Love Skype But Confusing Options to Upgrade
Since I have begun my China assignment, the most cost-effective tool I have been using is Skype. I tried it out on a business trip earlier this year before I moved to China and found it worked very well compared to my previous experiences with the product. Almost my entire family has since invested in web cameras and now I talk nearly daily with someone on Skype.
Its amazing to me how much this product has improved and how useful it is for no cost to the consumer (other than a web camera). It has allowed me to communicate, see, and visit the "plugged-in" members of my family much more than I could have ever hoped for.
Even with members of my family who prefer the telephone (such as my grandmother and fiancee) I can still save money by using Skype to call them on the telephone for ~$0.02/minute. I deposited $10 into my Skype account and have begun to regularly call them. Now my $10 is nearly depleted (for reference the $10 lasted me about 6 weeks of regular calling to US phones) I need to decided what service I should purchase.
However I have stuggled with this. Skype offers so many services I have trouble figuring out which one is right for me. For instance I was excited to learn that Skype Unlimited for $29.95 allows you to make unlimited calls to the US and Canada. This would be perfect for my needs, however just as I was about to purchase it I read in the fine print its only for calls ORGINATING in the US or Canada or so I think. Im still not entirely sure. This would negate any benefit from the service since all of my calls would orginate in China for the US.
Another option is Skype Pro which is a bundled service of many options, however, the benefits are different depending on what country you live in or are currently located in? I am still not sure which on -- very confusing. The China benefits and the US benefits are very different so I don't know if this makes sense either.
Clearly I am one of Skypes ideal customers -- I am making daily calls to the US from China to talk to me family. I could benefit from a US number so friends and family can call me on Skype or my local telephone. Surely one of these plans is suited to save me money - I just don't know which one.
Comments (4)
There is one more service -Voicestick.com. It has a $0 monthly plan which will be more suited to your case.
Posted by Anonymous | August 27, 2007 9:53 AM
You can try Gizmo http://gizmoproject.com, and this company is a competitor.
Posted by Anonymous | August 27, 2007 1:24 PM
This is simply confusion marketing... to make it harder for you to compare products with other companies... and somewhat dishonest, esp. when they don't mention some of the downfalls of particular plans CLEARLY. It's no use hiding the information away.
Posted by InvestorBlogger | August 27, 2007 10:50 PM
I've noticed that as well. Everytime I think I've bought what I need, I see another add-on or credit I have to buy.
Posted by Eric | August 29, 2007 9:02 AM