Make more of your broadband. (Skype)

Member Name: The Duke

Product:	Skype
Date:	02/11/05 (2214 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Free calls to other computer users.

Disadvantages: Relies on your PC being on. Interface a bit mucky.

Skype is a VOIP (voice over IP) program that recently hit the news due to the takeover of its parent company by eBay for $2.6 billion. Launched in 2003, Skype quickly overcame critics who were sceptical of the program due to the developers being the same people who had brought KaZaa (a peer to peer file sharing program that was bundled with 'spyware') to market.

Today, Skype has over 53 million registered users across the world, with the software available for a multitude of systems including Windows, Mac OS, Linux and even portable devices.

As is to be expected, the installation of Skype onto a Windows PC is incredibly easy. Once you have downloaded the latest version from www.skype.com (for Windows it's 1.4.0.84), just double click as any other package and let the installation wizard do the rest.

When signing into Skype, there are the usual issues with creating an account. How much information you give for your profile will depend on how you plan to use the program. As I was planning on only using Skype to contact friends and family, I saw no need to fill in too many details. If you're hoping to meet new people through Skype, then you might want to give more information in order to be able to persuade people to call. The usual warnings about giving out too much information over the internet apply here. As with MSN Messenger, there are options for only accepting incoming calls from people you have granted access to. If you don't want to meet new people, it's advisable to turn this option on. You'll have to wait to be approved if you're calling someone else who has switched on this option.

Skype works in a number of ways: you can "call" another computer if the user is online or you can make calls to phones as normal telephone calls. SkypeOut (the landline dialling service) isn't just restricted to local or national calls, either. International rates are also provided on the Skype website and these look quite reasonable compared to the British telecom rates. Skype's system enables you to call a range of countries using their unified rate (€ 0.017 per minute) compared to BT's £0.05 per minute on their BT Together plan, though you have to pre-buy credit. There are other services out there, so it's best to shop around.

I use Skype to call other computers. Through my 512 MB broadband connection, I've found the sound quality to be excellent at all times, the only issue being that there can be a bit of lag, even on phone calls to people who are less than 100 miles away. I can still surf the web at the same time as making or receiving a call with any disruption. Using large amounts of bandwidth when downloading from the web can cause your calls to break up, though.

I'm not entirely sure that I like Skype's interface, though. To me it seems clumsy at times (though the act of making a call to another PC user is very easy). However, you don't have to look at it constantly and it is improving with each new version. Once you have made the call, you can minimise the screen. If you need to swap information to the other computer user in the middle of a call, you can also use Skype's instant messaging (IM) client which works like a basic MSN Messenger.

Skype really requires a broadband connection to work properly. Trying to have a conversation on dialup is going to have an adverse effect on sound quality. It's also advisable, if you're planning on using Skype a lot, to buy an integrated headphone/microphone headset. When using a standard speaker/microphone set up, the sound coming out of your speakers can often be rebroadcast to your caller. The headphone set will remove this irritation. I bought a Logitech headset from Amazon UK for about £20 a year ago, but there are others out there. If your call does suffer from annoying noise, you could try hanging up and reconnecting as this seems to have worked for the people who have called me and experienced bad sound quality.

I like Skype. However, rather than replace my landline as you might expect of a VOIP program, what it's done is replace a lot of instant messaging conversations with voice ones. The people I call are people who own PCs and broadband connections who I would usually contact via MSN (or other IM programs), but it's easier and nicer to be able to chat.

Skype recommends: 400 MHz processor, 128 MB RAM and 15 MB free disk space with speakers and a microphone.

€ 0.017 Euro Cent is currently approximately the same as £0.012.

Summary: "Internet" phone system that can call landlines and other computers.

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