Om Malik on Broadband: Glocalizing your phone
Om Malik on Broadband: Glocalizing your phone. Since I am starting a time in my life when I'll be between Belgium and New York a lot (they have about the same amount of inhabitants), I'm experimenting with phone services.
Skype is working great for broadband to broadband calls. There is often some fiddling with headphones, cables and mikes and such, so for now I'm using it for planned calls: let's call tomorrow at that time. You have to be at your computer after all. Biggest advantage: it's completely free. Skype also lets you call landlines (and mobiles) at prices similar to using a calling card, but I still have to be at my computer to do it.
Next I want to try out one of the VOIP services, which are closer to a real phone service, and are significantly cheaper than a real phone service. The new one mentioned in the article above even allows unlimited calls between the US and Europe, if I understand it correctly. Calls to "real" phones. Lots of interesting stuff. Still, all these services do have problems now and then, so they're still not as solid as a tried and tested old fashioned phone.