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Topic: Anyone Use Skye?
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Sam James
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 114
From: London
Registered: Oct 2005
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posted November 23, 2006 05:39 PM
Dan and Tony,
I've been using SKYPE for over two years and have never encountered a catch. The software was first brought to my attention by a Polish mate who said that the system had been embraced enthusiastically by his countrymen because of the high cost of telephony back home. I'm not sure whether or not it originated in Poland but for those who've yet to discover it, it's a means of communicating via the braodband connection of your computer without using the phone. The quality of sound is similar to that of an outside broadcast ISDN connection by the BBC, so that when I call my mum 250 miles away she really sounds as though she's in the same room. (She went all silly the first time she heard it!.) Chatting to a mate in Singapore, with an 8 hour time difference and no time lag is quite something.
All you need to do is find skype.com, install the software, come up with a name (as in email address) and then "dial" the name of another skype user. You obviously need a broadband connection, speakers on your computer or headphones and some form of microphone. The recent version of skype allows you to hook up your webcam so's you can see who your chatting, if that sort of thing lights your fire!
The most important thing about skype is that it's free. There really do appear to be no strings and it seems that the tradional telephony firms are very concerned. How do skype make their money? Well it's free to call somebody else's computer, and why shouldn't it be since you both have paid for that broadband connection? The costs come in when you want to dial somebody else's normal phone. Even then it's a hell of a lot cheaper then regular international rates. You simply use our credit/debit card to buy units of time in advance and away you go.
I've never had to do this as I've managed to persuade mates all over the world to download the software. It is very simple and the sound is quite amazing. Give it a go. It's simple to download and equally simple to uninstall.
Sam
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