Woebot
Well-known member
It's this new Internet Telephony thing:
http://www.skype.com/
What's the scoop? Does anyone out there use it?
http://www.skype.com/
What's the scoop? Does anyone out there use it?
Skype
- Thread starter Woebot
- Start date
O
Omaar
Guest
Ī tried it it out a while ago and called some randoms in China just for kicks, it didn't work very well for me but it was quite a laugh.
It does sound like a good idea though. Maybe we could have a dissensus phone in conference session.
It does sound like a good idea though. Maybe we could have a dissensus phone in conference session.
yeah, i donwloaded this quite a few months ago. i got everyone i work with to do the same and we have effetively stopped using the phone for calling colleagues. You need a good broadband connection for sound quality.
often we use msn for the image and skype for the sound.
several friends have bought VOIP phones and can call through skype when walking around the house. the phone gives the option to call on the landline and skype.
years ago i worked at Cisco and they saw this as the future. now it seems like a good idea, but i am not sure how long it will take to catch on.
t.
often we use msn for the image and skype for the sound.
several friends have bought VOIP phones and can call through skype when walking around the house. the phone gives the option to call on the landline and skype.
years ago i worked at Cisco and they saw this as the future. now it seems like a good idea, but i am not sure how long it will take to catch on.
t.
Ness Rowlah
Norwegian Wood
there's a piece on skype in the latest (August 2005) PC Pro magazine.
seems like you can get handsets which plugs directly into your ADSL-router etc -
now we are talking!
the magazine is well worth investing in anyway this "month".
normally you get all sorts of crappy and unusable (what do I need project management or
customer database systems for) free software with these magazines.
but this month there is a real gem - five (or possibly six) months worth of
F-Secure Internet Security 2005 for free. I have installed it (sick of half-decent
freeware which I do not trust 100%), been running for over a week and am quite
satisified (big improvement on managing four free individual packages (anti-vir, tiny fw, ad-aware and some super slow Intrusion Detection system). I did not have to register at all, no need
to make up fake emails etc (I have nothing to do with either company - but this is too good
a deal to pass if you are running freeware stuff (or worse nothing at all)).
seems like you can get handsets which plugs directly into your ADSL-router etc -
now we are talking!
the magazine is well worth investing in anyway this "month".
normally you get all sorts of crappy and unusable (what do I need project management or
customer database systems for) free software with these magazines.
but this month there is a real gem - five (or possibly six) months worth of
F-Secure Internet Security 2005 for free. I have installed it (sick of half-decent
freeware which I do not trust 100%), been running for over a week and am quite
satisified (big improvement on managing four free individual packages (anti-vir, tiny fw, ad-aware and some super slow Intrusion Detection system). I did not have to register at all, no need
to make up fake emails etc (I have nothing to do with either company - but this is too good
a deal to pass if you are running freeware stuff (or worse nothing at all)).
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I heard a radio article months back where some internet telephony nerd was saying there's been non-proprietry and open source versions of similar technologies available for years. He had some complaints about the protocols / methods they were using, something to do with lack of compatability with agreed industry standards. Maybe also said the alternatives were completely free to make calls?
Unfortunately this was in a car, so I didn't make notes of what these alternatives were, just thought "must look into that".
Anyone know?
Internet telephony seems like a great idea to me, but that radio show left me feeling like advocating Skype to friends would be like telling everyone to convert their MP3s to WMAs or RealAudio or something.
Unfortunately this was in a car, so I didn't make notes of what these alternatives were, just thought "must look into that".
Anyone know?
Internet telephony seems like a great idea to me, but that radio show left me feeling like advocating Skype to friends would be like telling everyone to convert their MP3s to WMAs or RealAudio or something.
voip - love it - incrediably cheap. Geek fest. Wifi no longer cool as fuck, this is.
Skypes good because it gets through firewalls (offices) -clever- is will portscan your system to find open ports and then just works. Also the text on skype has ok encryption unlike the standard on many other text com tools. SkypeOut is skypes way of calling landline - i.e. call USA landline for 1/20 BT. You can get ukp20 boxes(ebay) that connect computer usb / home bt land line and then you pick up a skype call on your home phone(i.e. networks your computer to your internal home telephone). The code for skype became partly open a few months back and now there is a bounty to get it to interconnect with *(asterisk - see below)
SIP is the standard VOIP protocol - get cheap adsl routers with phone jacks(i.e. vigor), or use softPhones. FWD (free world dialup) is the main connection database (computer 2computer) for those that dont want to fetish with ip addreses. But SIP sucks over closed ports (firewalls). Lots of people provide SIP-landline services i.e. Vonage, SipGate and my fav voipuser.org
IAX2 (protocol) aka * (Asterisk server) is an easy(ish for geeks) to set up VOIP server. i.e. make your own telephone xchange - that rivals ukp10,000 hardware exchanges. this is very ubr. have a landline/voip server that redirects/switchboard etc....
