Skype - is it any good?

D

doogo

Registered User
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Anyone out there heard/used this service?

Are there any hidden costs ? It seems rather too easy ....
 
Use it in work to correspond with lads in London.

Great service. Completely free.

If you're talking about for phone and stuff then the details are outlined on the site but just skype to skype using a headset is great. Highly recommend it.
 
Saw it being used in a company one day. Pricing wise its free for PC to PC, I think you pay only if you want PC to phone.

The quality was amazing when I heard it, this guy was talking to a collegue in the US from Dublin and the quality was better than a normal phone. I mean it was near crystal clear. From what I saw and heard I would recommend it too, this kind of thing can only increase, I think at the moment there are not too many people aware of the quality you can get out of these products.
 
basically allows you to speak to someone else via the internet and 2 pc's. look it up on the web....

Like making a phone call via 2 PC's for free.
 
[broken link removed]

Yeah...should have specified that. PC to PC is free and a really great product.

Sometimes you can have problems connecting but overall it's a fantastic product.
 
Been using it the last few days to speak with UK friends.
Would definitely recommend it.
 
My mother, who's completely afraid of anything to do with computers, uses it to talk to my sister in Africa. Reception is quite good and it's easy to use.
 
doogo said:
Anyone out there heard/used this service?

Are there any hidden costs ? It seems rather too easy ....
Click to expand...

There are a few other threads on Skype on AAM; some people have found the quality to be variable, as there is no defined Quality of Service i.e. you need to pay more for a dedicated channel if you need consistent quality. You might do this for business use, but for home use, the odd poor call quality you can probably live with - after all, it's free!

Actually, it's only free for Internet <-> Internet calls. To ring a normal land line e.g. in the US you need to use SkypeOut (where most of the call is over the 'Net, but the last leg goes from Skype's local presence in the country you are calling into the local network) which costs 17 cent a minute. Still a lot cheaper than ringing the US directly, for example!
 
It's great. I use it all the time. You can even get a usb phone to hook up to it, and you can get skype in - which gives you a number which can be rung from normal phones. There is the tiniest dealy when using it, but nothing too noticeable. And the price is right ;)
 
MonsieurBond said:
Actually, it's only free for Internet <-> Internet calls. To ring a normal land line e.g. in the US you need to use SkypeOut (where most of the call is over the 'Net, but the last leg goes from Skype's local presence in the country you are calling into the local network) which costs 17 cent a minute. Still a lot cheaper than ringing the US directly, for example!
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I think its actually 1.7 cent a minute. 17 cent wouldn't be that great, even Eircom are cheaper than that Evenings and Weekends to the US.
 
A swedish friend of mine has a setup that allows people to call him on a local number in Sweden and then have it routed to skype so that anyone calling him from a normal landline (or mobile) calls for the price of a local call in Sweden. Very handy indeed for him.

Theres an alternative to skype called Gizmo which unlike Skype uses open standards rather than proprietary ones. The same sort of functionality but it looks to have a nice user interface.

[broken link removed]
 
I use skype which is great can u find out how your friend route's thanks
machalla said:
A swedish friend of mine has a setup that allows people to call him on a local number in Sweden and then have it routed to skype so that anyone calling him from a normal landline (or mobile) calls for the price of a local call in Sweden. Very handy indeed for him.

Theres an alternative to skype called Gizmo which unlike Skype uses open standards rather than proprietary ones. The same sort of functionality but it looks to have a nice user interface.

[broken link removed]
Click to expand...
 
There are two Irish VoIP providers - Blueface and http://www.skytel.ie (Skytel). I'm signed up to Blueface on their basic package which is €10 a month for 300 minutes to landlines in Ireland, UK, Auz, NZ and the US. You can also top up if you run out of minutes. I use an analog telephone adapter (ATA) which plugs into my broadband router and lets me plug a regular phone into it. The ATA then routes your calls over the Internet via their VoIP gateway. I was assigned a Dublin number when I signed up so I could actually take the ATA with me on the road and plug it in wherever I can and have my local Dublin number regardless of where I am on the planet. And if I miss any calls Blueface's answering service kicks in and emails me the message as a WAV file. I can also view an up to date statement of calls at any time instead of waiting for the next bill to arrive. Best of all, the ATA lets you set up rules so you can block calls to certain numbers (call barring).

On the point of porting my landline number to Blueface and disconnecting my BT/Eircom line.
 
Decani said:
I'm signed up to Blueface on their basic package which is €10 a month for 300 minutes to landlines in Ireland, UK, Auz, NZ and the US.
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Am I missing something here - 300 minutes for €10 is over 3 cent a minute. Skype has been quoted at 1.7 cent a minute.

What's wrong with Telestunt at 1.2 cent a minute (albeit off peak)?
 
podgerodge said:
Am I missing something here - 300 minutes for €10 is over 3 cent a minute. Skype has been quoted at 1.7 cent a minute.

What's wrong with Telestunt at 1.2 cent a minute (albeit off peak)?
Click to expand...

If you are looking at pure cost then Skype is obviously cheaper. However there are other factors.

a) Blueface gives him an Dublin number so he can receive incoming calls from anyone using this service too.
b) You can plug any normal telephone handset into the ATA, I know Skype has telephone style attachments but most are tied physically to the computer.
c) He gets voicemail for incoming calls
d) There may be quality issues though I hear Skype is quite good so it may not be a factor.
 
very interesting, tried the free trial on Blueface last night.

questions:

1) in the free trial the "dublin number" meant that whoever rang me had to type in an extra 5 digit extension on getting through - I presume when u sign up the number is dedicated to you alone?

2) Where does one get an ATA to use a normal phone?

3) Am I correct in assuming that if I hooked up a Dect wireless phone that I would not have to worry about the strenght of the router signal as the base would be connected directly to the router and the wireless phone would work in the normal way anywhere around the house?

4) I presume with a telephone attached, the computer can be turned off once the modem/router are on?

Thanks in advance
 
podgerodge said:
very interesting, tried the free trial on Blueface last night.

questions:

1) in the free trial the "dublin number" meant that whoever rang me had to type in an extra 5 digit extension on getting through - I presume when u sign up the number is dedicated to you alone?

2) Where does one get an ATA to use a normal phone?

3) Am I correct in assuming that if I hooked up a Dect wireless phone that I would not have to worry about the strenght of the router signal as the base would be connected directly to the router and the wireless phone would work in the normal way anywhere around the house?

4) I presume with a telephone attached, the computer can be turned off once the modem/router are on?

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

1) Never used Blueface so can't comment.
2) You can buy SIP adaptors on the net.
3) Yes, buy you need either a SIP adaptor or else a dual DECT/VOIP phone.
4) Not sure. For Skype, I read that you need software running on the PC to route to the phone. Doesn't make sense that you could turn off your PC unless the actual phone is maintaining the VOIP connection.
 
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