Ad-supported international calls for Skype

Talkster, a company that provides free ad-subsidized international calling, can now be used with Skypeout, which already enables Skype users to pay for calls to landlines as they go.

VoIP in Europe has been popular for several years, as it levels the formerly prohibitive costs of international dialing. Because of this, consumers currently have a wide selection of VoIP service providers, ranging from the now-classic desktop client, to mobile handset solutions in Wi-Fi equipped devices.

Talkster is a free service that allows its users to dial into a central VoIP service and connect to international callers after listening to a 10-second ad. Today, the company has announced that Skype and Skype Unlimited subscribers can utilize Talkster.

Users can connect to almost 35 countries through Talkster, which includes Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, and US.

Unfortunately, the Talkster system is extremely unwieldy, requiring both users to dial into a local number to communicate via VoIP. This means a first-time call requires four or five steps before the ad even can begin to roll.

The system is not without its advantages, though. Since callers on both ends must dial in, it actually makes the service quite conducive to conferencing. Talkster allows up to five callers to dial into the same number for free, subject to the same commercial "pre-roll" before the actual talking can begin.