Communicating Using Skype

I talk to everyone on Skype. That is how I communicate. Usually I would buy by minutes, but recently I purchased a three-month calling subscription for the price of two months. (Thank god for Skype coupon codes.) Now, I can keep in touch with friends, family, and loved ones around the world – just as long as I have my laptop computer with me.

If you have been living under a rock and still have not heard of Skype, let me explain it to you. And perhaps you will find out why it has become a necessity to me. It is a software that allows users to make phone calls over the Internet. Calls can be made to other Skype users (for free) and to landlines and mobile phones virtually anywhere in the world (with charges). Also, there are plenty of extra features such as instant messaging, video conferencing, and file transfer.

For someone like me who travels a lot (I am a freelance photographer), having Skype on my laptop is such a great convenience. I can call my wife anytime while I am digitally editing my shots. I can effortlessly schedule and book my photo shoots by having a conference with designers, editors, artists, and models. I can talk to my daughter, who is in a London university pursuing her studies and a college degree, without at all incurring so much as a single cent on charges. While browsing the web for hot online deals for cameras, I can simultaneously have a discussion with my colleagues and ask for their opinion. I can transfer my images to a client at anytime. I can even be on a set –be it outdoors, abroad, in-house, underwater, wherever– and “televise” the scene to friends and loved ones live.

So basically, Skype is a phone on my computer. (I don’t even use my mobile phone that much anymore!) It’s my way of keeping connected, however nomadic my line of work can make me. All I have to bring with me is my trusty headset and web camera. What’s amazing is, even though I don’t exactly have an office (or an actual darkroom), I can still listen to voicemails that have been left while I was offline. Gone are the good old days of answering machines on the living room.

If you are planning to use Skype and talk to anyone in the world for a minimal amount of cost, just download the software. And, of course, don’t forget to use coupon codes whenever you make a subscription or purchase minutes