The mantra at the Silicon Valley for Obama organization in Palo Alto, Calif., is: "Don't hide behind e-mail. Pick up the phone and call."

And Roger Hu, a memory chip designer, who helped start the group last August and is now an delegate for Barack Obama to the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August, said Skype calls have become the backbone of the operation.

Hu began test-driving Skype to reach out to Iowa Republicans in January. He discovered that volunteers, techies and non-techies alike, found Skype was easy to use and very reliable. "It's remarkable how quickly people pick it up," he said.

Writing in the June issue of Atlantic Monthly Joshua Green described the power of Skype:

"Soon after I arrived, everyone gathered around a speakerphone, and Obama himself, between votes on the Senate floor, gave a brief hortatory speech telling volunteers to call wavering Edwards delegates in Iowa before the county conventions that Saturday (they took place two months after the presidential caucuses). Afterward, people headed off to rows of computers, put on telephone headsets, and began punching up phone numbers on the Web site, ringing a desk bell after every successful call. The next day, Obama gained nine delegates, including a Clinton delegate."

Hu said the system works particularly well with the Firefox browser on PCs, using a Skype plug-in to highlight phone numbers on a list. Volunteers just click on the numbers to make calls. He said his group obtained special highlighting software from a third-party to click-and-dial on Linux and Mac machines.

He noted: "We also don't have to deal with the overhead of inputting the data back into the system, which during a Presidential election cycle is mission critical."

He estimates that that the system saves 10 to 15 minutes per hour compared with the original method of finger dialing from a paper list. Hu said the time is saved is not only from dialing but having to invest the time to do the data entry work.

"Skype increases our productivity," said Hu.

He said Skype also saves money for Silicon Valley for Obama. The group has a bank of 18 computers with headsets and SkypePro accounts.

Hu said the organization, which pays its own way, each month spends $54 for 18 Skype subscriptions plus $55 a month for DSL service. So it comes to just over $100.

In contrast, Hu said using AT&T long-distance cost the organization $2,000 to $3,000 per month.

He said other Obama operations have taken notice and are adopting Skype. "The Democratic Party has been asking us how we implemented the technology."

Could the "red telephone" used for those 3 A.M. emergencies be a Skype phone in an Obama Administration? Stay tuned.