Alpha Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 In my recent post on a free 411 directory assistance service I stated that in theory you could use SkypeOut to dial 800-FREE411 and then have 800-FREE411 connect your call free of charge, but you'd still use up your SkypeOut minutes. I wrote: Too bad Skype doesn't charge less per minute for (toll free) 800 numbers - if they did then you could save money by always dialing though Free411.com's service. Of course, that wouldn't be very nice to Free411.com since they pay for the call. (when you dial their 800 number and they connect the call) I thought about checking Skype's website to see if they did indeed discount 800 numbers, but I was too busy to check and I figured one of my blog readers would "catch me" if I was wrong. Well, Rick Hultz, a prolific commenter on my blog, did just that. He points out that Skype DOES offer discounted 800 number dialing. In fact, nevermind "discounted", Skype offers FREE toll-free number dialing for France, Poland, the UK, and the U.S. So if you want to make FREE SkypeOut calls to any toll-free number in the U.S., simply dial 800-FREE411 (800-373-3411) from your Skype client and then tell the speech recognition directory assistance the city/town of the person/business you are trying to reach and then it will connect the call for you - FREE of charge! I just tested it from my Skype client and it works - I still have the same number of SkypeOut minutes. Of course this hack only works if the person you are dialing is in the directory (not unpublished number). And it isn't very nice to make Free411.com to pay for terminating your call, but hey they are ad supported (you have to listen to an ad before the call is connected), so maybe they don't mind?Source: http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/sk...ialing-hack.asp This is simply awesome and I have heard from many people that it is real. The article reminds me of the start of Net2Phone where all local calls were free from the PC. I'm glad to see another form of it back alive. You can also use 1-800-FREE411 on any phone without wasting your time looking through the yellow pages or try to look online. People just have to understand; free is the way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solidius23 Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 have u tried it out yet? since someone asked me, i think this would be awesome as long as u have a decent mic setup. when the first pc to phone apps came out they sounded like crap. Maybe this will be a turn around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Posted October 16, 2005 Author Share Posted October 16, 2005 have u tried it out yet? since someone asked me, i think this would be awesome as long as u have a decent mic setup. when the first pc to phone apps came out they sounded like crap. Maybe this will be a turn around.We're talking about Skype here. Skype is the leading PC to Phone company in the world. If this has bad quality (doubt it), nothing is better. Deal with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suvo Posted October 17, 2005 Share Posted October 17, 2005 God... My mum spent $100 bucks on skype. So that she could speak to friends that are overseas. Wow I think i might start to do this. Thanks gamecop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anon Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 WARNING 800-FREE411 Will not connect you to phone destination! They will only give you the number. I tried to get them to connect to my phone destination and 800-FREE411 Refused to connect me. I have tried multiple times and still they will not connect. This is another 411 that refuses to let it's customers to connect to their phone destination. They do not care about their customers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackKnight Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Your warning comes 2 and half years too late. Topic closed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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