As of April 13, 2008, you should have the ability to post your Skype address on your personal profile if you so choose. Skype is a Voice-Over-Internet-Protocol (VOIP) service. That is a fancy way to say that you can talk over the internet just like a phone call. All you need is the free Skype software and a headset (microphone and headphones). More information is available at skype.com. 

To set this in your personal profile, you can follow these steps.

1. Log in

2. Click the MY ACCOUNT menu item on the top, then the SETTINGS tab beneath that

3. There should be 5 links on the SETTINGS page. Click the "Profile Settings" link.

4. In your "Profile Settings" page, there should be a field called "Skype". You can fill that in with your Skype address. 

5. Click the "Save Profile Settings" button at the bottom of the page. Then an appropriate Skype icon should show up under your personal page in the MY DETAILS area on the left. 

Note that the status of your Skype presence that is shown on this site is determined by a setting in your Skype setup itself. Under your Preferences->Privacy (Mac) or Tools->Privacy (Windows) you can select the option to "Allow my status to be shown on the web" if you want to have the button on this site show your online status. Otherwise the button will say "I'm not telling". More information about setting this choice is available on the Skype web site. 

Using Skype has the potential to make online meetings more like face-to-face meetings since people can hear each other talking in real time. The free version of Skype allows you to have up to 5 total Skype callers in a conference call, which makes it a great size for a nice meeting. 

As usual, it is appreciated if you please post any feedback about your experiences either here in this forum or a blog. Also, please feel free to give a message to the admin about any problems that you encounter.