VoIP Now

February 06, 2007

6 Things To Know About Skype VoIP

[newbies] As mentioned the other day, I finally got myself SkypeOut - at least the North American Skype promo plan - for US$14.95 for a full year of unlimited calling. Now that it's February, though, the price is $29.95. I figure, why pay Vonage or someone else $29.95/mth or more when I can get what I need (for now) for less than $1.50 per month.

If you're new to Skype but thinking of getting it to make Internet phone calls, here are a few things to know:

1. You need a computer. Well, there are some hardware solutions that get around that (though I don't know enough to comment), but you at least need a cable connection. That's true of most VoIP services except those that are bridged.
2. Quality of calls varies. Skype QoS (Quality of Service) relies on several factors:
   
   1. Type of call. I.e., whether the call is pc-to-pc or pc-to-phone. The former usually produces better quality. PC means either a computer or a Skype phone.
   2. Available memory. If you've eatesn up a lot of RAM running other processes, shut some programs down before you make/ continue a call.
   3. Network usage. If you're on cable, your Internet connection will suffer at certain times of day. There's no way around this except to wait.
      
   4. Wi-Fi. If you're using a wireless connection, you could suffer additional call quality degradation.
3. Loads of Extras. Skype has an open developer API, so there are a growing number of plugins and addons. Some of them are frivolous and some are truly useful. So you could write your own.
4. Business over Skype. Not Skype for business, but Extras that let you conduct calls for pay, with payment made via PayPal accounts. Example Extras are Bitwine and Jyve. Though if you buy the N. American promo package, there's a note saying you shouldn't be using it for business. Hmm. That means they're planning more business services.
5. Turn it off. If you aren't using Skype, you're best off shutting the program down completely. Note that when you close the client, it minimizes in your toolbar. At least on PCs. I don't have a Mac yet to test that.
6. Bans or blocks. Some countries, companies, and universities ban Skype both because of their closed protocol and their network architecture model. So you may not be able to get or use Skype.

By the way, you can learn a lot more about Skype from VoIP News' Hacking Skype feature, which has a list of interesting plugins as well as tricks for making Skype do more for you.

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February 6, 2007 in Skype, Software | Permalink

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