Internet Telephony works!

I have discovered an excellent way to save money on phone calls.
Skype is an internet phone system that allows account holders to talk to each other over the net...AND IT'S FREE.
All you need is a headset with a microphone connected to your PC's soundcard, a USB headset or a VoIP handset. Visit www.skype.com, sign up for a free account, download the software and you are in business. It even supports conference calls for up to five users.
The icing on the cake is that you can call "normal" phones via the "SkypeOut" service.
Just visit Skpe.com and buy SkypeOut credits available for 10 or 20 Euros.
Dial the number you require, complete with the international dialing prefix, e.g. +44 or 0044 for the UK, and use it like a normal phone.

For most of North America, Chile, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand, calls cost only 1.7 Eurocents per minute (around 1.1 pence or 2 US cents). Check for more details on the Skype website.
I would recommend buying a USB handset or headset if you want to make regular use of Skype. Otherwise, you may need to reconfigure the settings for sound on your PC every time you want to switch between using Skype and playing music. At around £40 for a good quality handset, it's money well spent if you use Skype regularly.

Sound quality may not always be quite as good as normal telephony, but I have found it more than adequate, especially over broadband.