Forget phones; try Skype

Skype is a free computer program, available at http://www.skype.com. Users download the program, choose a screen name and select other users as “friends.� They can then make free “phone calls� to any other Skype user. People speak into their computer’s microphone and hear responses out of their computer’s speakers and can connect Web cameras to make their conversation a video call. For a low fee (about 2 cents a minute for common destinations), Skype also allows calls to any mobile or landline telephone. It even has instant-messenger capabilities.

My first use of Skype was a conference call, involving about four people. The voices sounded clear and easily understandable. The only problem was that my computer’s speakers were so close to the microphone that my friends could hear themselves speaking as I accidentally broadcasted all of their voices back to them. When I plugged in a pair of earphones instead of using speakers, the echo disappeared.

All of my Skype conversations were superior to my cell phone connection. Voices were clear, and the computer interface — a list of friends marked with whether or not they were online — was easy to use. The instant-messenger aspects were simple and made group messaging as easy as a two-person conversation.

One Skype defect is that offline friends never pick up. However, Skype’s new voicemail and call-forwarding features, advertised on its Web site, might solve this problem. Further, Skype does not have the mobility of a cell phone because it requires a computer.

Nonetheless, I highly recommend Skype to anyone who loves to gab with friends, especially long-distance ones, without a huge phone bill.