Ok, so on the advice of many of you on this site, I have chosen Skype for running my business while I travel this summer. I have an auto-reloading account and have a Skype local number. When I leave for my trip, I will forward my TMobile phone to the Skype number. I plan to leave my phone off all day, return to my apartment in the evening, and turn on my computer. I will then use my Skype to check my accumulated voice mails from the day and return calls and will also use it to take the calls that come in over the course of the evening. (Which will be perfect, because 6pm Italy time is the start of my business day in Washington state!) I think this will let my clients call me on my local Tmobile number and will allow me to take and return calls at about 7 cents per minute. Have I missed anything crucial? Thanks, as always.
Posted by
Dallas
1022 posts
If by "local" number, you are referring to an "online" number in Skype parlance, and if you have signed up for voice mail which is a separate service, then your plan should work fine. 7¢/min is too high for Skype, so I'm curious as to how you arrived at that figure.
Posted by
OP
Pacific Northwest
2679 posts
Tex - I was hoping you'd reply! Yes, I am referring to an online number. I have not set up voicemail yet, and I guess I hadn't gotten that far in my trial and error process. I will set it up. As to the 7 cents, that was the price I found on Skype, but now, of course, I cannot. I see a price of about 3 cents per minute, with a connection fee of 4 cents, which I assume would only apply to the first minute. So 7 cents for the first minute and about 3 cents thereafter. Is that the pricing you see? Thanks
Posted by
Dallas
1022 posts
I see calls to the lower 48 and Hawaii at 2.3¢/min, Alaska at 6¢/min with the connection fee as you described. I tried to post the link as an active one, but it won't take it for some reason. Here it is http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/prices/payg-rates/#cc=US]skype rates I've no experience using the voice mail service even though we set it up for our last trip abroad. We forwarded all calls to our local number and answered all the calls we received. I've read that other travelers have been happy with the service.