SWriverstone Posted May 24, 2005 Report Share Posted May 24, 2005 Can't remember if this has been discussed before...but I just tried out the free Internet telephony app called Skype. I've heard of it for a while but never tried it. In short, it's AWESOME. My boss lives and works in Denmark. We just had an hour-long conversation on Skype, and the quality blew me away---better than telephone quality audio, and in a 1-hour conversation across the Atlantic, there was not a single glitch in the audio...something I find amazing! (Granted, I wasn't editing video, playing a DVD, and ripping audio CDs at the same time on my PC...that might cause a problem...) So check it out---it's free. For a small fee, they even offer voicemail, and a service called "Skype Out" lets you dial "real" phone numbers for .02/minute. Very cool. (No, I'm not working for them---just very appreciative of what a great tool it is!) Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest johann Posted May 24, 2005 Report Share Posted May 24, 2005 http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3666&highlight=skype http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4986&highlight=skype http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5247&highlight=skype yup, there are a few threads on skype. definatly cool... I'm sticking to vonage now though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Randy S. Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 skype rocks! My partner is in India right now and we spoke for 1/2 hour this morning. Tomorrow he'll be in Singapore and we'll do the same. He's using Skype Out and Skype In (which includes the voice mail feature) to make all his calls. He even has his cell phone forward to his Skype in number so he can get calls if he's on line when someone calls his cell. Skype Out is awesome if you call overseas to a land line (skype to skype only works if the other person actually has skype and is online - like IM). At work we also use it for conference calls with a contractor who works for us from the UK and with a company in India that does some work for us. Yahoo just announced that they are going to roll out a similar capability as part of their Instant Messenger service. Also, I'm certain we'll see something along these lines from Google before long (in fact, looking into that is probably going to part of my next project). VOIP is general is great (Vonage is a different animal altogether for now). We'll probably post something about VOIP and Skype in particular soon. We touched on it back in January when we wrote about the new Residential Gateway On Our Website - Tek Elements TekFile. The traditional Telcos have no idea what to do about this stuff. Which is great for consultants like us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skategoat Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 I have SkypeOut and it blows. Voice quality when calling regular phones is often very bad with a lot of echo. But here's the worst part - DTMF tones do not work. I have tried dozens of times. When I hit an automated attendant, I press the keys on my Skype keypad and it's like nothing happened. I complained to Skype and I got a answer that amounted to "sorry, that's the way it is". I really wanted Skype to work out but it doesn't do it for me. I'm going to try Vonage next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest atamme Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 My brother tried to use skype as his primary telephone provider, it worked great when calling other skype users but when he called me on my regualr line from skype we always had a bit of trouble hearing, echos, delay etc... same when i called him from a landline to his skype line. I also use skype for the IM feature, which is nice b/c it offers more protection than AOl etc... So anyway he's switching to vonage or some other VoIP provider and is just going to set up his own PBX. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWriverstone Posted May 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 My first experience, one-Skype-user-to-another, was outstanding: a 1-hour call across the Atlantic without a glitch. Today, though, was a different story... Two colleagues (one in Denmark, the other in Baltimore) and I (in West Virginia) tried a 3-person conference call---bad scene. Lots of distorted audio. pops, etc. Not nearly as good as my first 2-caller experience. This may have been due to the lack of headsets/boom mics on the other two guys (hence a bit of feedback on their end). Also, toward the end of our attempt at a call (around 4pm EDT) Skype just fell down completely, and I totally lost my colleague in Denmark. Bottom line so far? It's okay, but I haven't found a product yet that can truly compete with the reliability of landline phones (or even cellular). Scott PS - I don't think any of these solutions will ever be completely reliable until some sort of guaranteed bandwidth is made available (doubtful for free). Otherwise, any of these systems are subject to the unpredictability of Internet bottlenecks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skategoat Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 Because you are using the Internet, it is a total crapshoot as to the number of hops and the quality of connection. There is no chance I would use it as a primary business tool. "Oh sorry Mr. Customer, my son must playing Call of Duty on the other computer. Can I call you back?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest johann Posted May 26, 2005 Report Share Posted May 26, 2005 Or you could always jump through a few hoops and get on Internet2. <drool> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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