Ian from Atlanta Skyped me with a family problem. His Dad can't use Skype at work and his sister just started school in Scotland. How can they keep in touch? Without paying a fortune?

TO DAD FROM SCOTLAND: Ian, your Dad just needs to create a Skype account. He can do it from home. He'll need to put few dollars into SkypeOut and set forwarding to a local phone number (home/office/mobile) of your choosing. After setting it up, log out from Skype. When your sister Skypes him and since he's offline, the Skype network forwards her call to him. Costs: Dad just needs to pay the SkypeOut rate. Free to her.

The steps:

1. Install Skype on your home computer.
2. Create a Skype account for your Dad.
3. Prepay SkypeOut credits on your Dad's account.
4. Set call forwarding to a local phone.
5. Turn off Skype voicemail if you have it. You want to use your existing voicemail, not Skype's.
6. Add your Sister's Skype account to your buddy list.

TO SCOTLAND FROM DAD. Sis needs a SkypeIn number which she'll buy at Skype.com as part of her Skype account. She'll buy an Atlanta phone number, something local to your Dad so he doesn't have to pay long distance bills. When your Dad calls the local number, from any ordinary phone, it rings her on Skype wherever Sis is, even in Scotland.

The steps:

1. Install Skype on your Sister's computer in Scotland.
2. Create a Skype account for your Sister. (If she's already got one, that's fine.)
3. Buy a SkypeIn number using your Sister's Skype account. Pick an Atlanta area code near where your Dad works.
4. Call the number and see if she answers her Skype.
5. Get her a headset so her dormies (flat mates?) only hear her side of the call.

If either of you are using the Firefox browser, consider the FoxClocks extension. It helps you know what time it is in other places without doing International Time Zone maths.

Hope this helps. Anything else you can think of?