Great tool for text, voice and video communication! (Skype)

Member Name: chocomint

Product:	Skype
Date:	04/11/08 (320 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Free, fast and easy to use

Disadvantages: Shows me as offline even when I'm online, messages sometimes don't get delivered on time

I was first introduced to Instant Messaging (IM'ing) when I used Yahoo and MSN messengers. These were very good tools, especially for having text conversations with friends and relatives residing locally and abroad. Since there was no extra cost other than that of a basic internet connection this was a very good option for the purpose. Note that the version I am using at the moment is 3.8 (Help->About Skype get's you to where you can see the version number) and older versions may not have some of the features I will be discussing here.

SKYPE is a software application that allows you to communicate with people from different locations around the world, over the internet. You can have text chats as well as voice chats and the voice quality is very good, especially if you have access to a DSL (or broadband) internet connection. There is also a conferencing (group chat) facility where you can connect multiple people to a single session! To add to it all, there's also a very cool video chat feature. Note that the newer versions of other messengers (Yahoo and Windows Live Messenger come to mind) also provide the above mentioned features, but comparatively, especially in terms of quality, my experiences using Skype have been far better than the other two.

Here are a few other features you might find useful on Skype:

1. Sending SMS's: Apart from making phone calls, you can also send text messages to phones through Skype. Note that you need to pay a small fee for each SMS (text message) you send out.

2. File transfers: You can transfer almost any type of file, data or media (video, music, etc...) to one or multiple people over Skype. I find the file transfers on Skype to be better than Yahoo and MSN messenger.

3. Calling fixed-line/mobile numbers: While calling another Skype user is completely free, you also have the option of being able to call fixed-line or mobile numbers of several countries for a very nominal fee. Also, for those of you who are in the US, 1-800 numbers can be called free of charge! You can buy credit online using your credit card, and use it to make calls subsequently.

4. Finding local businesses: Skype is able to identify your location by looking at your IP address. It uses this to provide you with a feature for finding local businesses close to your vicinity. So, for example, you can type in Restaurant, and see all the restaurants in your area.

5. Chat history: A history of all chats/calls you take/make is maintained and there is a cool Search feature as well that helps you find a chat/call you had some time back.

6. Use different languages: If you're bi-lingual and would like to text-chat in a different language, this software supports quite a few languages as well (including Spanish, French, Japanese, Chinese, German, Russian, Arabic, Hebrew, and many more).

****How Skype works****

One of the main differences between Skype and other IM's is that it uses a very effective peer-to-peer system. This means, there is no central server in a particular location, or a few locations that handle the bulk of the work. They use multiple machines spread across the globe as intermediary "peer" computers that share the load between themselves. How you see this advantage is when you use this tool to communicate or send files to someone. Sending files to a person in the same country that you are at is very much faster than sending it to someone across the globe from where you're at. And if you're sending it to someone who is say, sitting next to you, it's even faster!

****Likes****

* Good quality voice and video most of the time.

* Transferring of files is really fast! Even really big files that go in to several megabytes, like video clips.

* Free calls to some fixed-line/mobile numbers (E.g: 1-800 numbers)

****Dislikes****

* Sometimes shows you as offline, even when you're online.

* Sometimes, text messages do not get delivered to you even though you're online and you're seen as online by others. The messages sometimes get queued up and you get it as a bunch later on.

* Occasionally, especially if your internet connection is slow (e.g: if you're using a dial-up connection), you could experience static or poor sound quality. I have experienced these instances more using older versions of Skype though the newer versions seem to have gotten past this issue.

****Summary****

If you have friends/relatives who have easy access to an internet connection, this is something you should definitely try out. If you have friends/relatives living abroad who you like to be in touch with, but can't afford to make frequent expensive international/long-distance calls, this is a tool for you too!

Summary: Fun and easy way to keep in touch with friends and relatives

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