An iPhone and Skype and IM+ for Skype = Dirt Cheap Unlimited Calls

First off I want to clear a few things up. What do I mean by dirt cheap - how about around $12-15 per month!

What is actually needed to get this working?

• An iPhone
• A data plan if you want to be able to place calls when you’re not on a WiFi network.
• A Skype Unlimited Account ($2.95 per month for Unlimited US and Canada).
• An IM+ for Skype subscription ($5.95 per month or I suggest you go with the lifetime subscription for $29.95 - What a deal!)
• A cell phone plan that has unlimited incoming calls (Here in Canada using Rogers it costs me $10 per month for unlimited incoming calls).

Lets talk a bit about the Skype side of things.
As many of you know, Skype allows not only computer based text chat but it also has a solution for computer voice and video based chat (Similar to VoIP or Voice over IP). On top of this you can also call a land line or cell phone using Skype from your computer if you have what is called a SkypeOut account. SkypeOut can be purchased as bulk minutes or you can buy a monthly subscription that usually allows unlimited calling within a geographical area.

As of right now for us North Americans unlimited Skype calling can be purchased in the following packages:

• Unlimited US & Canada @ $2.95 per month.
• Unlimited Mexico @ $ 5.95 per month.
• Unlimited World @ $9.95 per month.

Some other interesting Skype features are:

• Use a USB or WiFi based Skype Phone or Headset to make calls using your Internet connection.
• Get a SkypeIn Account and have a phone number that people can call you on wherever you are as long as you have an Internet connection.
• Your SkypeIn phone number can be local to virtually any Country (If you live in Canada you can have a US based SkypeIn Phone number)

So what role does IM+ for Skype play in all of this?
In a nutshell, IM+ for Skype is a Website that is visually formatted for the iPhone allowing you to log into your Skype Account with Safari on your iPhone. Once logged in, you can see all of your Skype Buddies along with a list of phone number based Skype contacts. Buddies can be called or chatted with just like you would do from the actual Skype application and phone number based contacts can be Called or SMS’d. The real beauty of all of this is that is that the actual Skype VoIP call is handled by IM+ for Skype’s servers.

So instead of your iPhone handling the Skype call, it’s done for you by IM+ for Skype using much more powerful land based servers that place a call to the person you want to talk to while at the same time calling and connecting to your predefined incoming phone number which can be your iPhone number or virtually any phone number within your Skype Unlimited subscription area. What this means is you do not have to be on WiFi to use Skype with your iPhone as the actual Skype call is being handled by a land based Server using your Skype account.

As long as you have free incoming calls on your cell phone all of your phone calls using IM+ for Skype will also be free since you never have to actually call anyone from your iPhone. To make calling my family, friends and other important people easier I have added their phone number to my Skype account so that when I am logged into IM+ for Skype the contacts list is present and readily available to make a call.

The only perceivable downside to this is when a person may be traveling and incoming calls to their cell phone would be considered long distance, a way around this is to have the incoming call go to the land line of the place where you are staying.

Here is an example of the cost involvement to me using this setup.

• Of course there is the usual cost of the Cell Phone plan and (optional data plan) but I am not factoring this in as this is the norm and in many cases a person using the setup described may even be able to scale down their cell plan as the majority of their calls will be incoming reducing the need for a high minute monthly plan.
• In Canada it costs me $10 per month to get unlimited incoming calls to my cell phone.
• Unlimited Canada & US SkypeOut costs me $2.95 per month
• I went with the one time fee of $29.95 for IM+ for Skype so if I divided that into 12 months (even though it’s a one time lifetime subscription) the cost works out to $2.49 per month for the first year and $0 per month there after.

So for year one I am looking at $15.44 and for year two I am looking at $12.95 per month for unlimited calling in Canada and the US using my iPhone. Not bad!!

Random Posts

• iPhone App Review: Sally’s Spa
• How to resolve the Leopard Blue Screen of Death
• Airport Extreme Base Station
• iPhone App Review: Chop Sushi
• Gabtastik: An OS X Facebook client