“Call With Skype” Service for Mac OSX

Update: “Call with iPhone” now available too.

I spend a lot of time on the phone these days, and am tired of copy/pasting phone numbers into Skype’s finicky little dial pad, so I hacked together a Service for OSX to dial them for me.

Download this zip file, unpack it, and drop the Call With Skype file into ~/Library/Services/ (note for anyone using an OSX version since Lion: the Library folder is hidden…you’ll need to use the command line or go to Finder > Go and press your Option key).

Once you’ve done that, you should be able to highlight a phone number within any application, and right click to Call With Skype:

It should work for international numbers too.

Also, a tip: if you have a bunch of Services installed, “Call With Skype” might get buried under a “Services >” submenu when you right-click. Most people don’t use Services at all…if you’re in that camp you can head to System Preferences > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts > Services to disable any that you’re not using. If you disable enough of them, the submenu will disappear.