With Skype we can receive calls from anyone who has an account on the service, without paying any type of rate (just being connected to the Internet). But if we also wanted to receive calls from landlines or classic mobile numbers, even from contacts who do not have Skype or do not use it "> Use Skype as a phone to call and receive
The only requirement is to have a Skype account and install it on the PC or on any mobile device (smartphone or tablet).
The number you will be assigned is temporary, but it can also be purchased outright in order to continue receiving classic calls on Skype.
1) Skype number request
In order to get our Skype phone number to be called on the PC, let's go to the page indicated here -> Buy a Skype number .
In the screen that appears we will be asked to choose the country in which our number will be created.
Unfortunately there is no Italy, but this is not a problem: in fact the number that will be assigned to you is also compatible with Italian calls, just provide it to those who request it to be able to receive calls on Skype (better still than our interlocutor check carefully if there are costs for international calls, so as to avoid future problems).
Once we have chosen the country for the number we are creating (we recommend choosing United Kingdom ), we click Continue to open the window for paying the fare.
The number is offered at € 6.95 / month, but we can also pay with a rate every 3 months or every year, according to our needs.
After choosing the rate, click on Continue, enter the preferred payment method and end the procedure.
At the end we will have our Skype phone number assigned to our account: we can provide it to anyone who wants to contact us without using Skype.
Calls will be handled by the program or by the Skype app: we will receive them as if we were free calls from other Skype accounts.
If we don't want to pay anything, we can also cancel the order placed: the number assigned by Skype is temporary, so it will expire after a few minutes.
In this way we can also receive free calls on Skype, but we will have to request a new temporary Skype phone number whenever necessary.
2) How to make calls to landline numbers
In addition to receiving calls, we also want to make calls to landlines and mobile phones "> Skype subscriptions.
We will be able to choose subscriptions at very affordable prices: for example, by choosing the Italy rate we will have unlimited calls to fixed numbers for only € 3.66 per month, with the possibility of trying the rate for free for a month.
In addition to the Italy rate, we can choose one of the other rates available for other countries, which are really convenient if we have to contact contacts abroad for work without necessarily using Skype accounts.
If, on the other hand, we need a complete tariff to call fixed numbers and mobile numbers in any part of the world, we can choose the tariff identified as Mondo, which at € 15.86 per month, we can call without limit all the numbers we want without worrying about costs and duration.
3) Occasionally call classic phone numbers
We are looking for a cheaper rate without paying a monthly subscription "> Buy Skype Credit.
We choose the amount between € 10 and € 25, then click on Continue and proceed with the payment details, so we can top up the Skype account and proceed with occasional calls to landlines or mobile phone numbers all over the world (not just Italian numbers).
4) Conclusions
The phone number offered by Skype can be a very useful tool in the workplace: we can get a phone number that can be reached anywhere in the world and also pay to get really affordable rates for calling numbers abroad (outside the European Union ).
In the home environment it may be difficult to find a utility for these functions, unless we have relatives who live in distant countries and the normal rates for international calls are not comparable to the good rates offered by Skype.
If we are looking for other apps to make free calls from our smartphone, we recommend you read our guide -> Best apps to make free calls (Android and iPhone) .
We want to make calls from the PC to mobile phones, we can find many other valid alternatives by reading our dedicated guide, available here -> Call for free in VOIP from the internet, from PC to phone .
If instead we prefer to use WhatsApp or Facebook to make free calls, we can instead read the dedicated guides available here -> Use Whatsapp to make free calls (iPhone, Android, Windows) and Call for free with Facebook Messenger from Android and iPhone .
