Many new internet to telephone services have been quickly popping up. There are many alternatives to skype. Two in particular, http://www.internetcalls.com/ and http://www.voipstunt.com/ offer free calling to most major landline phones in the world. The only disadvantage, you are only limited to five minutes per call. However, 5 minutes is usually enough time for a short chat. You can also buy calling credit from them, when your account has a positive balance you are given around 300 Minutes per week of free calling time.