TRY IT YOURSELF SKYPE
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If you have never used IF telephony before, it is worth trying out Skype — certainly not the only ValP option, but the best-known. You will need a computer (PC, Mac or Linux) with an internet connection, speakers and a microphone — most laptops have one built in, as do most webcams. The ideal setup is a headset with headphones and a microphone.
Go to the Skype website (www.skype.com/) and download the Skype programme for your operating system — for safety's sake, do not download the programme from any other site. This application is stable and installs quickly; then you just enter a few identifying details, choose a user name, and you are ready to make free calls to other Skype users.
Skype has a built-in directory of Skype users, and if you import contact details from another application (Outlook, for example, or Google's Gmail) it will look up any of your contacts who have a Skype account, and add their user name to let you call them for free.
To call other phones, you buy Skype credits: just like a pay-as-you-go phone, you pre-pay for a block of credit (say £10), which is used up as you make calls: typically, calls to a landline cost -1 .4p/min (inc VAT), while mobile calls cost 16.6p/ min. You can also pay a monthly fee for landline or mobile minutes — with different rates for different countries.
As it stands, only other Skype users can call you on your Skype line; but for around £15, you can rent a Skypeln' number that lets others call you from their phone at a local rate. Better still, you can buy numbers in any country — buy a Brazilian number, and your customers from Brazil can call you in the UK as if you had a local number.