What is…Skype?
You may have heard people say “Skype me” or “Are you on Skype?” and wondered what on earth that’s all about. Skype is the name of a company that provides a means for you to have voice conversations over the internet, using VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol - a technology that enables voice conversations to be transmitted over a data network using Internet Protocol). There are other companies that offer this service but Skype seems to have become one of the most well-known and well-used - particularly by solo professionals.
So what’s the big deal about Skype? Why not just use the good old-fashioned telephone?
Free voice calls over the internet
Skype - and other VOIP providers - offer free voice calls to other Skype users via your computer: the call is made from your computer and you need microphone and speakers plugged into your computer to use this service. You can also buy telephones that plug into your computer so you can maintain the familiar telephone interface and experience that you’re used to.
Low cost international telephone calls
The advantage of Skype, I think, is that you can also make cheap calls to landlines all over the world, using SkypeOut. You pay in some money to your SkypeOut account via your credit card and as you make calls, they take money out of your kitty and you will need to top it up from time to time. Calls to UK and USA landlines are currently 0.014p a minute - as are calls to Malaysia (where my parents live).
Call forwarding and voicemail for incoming calls
You can also use SkypeIn to get a regular telephone number which you can answer via your PC or forward to any other number eg your home or office landline or your mobile - and this comes with voicemail. You pay a sign up fee for this service and then pay for the cost of the forwarded call on a per minute basis as if it were a SkypeOut call. So for a small business or solo professional, this can be a useful feature if you want your clients to remember only one telephone number for you wherever you are. Having checked out other call-forwarding services in the UK, my view is that this is so far the most cost-effective for this kind of service.
Conference Calls
You can arrange conference calls with a number of callers - whether other Skype users or via landlines/ mobiles - using the control panel to initiate calls via your PC. This is handy for small businesses or solo professionals - but the sound quality is unfortunately not brilliant the more people you have on the call.
Text messaging
If you have SkypeOut credit, you can also use it to send text messages to any mobile phone anywhere in the world - I love this service because I can type my text message using your PC keyboard rather than fiddling with my mobile phone keys!
Chat
It’s also handy for text chatting with other Skype users - which is free as that is entirely handled over the internet, without interfacing with phones.
Practicalities
You will need a PC or laptop, of course. You will need a broadband connection - dial up connections are too slow for VOIP calls. You will need to go to the Skype website at www.skype.com and download the telephone software onto your PC or laptop - it’s an easy process and it’s free.
Even if your PC/ laptop comes with a built-in mike and speakers, it’s a good idea to get a headset mike - the sound quality deteriorates if you are using your speakers and mike on loudspeaker mode (due to feedback and echo from the loudspeaker mode). You can get headsets from around £15 in the UK, marked as Skype compatible.
You will need to download the Skype software onto your PC and/ or laptop (it’s free) and sign up to a Skype account online. Once you have the software, you can use it to access any number of accounts you / your family/ business partner may sign up on Skype - so each person can manage their own calls, rather like having separate online email accounts.
On your laptop, you can sign in to your Skype account anywhere you are in the world, via a hardwire connection or wi-fi. The same call rates as shown on their main website will apply - unlike using your mobile phone abroad, where call rates abroad are very high.
If you have a webcam, you can also make video calls - but note the issue with sound quality if your webcam works on a loudspeaker mode.
Overall View
The annoying thing about VOIP services is that you can only take advantage of free calls, generally, with other users on the same provider. Skype seems to have the advantage in that many people have signed up to it so it’s more likely that your friends, colleagues and business associates are also on Skype and you won’t have to sign up to loads of different providers in order to connect for free with different contacts.
The downside of Skype is that the quality of their voice service is sometimes unreliable - with echoing and intermittent sound break-up, especially on conference calls. So I wouldn’t rely on it entirely for all your business communication needs but it’s handy to have as a second line, for short conference calls and for use on your laptop if you travel a lot.
Overall, I use Skype regularly because I like the integrated PC and phone and messaging service - and also the cheap call rates, and many of my professional contacts as well as my friends and family use Skype.
Further resources:
Skype isn’t the only VOIP provider - you can check out other VOIP Providers (UK) here.
Posted by Yang-May Ooi on Thursday, April 26th, 2007 at 1:00am
