Voice On the Web’s Subscription Calling Plan page has been updated. Also Skype is offering a 25% discount on Skype Calling Plans if purchased prior to May 6, 2009.

Earlier this week Skype announced the addition of an “Unlimited Country” plan to the three plans available to Skype users in the U.S. and Canada.  At the same time Skype announced the addition of seven countries to their Calling Plan Subscriptions program which now supports 42 countries. Learning of these changes triggered a review of Skype’s Calling Plans.

One of the goals of Voice On The Web is to provide longer term reference information about Skype and other IP-based communications services. This overall reference guide is accessed via the links in the light green navigation bar above or further down the first sidebar on the right. (Improving this navigation is one of the goals for the next upgrade to Voice On The Web.) Many of these pages were written a year ago and are in the course of being updated to reflect current offerings and policies.

As a result of Skype’s announcement referenced above I have reviewed and updated the Skype Calling Plans page as there have been several changes since Skype Calling Plans were first announced a year ago:

• Six countries – India, South Africa, Argentina, Bulgaria, Columbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Thailand have been added to the various Skype Calling Plans worldwide
• An “Unlimited Country” plan has been added for Skype users in North America, providing a subscription option for those who want to call U.S. and Canadian numbers plus one additional country selected from the other 42 countries participating in the Skype Calling Plans.
• Rates for Skype “”Unlimited World” subscriptions, which now provide unlimited calling to 44 countries worldwide (up from 36), have increased to US$12.95 per month from US$9.95 per month
• A 25% discount applies to these plans if purchased prior to May 6, 2006. Click here to extend your current subscription at these discounted rates during the discount’s availability.
• Mexico remains a special case. Plans provide for unlimited calling to landlines Mexico City, Guadlajara and Monterrey. Discounted rates (which vary by plan) apply to calls outside these three cities and calls to mobile phones.
• There are unique plans for calling to Brazil, India and South Africa. None of these countries are included in any basic “Unlimited World” plan.
• Skype has modified their Fair Usage policy to a maximum of 50 numbers per day, six hours of calling per day and use by one Skype account only per subscription. All this in addition to the previous 10,000 minutes per month. Don Kennedy has written a utility, Subscription Monitor for Skype, that provides an real time accounting of your subscription status so that you know when time’s up.
• The 2 million Skype users who downloaded and installed Skype for iPhone can take advantage of these plans from any WiFi hotspot supported by the iPhone (not available to Canadians, argh!!)

Of course the most effective way to reduce SkypeOut and subscription usage is to have your contacts sign up for Skype. Skype-to-Skype voice and video calling is at the best price of all – Free!

Two weeks ago, in a post “Skype Modifies Fair Usage Policy”, I listed the modified terms and caps on usage for a Skype Calling Plan subscription, comprising both daily and monthly caps. But how do you know where you stand at any given point in time?

“UberOverLord” Don Kennedy’s Subscription Monitor for Skype is a stand alone client that can give you real time information including how many numbers you have called in a day (max = 50), how many minutes of SkypeOut calling you have spent in a day (max = 360) and how many minutes you have spent on SkypeOut calls in the current month (max = 10,000).

At his website “SaveOnPhoneServices.com” Don gives a lengthy detailed description including who needs a subscription monitor:

Your Skype call history stored on your Windows system ONLY reflects the calls you made on that individual Windows system.

Example: If you use Skype on more than one computer, in your home, at work, at friends homes, you can’t get the total call history from those systems, if you have used more than one system during that day or that month.

If you use call transfer, you cannot get any information on the length of any transferred call, even from the system that transferred the call.

Of course you can go view your call history by logging on at the Skype web site and viewing your call history, but you had better have a pen and paper, and a good calculator, because:

Both Daily and Monthly Subscription Limits are based on GMT 0. Meaning, for example, If you live in Saint Paul, MN, where it is GMT -6 hours, the old day ends and the new day starts at 18:00 or 06:00PM

Those video display icons to the right of each number are green/yellow/red when you are <90%, hit 95% and exceed 96% respectively. You can download it here. A nifty utility for those who are spending a fair bit of time making SkypeOut calls, whether for personal or business use.

Update: Daily totals are reset at midnight GMT=0; as a result Don has added a line that indicates the local time at which your daily totals are reset as shown at the left. (With the Daylight Saving time change last night I am in GMT-4.)

When Skype’s Unlimited Calling Plans were modified last May, the only “Fair Usage” limitation was 10,000 minutes per month on any of the plans. Recently my attention was drawn to a modified Fair Usage policy. Primarily it would appear that the new Fair Usage policy would apply to businesses using SkypeOut for customer service and customer acquisition activities.

The new policy adds:

• calling to a maximum of 50 numbers per day
• maximum six (6) hours of SkypeOut calling per day
• each subscription is to be used by one person only and not to be shared with any other user (whether by a PBX, call center, computer or any other means).

On considering these further:

• a user can make repeated calls to a single number without impacting the “50 numbers per day” limitation
• each employee using call center or PBX services, such as OnState’s Call Center or Virtual PBX requires a separate Skype calling plan subscription for outbound calling
• the six hour per day limitation could build up quickly on a Skype multi-party call with multiple participants connected via SkypeOut
• these limitations only impact Skype services where third party termination charges are involved – all Skype-to-Skype calling remains free
• they would not appear to affect services such as Skype Trunking via a Vosky Exchange where they talk only about “call Skype users for free” and “low cost SkypeOut rates as low as 2.2 cents per minute to most landlines worldwide”

Upon exceeding any of these limits, normal SkypeOut rates and connection fees will apply for additional minutes, Of course this requires that you have Skype credits available; otherwise you may find a call cut off in the middle of a heavy conversation.

Two observations:

• When business is generating revenue or providing support via Skype’s outbound services, one should expect some cost. Skype continues to provide competitive rates for reliable, robust business calling.
• New Skype management is obviously reviewing all its business activities with a view to ensuring that consumer users can continue to benefit from the low cost of services available via Skype Calling Plans while those who are incurring heavy termination fees (and other costs) will support the cost of such usage levels.

Hat tip to participants in the Skype 4.x Discussion Public Chat for bringing this to my attention.

Update: UberOverLord developer Don Kennedy has published “Subscription Monitor for Skype” to track your Skype subscription usage in real time.

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