Internet Telephone
You can use your computer to make free long distance phone calls to anyone in the world. The technology that allows this is called voice over IP or VOIP. What happens is that the sound from the phone is convereted to an electronic signal that is digitized and then sent by the computer over the Internet network connection. The information is sent to another computer that then changes it back to sound again and the person you called can hear your voice. Skype is one example of free software that allows you to use VOIP on your computer.

You can use your own computer, but some people use a service or hardware from a dedicated provider like Vonage. With this service, you pay each month and get a small electronic box that you plug your phone into. While you may wonder why you would pay for this service, the answer is that you get many extra services and features, and can make callswhen your computer is turned off. The really cool thing about this service is that you can unplug your VOIP service in your home, go to another country, plug into the Internet and your phone will still work just like it did in your home. Yes, your phone has the same number it did and is now completely portable!