Anyone know anything bout Skype phone service?

Has anyone used Skype to call people? From what I read u can use it to call people in USA and Canada for 2.99 a month...like u can call phones from ur pc with it. Has it worked ok for anyone? Does it have a lot of lag er cut out parts and stuff?

I had been using magicjack to call my kids, and it makes it so u can use a phone to call a phone thru ur pc for like 20 bucks a year. It worked great for first year and I just renewed for second year and when they deactivated my account. I talked to em about it a number of days before they would even admit why, and then they said I breached contract by calling 50 phone numbers in one day and was permanently banned. Well, I do not even know ifty phone numbers. I normally call one number a day...my kids every night to ask about their day etc during the school year when they r with their dad. (I have a cell to call other people in Canada with. I just got magic jack to use to call the kids in USA) But anyhow, magicjack people said that they cannot tell me who I called and they don't know, their computer system just permanently banned me for making over fifty calls and they can do nothing about it. Threy would not let me take screen shots of my magic jack proving I only called one person a day er anything so... I need a new cheap way to talk to my kids.

I tried voice chat on msn with em but the lag was really bad when they recieved it tho I could hear em fine. And now I have been sending voice messages thtu msn, where u prerecord em and send,. which is ok, but a tad awkward...hey, it is better then nothing.

Calling em with a cell phone is like 60 bucks for the hour I and my husband talk to the three of em. We don't have a lnd line and can'y really afford anything expensive.

If noone has any advice I might just give skype a try.

I am pretty sure a few years ago RossDH was calling me on phone with skype, and I can't recall well, but I don't think there was any lag er stuff... hmmmmmm...

Any advice?

If your kids had access to a PC and a microphone, you could make voice and video calls for free. I've never used their landline service though.

^this

It's a good alternative but it does depend on the connection between both points. Since you've been using MagicJack, it's possible it won't matter for you. Skype is how we did the EGA podcasts and most of us had a clear connection but there were a couple that sounded very muddy and inaudible.

I've used Skype to call 800 numbers a few times, because toll-free numbers are free on Skype and I could also record the calls if there was important information. Worked fine for me.

Ok thanks everybody. I got skype. The 2.99 a month deal, and called my kids a few times and the connection is good and working great. Had my phone call get cut off on a couple of occasions but easy enough to redial and does not happen a ton, so its ok.