Easy Skype phone

One of the first things I did upon my return to Amsterdam today was install a very cool gadget I bought in CompUSA on Saturday – a Linksys Skype phone.

This is a phone that works with the Skype internet phone service which you use to make and receive phone calls via Skype as you would make and receive calls with a normal cordless phone. The contact list in the phone replicates the contact list in the Skype application that runs on your computer. So, as with a normal phone, you select a contact, hit the call’ button and make your call. Dead easy.

Not only that:

[] The Handset supports SkypeOut dialing as well as your Skype contact list. It rings when you have a Skype or SkypeIn call coming in, and shows the caller’s ID on the screen. The Handset also supports call waiting and Skype’s optional Voicemail service. When you’re on a call, you can hit the Mute button for privacy, or use the speakerphone function to let everyone join in. You can even use the phone as an intercom – each Base Station supports up to four Handsets.

This phone is also sold here in The Netherlands, but the price is quite a bit more than in the US – for instance, Dixons has it on sale for 140 ($167) versus $130 in the US ($140 including California sales tax).

The only negative was that, after buying it, I discovered that the power supply for the charging unit was US voltage only. You would have thought that it would have been universal to work in any country. But a $10 purchase at Fry’s got me a step-down voltage converter which works fine. Adding that purchase, the total cost is still less than if I had bought the phone here.

Very neat.

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Neville Hobson is the author of the popular NevilleHobson.com blog which focuses on business communication and technology.

Neville is currentlly the VP of New Marketing at Crayon. Visit Neville Hobson’s blog: NevilleHobson.com.