I've come across several international members in this forum. SKYPE has been around for awhile so this is probably old news. But just in case, I'm posting. Ebay bought SKYPE and it's free to download the software so you can make phone calls from your computer. You'll need to by a 10 dollar headset with ear piece and microphone (or maybe your computer is already set up). Then you get your friends, especially those in other countries to also join. You can call most places in the free world from your computer to their computer for free. And if you need to call a land phone, calling from your computer to their land or cell phone is usually less expensive. I think the link is http://www.skype.com
It's especially good for multi-user calls. It also has the option of texting your message while talking in case someone can't understand good ole southern US english.