Skypes good because it gets through firewalls (offices) -clever- is will portscan your system to find open ports and then just works. Also the text on skype has ok encryption unlike the standard on many other text com tools. SkypeOut is skypes way of calling landline - i.e. call USA landline for 1/20 BT. You can get ukp20 boxes(ebay) that connect computer usb / home bt land line and then you pick up a skype call on your home phone(i.e. networks your computer to your internal home telephone). The code for skype became partly open a few months back and now there is a bounty to get it to interconnect with *(asterisk - see below)
SIP is the standard VOIP protocol - get cheap adsl routers with phone jacks(i.e. vigor), or use softPhones. FWD (free world dialup) is the main connection database (computer 2computer) for those that dont want to fetish with ip addreses. But SIP sucks over closed ports (firewalls). Lots of people provide SIP-landline services i.e. Vonage, SipGate and my fav voipuser.org
IAX2 (protocol) aka * (Asterisk server) is an easy(ish for geeks) to set up VOIP server. i.e. make your own telephone xchange - that rivals ukp10,000 hardware exchanges. this is very ubr. have a landline/voip server that redirects/switchboard etc....
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seahorsegenius
It's just me.
So, what's everybody's name on there and what experiences have you had? My name is, same as on here.
jenks
thread death
just used skype for the first time and must say it really is amazing - sound quality is particularly good and once you stop feeling like you work in a call centre it is a joy - would heartily recommend it
one question - it's free so how are skype making their money? what's in it for them?
one question - it's free so how are skype making their money? what's in it for them?
you buy can buy call time to phone landlines so that's how they get paid. not sure how much this brings in though if most people are using it to communicate from computer to computer.
there was a good programme about it on bbc1 a few weeks ago where some silver surfers in scotland were using it to talk to relatives abroad and saving an absolute fortune on international calls.
the problem arose when they stopped using their landline altogether and tried to cancel their rental of the phone line from bt who weren't so keen to do it. obviously its a big threat to the profits of the telecoms companies although they will benefit from the uptake of broadband and start to concentrate on making money from that i suppose.
i've used it a few times and the sound quality is a lot better than the audio on msn. the skype me thing is quite funny where random people across the world can contact you. i had a brazilian on the line from Sao Paolo but the conversation about Funk Carioca didn't get very far
pat kane and john perry barlow are more positive about its world shrinking possibilities..
there was a good programme about it on bbc1 a few weeks ago where some silver surfers in scotland were using it to talk to relatives abroad and saving an absolute fortune on international calls.
the problem arose when they stopped using their landline altogether and tried to cancel their rental of the phone line from bt who weren't so keen to do it. obviously its a big threat to the profits of the telecoms companies although they will benefit from the uptake of broadband and start to concentrate on making money from that i suppose.
i've used it a few times and the sound quality is a lot better than the audio on msn. the skype me thing is quite funny where random people across the world can contact you. i had a brazilian on the line from Sao Paolo but the conversation about Funk Carioca didn't get very far
pat kane and john perry barlow are more positive about its world shrinking possibilities..
wonk_vitesse
radio eros
i think what's interesting , just as the internet was initially used by IT folk to send updates and software around Skype is an excellent tool for programmers to talk and discuss code, talking and typing is a great means of communication when trying to troubleshoot software.
But i'm sure with it's ease of use everyone else will jump on it. It works through our NHS firewall so it must clever
But i'm sure with it's ease of use everyone else will jump on it. It works through our NHS firewall so it must clever
Woebot
Well-known member
wonk_vitesse said:i think what's interesting , just as the internet was initially used by IT folk to send updates and software around Skype is an excellent tool for programmers to talk and discuss code, talking and typing is a great means of communication when trying to troubleshoot software.
But i'm sure with it's ease of use everyone else will jump on it. It works through our NHS firewall so it must clever
it'll be just a matter of time before everyone uses it surely? next tactic must be to corner all your mates favourite aliases and then sell them to them.....
