Outgoing calls
Outgoing calls on Skype. (via techyuga.com)
The ability to call landlines or mobile phones from Skype was originally branded as SkypeOut, but this term has been dropped in favor of Calls to mobiles and landlines.
Skype users can call phone numbers, including landline and mobile phones, for a fee using prepaid Skype Credit or a subscription.
This fee can be as low as US$0.02 per minute for most developed countries, and as high as US$6.80 per minute for calls to the Inmarsat numbers.
Skype Out is Skype terminology for making calls to standard phone lines. This includes landlines and mobile/cell phones – i.e. any number you can call from a standard phone except emergency numbers (e.g. 000, 999) and, in some cases, toll-free numbers.
SkypeOut calls are charged per minute. The rates are cheap (comparable to calling card rates).
Subscription calling plans
Skype's unlimited calling offers unlimited calls to anyone, on any phone, within the U.S. and Canada, for a one-time (e.g. annual) fee.
Skype offers several monthly plans that it calls unlimited. However, Skype limits these subscriptions to 10,000 minutes per month, 6 hours per day, and 50 telephone numbers per day.
Skype To Go numbers
Users can set up a Skype To Go number which allows them to reach international phone numbers dialed from any landline or mobile. Skype provides a local number (the user chooses the area code) that then connects using Skype Credit to the number in another country. The service also provides the opportunity to dial any number abroad as well.
Emergency numbers
Skype also does not support calling emergency numbers such as 1-1-2 in Europe or 911 in the United States, however, they do support this service in Australia, Denmark, Finland, and the United Kingdom.
Caller ID for outgoing calls
Skype offers a feature allowing users to set the caller ID for outgoing calls to telephone numbers.