Anyone who’s ever been lucky enough to go to another country and fall in love with someone there probably has a pretty thorough working knowledge of Skype.  Their interface is a pretty ubiquitous sound in common rooms in hostels everywhere, and it’s pretty fantastic for anyone familiar with how it works.  Our parents used to talk about how one day it will be possible to make free phone calls with your computer, and that day did come.  It still seems confusing to some people, but not so confusing that at any given time, there can be 12-16 million people online with it.  Free phone calls anywhere in the world sounds too good to be true, but it is true, which begs the question, how do they earn their revenue?

The company is in very good shape financially, so there are obviously some ways that it’s generating income.  For those who aren’t yet familiar with it, Skype is a program on your computer that acts, essentially, as a phone line.  You can call other Skype users, and if they’re online on their computers, you can talk over your computer’s microphone, and even video chat if your camera is enabled.  The video can sometimes go a little bit weird, but never for very long, and the sound is really excellent.  This is all free, but there are services they offer that cost more.  If you want to use Skype to leave text messages, or voice mails, to people on their cell phones, then there is a fee connected.

Most people at this point mumble an “Aha!” to themselves, figuring that’s the answer.  However, the fee is very minimal.  You can buy Skype credit online, and through this you can use Skypeout to do the magic with the cell phones.  The rates here are ridiculously cheap, just a few cents per minute, and there really isn’t anything they offer that is overprices.  They make their money, for now, on the Skypeout revenue, which seems small, but when you have millions of users, it can become very substantial very quickly.  There is also another version coming out soon, called Skype plus, which does have subscription fees attached.  Again, the fee is nominal, but it should fly very well with enough users opting in.  It’s extremely likely that they will, too, because the service is very good, and customer service is also already establishing itself.  The future is bright.