Use Google Voice for your mobile phone and enjoy these great features:

One number – Present your Google number as your Caller ID on outgoing mobile calls. Keep your mobile number private & get people used to your Google number.

Simple calling – Dial directly from your phone’s contacts, speed dial, call log or keypad, and GVdialer will automatically get you connected using Google Voice. When GVdialer is installed, just dial and GVdialer takes care of the rest.

Google Voice access – get instant access to your Google Voice features like Voice mail, Inbox, GOOG-411

Customizable – GVdialer gives you the flexibility to configure when GV would be use – e.g. all calls, international calls, or decide on each and every call

more at: http://www.gvdialer.com

*** GVdialer is not a Google™ service

Google Voice is great. Skype provides international call forwarding, but not the same SMS and multi-phone management tools. I gotta see if it works with international SMS… maybe I can adjust my system!

As far as your skype question goes:

Etisalat (UAE telco) incoming (even if international) is free. So my skype forwards to that number. I pay for the skype call. This is done as a convenience to those calling from the US for business purposes. Also great in case my grandparents want to chat. That way they don’t have to pay long distance fees… although I taught them how to use Skype recently

I use a grandcentral (google voice) number, which forwards to any SIP device (any where in the world) for free. With a Linksys PAP2T voip adaptor, people in the U.S. can reach my Panama house for free, no cost to them (assuming they can reach my U.S. google voice number for free), and no cost to me. Call my google voice number and my local landline phones ring.

With google voice’s new international forwarding, I can also have my local (aka non-U.S.) mobile number called, for relatively cheap rates. Call my U.S. google voice number and my local mobile number rings at google’s cheap international dialing rates. If I’m in a country with free-incoming mobile calls, it’s no air time.

Also with google voice, I can make international calls at google rates using my local minutes (no need to pay the cell phone provider’s international rates).

Summary: google voice provides some useful capabilities. I also enjoy the SIP nature of google voice’s offering, as opposed to skype’s proprietary VOIP architecture.

Yeah roaming gets out of hand very quickly. 1800 dihrams ($490 US) is pricey…. if you are a jet-setting continent hopper my system definitely helps out with the telco bill.

I forgot to mention that if you are on the go in the US, iskoot is a great program that lets you make international Skype calls from your cellphone using your local minutes.