How To Create Free Conference Calls On Skype 4.0

         So Easy a 6-Year-Old Could Do It!

0.

Download Skype 4.0 or upgrade your Skype to 4.0:

     Go to http://www.skype.com and click "Download"
OR:
     INSIDE your older Skype program on your computer, click the drop-down menu called "Help," then select "Check for Upgrades." 
     Choose to either download or upgrade.
1.

Assemble your contacts in your contact list:

     To put a person in your contact list, click on “New” then “New Contact,” and enter their information:
              
                  Figure 1

     Make sure all contacts to be included in the group conversation appear in your contact list before starting the call.
2.

Before you include a Skype person in your conference call, you will need to have them approve your connection with them.

      When you added a contact (1., above) you saw the following screen:



      Enter your request for their contact details, in your own words. Do not send the canned message above. 
                Instead, tell them who you are and why they should approve you. Then click "Add Contact." 

      Once they have responded and said OK to connecting with you, you can invite them into group conversations. 
               You can, then, also see when they are online, and can see their photo (if they have uploaded one).

      If you will be including them on their land line or cell phone, this step is not necessary.

3.

When you are ready to start a conference call, click again on “New,” which appears above your contact list, (under the space for your photo). See Figure 1:

        
             Figure 1

4. Then click on “New Group Conversation” (Figure 1, above).
5.

For each person you want to invite, drag their name from your contact list into the blue box that says, "Drag contact that you want to add here" (Figure 2):

        
             Figure 2
6.

Their photo or some image will appear, with their name (Figure 3):

        
             Figure 3
7.

You are now ready to start a call.  Click once on the green button, “Call Group”, and everyone in your box is called (whether you are calling them on their skype, or on their land line, or on their cell phone - see note below):

         
            Figure 4  

  This icon appears where you usually see either the green “Call” button or the red “End Call” button.

           If the call gets messed up, just hang up using the "End Call" button: , 
                     then call again, or "Redial."
8. You will see the phone icons of the participants wiggle, as Skype rings either the phone or the Skype name of everyone you dragged onto the call panel. When they answer, you will see the phone icon hold still.  If they disconnect or get dropped, or if they're not on the call, you will see a green phone icon. A red phone icon means that the person is on the call, and you can disconnect them if you like.
9. You will see an undulating white border around the person currently talking.
10. If someone disconnects, you will see a green icon.
           A green icon means they are available to call and include in the call.
           A red icon means they are already on the call, but can be terminated by clicking the red icon.
11.

It's a good idea to name the group.  You do this by clicking on the text just abouve the call panel (just above where all the call participants are listed), and typing in the name you choose.

You can also save the entire "group" for future calls, so you don’t have to drag each participant individually to the call panel each time you have another call with that group. You can save the "group"/"conversation" to return to that group in future calls. Save the group by clicking on the icon for “Save Group in Contacts.” (See Figure 5, which appears in the far upper right corner of the conference call panel):

In Skype, if you pass your mouse over the left of the 3 icons below, you will see it identified as “Save Group in Contacts”

        
            Figure 5

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NOTES:

1. a. Unlimited calling from a Skype account to other skype accounts, world-wide, is FREE.
  b. Downloading or upgrading to the Skype 4.0 program is free.
  c. Beyond that, for $2.95 a month, or $30.00  A YEAR, we can make almost unlimited calls to land line and cell phones from the US to US and Canadan phones, at no further cost.
  d. This means we can make FREE conference calls with up to 24 people.  Skype-to-Skype, we can do this free, world wide, as long and often as we want.  We can do the same thing, plus include land line phones in our conference calls, with no additional cost to us, if one person (the host of the call) has the $30 subscription.
2.   To be able to make conference calls using the above instructions, Skpye 4.0 or higher is needed (on a PC -- we invite anyone on a Mac to create comparable instructions).  Skype can be downloaded, or upgraded, at no cost.  Go to www.skype.com. To buy Skype credit for use in calling land lines and cell phones, click on: http://www.dpbolvw.net/click-3428962-10576115.
3.   We are currently limited to 24 people on a call at one time; but as the software is upgraded, we will perhaps be able to include larger numbers of people.
4.   To exchange details with a person, right-click on either their picture during a conference call, or their name in your own contact list.