By Charlie White, Mashable


Now you can assign Skype's local phone numbers for up to nine friends, making foreign phone numbers local for you.CAPTIONBy SkypeSkype just made it easier to save money on international calls. Users can now directly call any phone in the world from a cellphone or landline, and that phone will ring immediately, with no pesky voice-prompt hoops to jump through.

The Skype to Go service — which allows users to call other users via any phone — has been around since 2007, but this new capability makes it easier to use. Now, you can assign Skype's local phone numbers for up to nine of your far-flung friends, thereby making foreign phone numbers local for you. Then, according to Skype, you simply call that number as you would any other; no Internet connection required. As Skype puts it, "No more waiting around with voice prompts — the call just goes straight through."

The result? Low-priced, extreme long-distance calling that feels like a conventional phone call. And Skype prices are indeed low, with a subscription getting you per-minute rates for less than a penny.

Now if Skype could just reduce that distracting voice delay in its calls, occasional outages and sound quality issues, this would be a painless way to save lots of money on your overseas gabfests

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