Thursday 12 May 2011

How To Forward Skype Calls

Skype is not just a simple online instant messaging program. It is designed to also allow VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) communication. The program allows you to make a voice call, just like in a landline phone, but it uses the Internet data lines and network connection. Skype has features that you'll commonly find in landline phone service such as call forwarding.

1. Understand the different Skype packages. The call forwarding feature in Skype is not free. It is available to subscribers at no extra charge. There are three basic subscription packages. The cheapest costs 89 Euro cents per month allowing 60 minutes of calls to landlines monthly. The next package costs 3.49 Euros/month and has 400 monthly call minutes to landline and mobile phones. The final package costs 4.99 Euros/month and allows unlimited landline and mobile calls. The kind of subscription you pay for limits your call forwarding feature. If you took the cheapest package and you set up forwarding to your mobile phone, you'll be charged a per-minute rate.

You can avail of the call forwarding feature without a subscription by buying Skype Credit. You can only buy Skype Credit if you register. Go to their homepage, create an account by filling up the necessary information, then instead of purchasing a call plan, choose to buy credit instead. The smallest amount of credit you can purchase is 10 Euros.

A Skype-to-Skype call is free. That means you're calling someone who's also using the program and calling to his Skype account, not his landline or mobile phone. This is the basic VoIP call. If he happens to have call forwarding (either by subscription or credit), the call will push through to the designated forwarding number and you won't be charged anything.

2. Set up call forwarding. Open the Skype program and sign in. Click on the Tools menu and then click on Options. A new window will appear. Select Calls, it has a green telephone for an icon, then click on Call Forwarding. At this section, you can now type in your landline and mobile phone numbers. Click on the ‘Add more phone numbers' option to enter more designated forwarding numbers. Remember to place the plus sign and the country code before the actual number. Remember that incoming calls are filtered by your Privacy settings. Most people will set this to only accept calls from those who are in their list of Skype contacts. Click on Save when you're done.

The Skype call forwarding feature allows you to receive calls on your landline or mobile phone when you're logged out of Skype. This makes it very easy for your contacts to reach you and lessens the chances of your missing an important call.

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