SKYPE -( ex Andre)

[eupa]

This is basically a continuation of Andre's theme- but feel it interesting to a lot of you kind-people out there - that this be re-visted. .( i have it since 4 months - but ONLY use it with a USB telephone not via PC/PC

1. The USB phone ( desktype 50 euros or handheld at 39 euros) is used exactly as a normal telephone. This means that you can telephone ANYBODY who has a landline. The quality on over 95% of all calls is as good as normal telephones.But you need adsl

2.Rates- the general rate is 0.017 euros/minute - practically everywhere. However be careful in telephoning mobiles and 0870 numbers. This at 1.46 euros=1 pound = 1.17 pence/minute. So I am sitting just outside Waterloo in Belgium I could ( maybe one day I will.. )telephone my arch enemy CODPRAWN in that god'forsaken part of the UK called Wales - and I had a 30 minute conversation with him that would cost me 31p . But if i had also a conversation for 30 mins with somebody in California it would still cost me the same.Don'forget I am talking telephone calls and not Pc/pc. - this is what it so interesting.

3. I do not know how Skype ( incidently -it comes from the same guy who did kaza)- manages to link in with the international telephone grid- but its a fantastic piece of soft- and works Cannot say the same for others like net2phone ect.

Implications
It means that telephony as we know it - will cease to exist. The only money the telephone companies will make
in the future ,will come from people's obsession with mobile phones. Its not improbable to think that faxing could go the same way- and at the moment am looking at some interface software software that could do it. ( see www.j2.com)
Lat wekend was in Barcelona and stayed at a hotel with free adsl ( well thye caled it free adsl - but in fact the connection speed was 128mbps - not particularily great- plugged in the laptop and using the mobile usb phone, was able to call anywhere using the same basic rate of 0.017 euros/minute.


if you want to go this way- you need

1- Skype on the pc ( www. skype.com)- and an account with them -
minimum 10 euros ( 7.00 pounds stirling
2. For telephoning - it is a must to get a USB phone, microphones and
headsets are a pain- also you will need skypemate on the PC.
3. ADSL connection

and then you can save a lot of money.



Jonathan

[MarkWildey]

Skype only costs money if you ring a mobile or land line, otherwise PC to PC is FREE.

Quality wise it's like being in the same room as the other person.

Cheers

Mark

[Jimbo]

Skype are also offering a great new service, where you can recieve calls on your pc by renting a landline number. It's called skypein (http://www.skype.com/products/skypein/ ) and you can register phone numbers from different countries and regions, so that people hopefully pay less when calling you.

[Simon666]

I use skype with a USB handset (£15 ebay)
Works great. Often talk to family in the states for free!

[The Jackeens]

Andre & Wiesia were telling us about this... sounds interesting!


Us

[Nick Thompson]

Originally Posted by eupa

However be careful in telephoning mobiles and 0870 numbers.

Not only for skype, but 0870 numbers can be very expensive, so before calling one it's worth looking at http://www.saynoto0870.com/ to get the geographic number.

[Andre]

I think I have said this before but no harm in repeating repeating repeating

"mine's a Guinness"
a Guinness

[DGR]

I've been using it for over a year for PC to PC stuff - ever since my mate moved out to New Zealand. It's fantastic - except for the one drawback - which is that either he or I are always meant to be asleep.....

[pmorgan]

It is pretty cool, only used it PC to PC, you can have conference calls and also there is text chat service.

[Jelly]

There is just one small issue with Skype in that its peer to peer and such leaves you nicely open to some nasties.
Jelly