Does anyone use Skype?

[barryNmarin]

I'm not a huge techie but my daughter is moving to Africa with her company for a 2 year term and I'm told Skype is a great and free way to have live voice (VOIP) conversations computer to computer or even computer to mobile phone for a small charge. So I downloaded the software to my Mac and it seems to work flawlessly even with video.

My son us using it to stay in touch with his friends in Japan.

I was wondering if people on the board are using Skype to avoid expensive long distance charges for U.S. and international calls and what experiences have you had either pro or con? I suppose bandwidth is important for quality calls and video calls and that could be a big problem in Kenya.

 

[russell_bynum]

I use it a bit. You can call toll-free numbers free, so I use it to call into conference calls quite often. We've played with video a little bit, but haven't really used it for real. We use the IM feature from time to time.

 

Bandwidth does matter, but so far I haven't had any problems.

[Woodie]

Don't use it on corporate machines.

Do use it on personal machines.

 

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

My mom started using it a couple of years ago. At first it was terrible; the sound was garbled and often dropped out altogether. Whenever she called me on it, I'd hang up and call her land line.

 

Last Christmas was different. We used Skype on her laptop to call my brother on his laptop. Used a headset, and holy cow, it was flawless quality. No interruptions or glitching or long-distance "hiss," and the bandwidth was something a lot closer to full spectrum, like listening to an FM radio broadcast.

 

Me? I use my cell phone for LD calls; the minutes are already paid for, so I figure I might as well use them instead of also paying for a LD plan on our land line.

[azkaisr]

Skype is Worthy

 

I haven't loaded it on the MAC Power Book yet but I will by the weekend hopefully. Especially in Africa, where it is still well very African..... Up until last Torrey I used Skype for most of my contacts there, Eastern Europe, and with some exception even the Mid East.

 

Oh and get her a good headset

[Francois_Dumas]

Use it all the time, but not for 'regular' (i.e. paid) calls.... great for chat and voice-over-ip what with my many virtual companies. I work with my associates spread out all over the world almost as if we're in the same offices.

[IRPUK]

I use it when around Euope refereeing basketball, so much cheaper (nothing) than mobile or hotel phone calls.

 

I recommend it, and easy and better on a Mac than a PC!

[russell_bynum]

easy and better on a Mac than a PC!

 

How so?

[Calvin (no socks)]

Barry, I believe that Mark Davis and KMG365 Jamie used it for a Virtual Torrey last year. (Fall Torrey). When it worked it was fun.. but there were some connection bugs for video feed. I could just about smell the pizza at Killers....

[Bheckel169]

We used it for our youngest daughter who was in Morocco and except for occasional wireless connection problems it worked out fine. Then she went to China and it was perfect all the time in Beijing as well as some outlying provinces. We use it often to talk to our 3 year old granddaughter and to friends who moved recently to Vincenza, Italy. It's a wonderful technology but I haven't used it for long distance calls since I have unlimited calling on my regular phone plan.

Bruce

[Marek]

I used it for calls to Europe before I got vonage. It was $02 per minute - or free for skype to skype. Connection was always good enough. Now vonage offers the same service and I switched. I've skype phone - so I can take it to a internet cafe and make calls. You have to be careful with calls to cell phones - those are $.25 per minute.

 

Mark

[bakerzdosen]

I use it whenever I'm out of the country - especially in Lima, Peru. The Sheraton there has REALLY lousy internet (for only $10/day), so dial-up is often more reliable, and Skype just works better than iChat over dial-up.

 

My whole family has also used it for the past year to talk to my brother's fam in Poland - until they get back in a couple weeks.

 

I've only used Skypeout for one brief €10 stint a few years ago. However, I can just use my VOIP line now for that, so I probably won't be using it again.

 

I tend to use iChat more though as anyone important has a Mac anyway...

[barryNmarin]

I appreciate all of the input from everyone. For most people in the U.S. like me I guess using a cell phone would be the ticket.

Unfortunately for me, I live in an area where the hills around my home prevent me from receiving any cell service. Thats where the Skype comes in handy for me in making long distance calls. As for Africa, I think it will definitely save me a few $$ and I'll be better about staying in touch since it will be free!

Thanks again for your input!

[f86sabre]

Don't forget about video conferences. We use it all the time as all our family is out of state and we have little one. It works much better for him to be able to see grandma and grandpa then to try and have him talk on the phone.

[ghaverkamp]

Your connections will only be as good as the remote termination.

 

I know nothing about the infrastructure in Kenya. I know more than I wanted about the infrastructure in Guatemala. When my sister was in Guatemala with the Peace Corps, effectively no mode of communication other than her dialing out on her cell phone was of any use. The satellite Internet that was commonly used (DirecPC) was typically overloaded, and high latency made speaking difficult. SkypeOut, Jajah, and one of the other services I learned of here, all seemed to use the same, crappy, in-country termination, such that calls were routinely dropped.

 

None of which is to say it isn't worth a try.

[azkaisr]

I am back on as AZKaisr on the Mac. It works better then before. Should be back on line when I get back into town tomorrow

[Armando]

My brother travels to Japan and he uses it to call his family all the time. I use it to call my mother and sister in Mexico too without a problem. Calls to Mexico, when my Mom does not have the computer on are very cheap.

 

 

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