Need another phone line so that you can keep your other lines free? Traveling abroad and want to make calls from your computer? You may want to consider using Skype. I bought a Skype line several years ago and never looked back. For $2.95 a month I can make calls to any land line or cell phone in the United States or Canada. The sound quality is better than most cell phones especially if you use a headset. You can also buy Skype phones that are just like a real phone but use Skype for call connections.

You can also add a regular number to receive phone calls on Skype. $18 for three months or $60 for a full year subscription. You can even choose your area code. It doesn’t have to be tied to the area code of your office location. If you are in Columbus, you can have a Cleveland area code if you so desire. I haven’t been in the market for a regular land line in ages but what does SBC charge to add another line. Installation plus $150 a month?

Another great feature of Skype is conference calling. With Skype, you can conference in up to 24 other people.

How do you do it? Add people to your contacts and then hit “start conference call”. From there, drag your contacts that you want to call into the conference call box and start your call. Only downside is that Skype dials everyone at the same time. You may be able to add participants to the conference call one at a time however.

How many technical glitches have you run into during a normal, landline conference call?