Xed’s Weblog

So I had toyed with Skype off and on a few years ago. It was somewhat unstable (client wise) when I last used it so I never went back to installing it again when I refreshed my operating system with Windows 7. As well, since I have had a Vonage device setup at home, which is hooked up to a Panasonic 5.8GHz cordless phone (3 handsets), I really didn’t have much use for it since all calls (local and long distance) from Vonage are free for up to 500 minutes/month for around $22.95/month subscription, which is far better than what is offered with Videotron or Bell Canada.

However, recently, we had a bad electrical storm and the Vonage device died suddenly last weekend. So, I needed something besides my low-minute cell phone to attend conference calls (almost regularly at night from 3am to 6am), I decided to give Skype another try since I had no other options available until Vonage ships me a replacement unit.

So far, so good. Skype does not offer local and long distance calling to non-Skype users (i.e. cell phones and regular phones) unless you have a subscription. One of their subscriptions is for “unlimited” calling in North America (Canada and USA) for $2,99 CAD/month. That is hard to be beat, and I would switch from Vonage in an instant if I had a way to untie us (Tracey and myself) from the computer and use it throughout the house. Their “unlimited” is subject to fair use, however. And that basically means a maximum of 10,000 minutes per month or 6 hours per day. Afterwards, they will impose connection charges and per minute rates, whether the call is local or long distance.

But… Being in a stupid country like Canada which has ridiculous government regulations (CRTC) on pretty much everything, from foreign company ownership restrictions to banning companies from offering VoIP phone services to Canadians which are not setup to support local 911 emergency response services (CRTC  again!), we are often stuffed with crappy service offerings. Therefore, Skype says they cannot offer their SkypeIn service in Canada. SkypeIn serivce, or more recently known in Skype as an Online Number, would offer a localized phone number in Canada so that someone who is not using Skype can call you. This service is available in 25 great countries that do not include Canada. But I did find a Canadian company that claims to offer Skype virtual numbers for Canadian cities that has somehow gone under the CRTC radar, offering their service at $12/month. So adding $2,99 + $12,00/month, it works out be slightly less than Vonage’s basic subscription service at $22,95/month. But until I solve the computer untethering issue, it looks like Skype will just be a computer based alternative solution for our household for Skype 2 Skype usage.