I finally had to get a US based phone number and since I already use Skype, I decided to get a Skype phone number. I have not been disappointed.
After a month of using it, I can totally tell you that this is the best thing ever.
Contacts in the US can call my US number and it rings on my phone here in Taiwan. They have no cost to call and I have no cost to receive their calls.
Contacts in the US can text me and I can receive them on my phone with no cost to me.
So, what’s the gag? Where are the hidden fees? Well, there are fees and except for the monthly fixed cost for the phone number at $6.50 USD / month, I’m only charged when I send a text message or when I initiate a phone call. However, the cost is very minimal and a token balance of $10.00 USD loaded on my account lasts me quite some time. It’s cheaper for me to call landlines in the US and a little bit more expensive to call mobile numbers, but not a huge difference.
Also, this US number is only important for my banking and utility companies, so they can send me verification text messages and such. The only people who use my US Skype phone number are people who call me from their landlines or from their Android phones. Since I have an Iphone and any of my contacts who also have an Iphone, we can easily send text messages back and forth through the Apple Imessage service for free and we can also use FaceTime video or just voice for free as well.
Anyway, thought I’d give all an update as to how it’s worked out or not worked out.
So far, I’ve encountered zero negative aspects.
Cheers.
Here’s where I first wrote about needing to get a US number.