New users discover Skype, keep in touch with loved ones

It was the spring of 2008. Ashley Mixon, 21, had achieved her greatest accomplishment in her life: getting a degree from Clark Atlanta University. Family and friends watched with pride as Mixon walked across the stage in her snow-white cap and gown. Rose-Mary Mixon and her daughter are both from Lanham in Prince George's County, Md. They share a very close and loving relationship. Throughout the four years that Mixon attended school in Atlanta, she would call her mother everyday to gossip or let her know the frustrations she was having in school. She also came home every holiday - and any other chance she could.

Thatspring morning, Mixon's thoughts were also on something else - getting a job, making lots of money and driving a new cherry red Mercedes Benz convertible. But, her mother had other thoughts. The doting mother's thoughts drifted to the day her little girl would pack up and leave the nest, moving far away from home.

Her worst fears came true two weeks after Mixon returned to Lanham with diploma in hand. Before graduation, she had interviewed for a job at Coca-Cola corporate headquarters in Atlanta. The company offered her a junior-level position in its advertising department - 650 miles, 10 hours away from home.

However, her sadness was short lived when the family learned about Skype - a new product that would allow the two to hear one another's voice and see one another live. In August 2008, the Mixons joined the family of 340 millions subscribers to Skype. For a monthly unlimited subscriptions plan in U.S. and Canada of $2.95 per month, the Mixons can talk and see each other without leaving Lanham or Atlanta. Skype's unlimited international calls are $12.95 a month.

"I love Skype. When my daughter decided to move to Atlanta, I thought, 'oh no my baby is going to leave me'," Rose-Mary Mixon said. "But through the use of Skype, I am able to not only hear her voice, but also able to see her live and in person."

Skype is software that allows users to make telephone calls by way of the Internet at costs much lower than using landlines or mobile phones. Skype subscribers can make Skype-to-Skype voice calls, land lines and mobile phones. Users of landlines and mobile phones can also place calls to Skype users. Additional features include video conferencing, voicemail, instant messaging, texting, faxing and file transfers. To place video calls, subscribers need a Web cam.

These features along with voice calls can also be made to international numbers. However, the Skype software does not allow users to dial a country's emergency contact number such as 911 in the U.S. and Canada or Australia's emergency number 000. Prospective subscribers fill out an application online at www.skype.com. The initial software application is free. Skype-to-Skype calls, video calls, instant messaging and file transfers are free as well. But calls land mobile phones, text messaging, voicemail and faxing incur a fee.

Prices placed to landlines and mobile phones range from $0.01 to $3.35 per minute, depending on the country. Phone calls placed to U.S. numbers are $0.21 per minute.

Forty-three-year-old Deree Braswell, an executive with a popular retail chain lives by Skype. "My job requires me to travel a lot," he said. "When traveling outside of the U.S., I am able to use Skype to talk to my employees without having to monitor the length or number of calls made."

Braswell has a monthly subscription for a flat fee of $13 for unlimited usage. "It really saves me a lot of money," he said.

Skype has some drawbacks, the two major ones being accessibility and mobility. Unlike having a cell phone which can be carried around, at least one of the two Skype users has to be at a desktop computer or a laptop.

Estonian programmers Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis started Skype in July 2004. According to the Skype Journal, in one year more than 100 million users signed up. Zennstrom and Friis sold the company to eBay in 2005 for $2.6 billion. It now has 340 million registered users.

Sharon Taylor, a student at Howard University recalls her first exposure to Skype. She was watching her favorite show, Oprah, when the media mogul was introducing Skype to her audience.

"Using Skype, Oprah was able to talk to audience members from around the country while they were in their homes watching the show on TV," Taylor said. "After the show was over I was like wow, I see what Oprah is talking about. Skype is amazing.