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Skype has just rolled out Skype Prime, a service that will enable users to charge for skype voice and video calls. In their own words:

In short, it enables paid Skype-to-Skype voice and video calls. You can charge other people for calling you either a one-off fee or by the minute. Conversely, if you are the caller, you can call experts who charge for their services, and you can then pay the fee and access the expertise that the other call party provides.

Users will have the ability to set the fee they want to charge on a per-minute or per-hour basis. Skype will charge the caller via their Skype credit and will then make payments to consultants via paypal (a Skype sister company). Skype would bag 30% of this consultancy fees. This would be the first real integration of Skype into the existing eBay services, which certainly took a long time coming.

Ether, a startup which launched last year provides a similar service. The only difference being that it charges 15% as against Skype´s 30%. Skype however has a huge installed base and works across the borders.

Skype Prime is currently available for windows only, and both users need to download the latest version of Skype in order to use the service.