For those of us who love talking, there is Skype. And when it comes talking for free, it is not a surprise then, that more and more people grab such facilities as provided by Skype.

Skype was founded in 2002, to develop first peer-to-peer (P2P) telephony network. Today Skype is competing against established, open VoIP protocols like SIP and H.323. VoIP with Skype software allows telephone conversation through a PC and over the Internet instead of a separate phone connection. This proprietary freeware , uses messenger-like client, and offers in and outbound PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) facilities.

Skype users can call to any non-computer based landline or mobile telephone in the world. Skype users can call other Skype users for free. The calls made to or received from traditional telephones are charged a fee and so are the voice-mail messages.

Skype software also provides features like voicemail, instant messaging, call forwarding, and conference calling. Skype users are not billed according to the distance between the two countries. Instead the users are charged according to the prosperity of the country, the volume of calls made to and from the country, and the access charges. Latest statistical figures show that Skype is one of the fastest growing companies on the Internet.

Skype Statistics

• Skype has 54 million members in 225 countries and territories and the number is swelling, all this by just word-of-mouth marketing by satisfied users!
• Skype is adding approximately 150,000 users a day and there are 3 million simultaneous users on the network at any given time.
• Skype has been downloaded 163 million times in 225 countries and territories.
• Skype is available in 27 languages.
• Skype has more users and serves more voice minutes than any other Internet voice communications provider.