-mail.