Skype for Android Questions

[Raditude#AC]

Hey everyone, just joined up. I'm a current Blackberry Storm user from CrackBerry. My new every two is almost up, and I'm looking into getting a Motorola Droid series phone from Verizon.

Lately, my bill has been outrageous. I have 300 minutes for $34.99 plus the $29.99 unlimited data which comes to $65 a month. I recently started researching Skype, and know it's available for phones now. I'm trying to find information but Google isn't being my friend at the moment.

1. I've read that I can have 10,000 nationwide minutes for $2.99 a month for outgoing, but can't find a price for incoming from land/mobile numbers. Does anyone have this info?

2. Can you call and receive calls from landlines and mobile numbers from Skype on the Android phone? I've read reports saying you can only call to other Skype users from Skype Mobile.

3. Does Skype have full Bluetooth headset support on Android? I want to be able to answer, hangup, hear "Call from John Doe" or "Call from 555-555-5555" through the headset and also voice dial.

4. If I were to implement this, I would turn off my Verizon minute plan, only keeping data. Would I be able to port my Verizon number to Skype for receiving and dialing calls?

5. If phone services are blocked and turned off from Verizon, will I still be able to call 911?

6. Also I read that you can't connect to Skype for Android over Wifi, has that been changed yet?

Thank you for your time.

 

[Paladin]

I know you said you are on Verizon but think about Sprint.

I cannot speak about Skype but Sprint has free mobile to mobile calling. So I can call any cell phone on any carrier in the US totally free. I only use my min (I get 450) if I call a land line and even those are only used when it is M-F from 7am to 7pm, otherwise they are also free.

I have not had to worry about my min at all anymore since Sprint started that! It is great!

 

[Raditude#AC]

I'm not worried about my minutes. I rarely go over the allotted time. I just don't want to pay $35 for only minutes and $30 for data on top, when I can pay much less.

Besides, Sprint has lousy signal in our town. Sprint users roam in our local WalMart. AT&T and T-Moblie is not much better here.

 

[ottscay]

Android supports Skype just fine, but VZW does not. Luckily there is a non-broken version called "Google Voice". I understand not wanting to change from your preferred app, but I'd highly recommend looking into it if you're staying on Verizon (like I am).

 

[Raditude#AC]

I just tried signing up for Google Voice. It says I need to already have a number that it forwards to. Currently my phone is shut off for lack of payment, so I can't continue with setup.

Can it work without forwarding to another number?

 

[SeeK]

I'd use Nimbuzz instead, much better than the featureless standard Skype app. I've got a very basic contract at $10 and then another $10 for 10GB of data/month at 6 Mbit/s. 90% of my calls are through Nimbuzz's Skype module, so I pretty much never go over the $10 limit on my contract.

 

[Raditude#AC]

So with Nimbuzz can I call mobile phones and landlines? What I want to do is VOIP on WiFi or a data connection only. I don't want to use any voice minutes.

 

[sasha]

To my knowledge Verizon phones who have a voice and data plan will be able to use Skype. That will let them call or instant-message other Skype users for free or call regular phone numbers outside the United States for a fee paid to Skype. These calls would go over Verizon's network and would not use up minutes on a cell phone plan.

Minutes would be deducted, however, to use Skype to call regular phone numbers in the U.S.

 

[Raditude#AC]

I don't have anyone to call outside of the US. Does any of the other products use VOIP without the need for a voice plan?

 

[sasha]

I actually use skype on my Ipod Touch so far I've only made skype to skype calls but it works great.