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Articles - Skype
Skype-ing Around the World
by Austin Akalanze
One of the more attractive promises of VoIP is the possibility
of a hefty cut in your cost of communication, and in some
instances, a total elimination of cost using Skype.
Skype is a program that allows you to make free calls
over the internet to anyone else who also has Skype. Best
of all, it’s free and easy to download and use, and
works with most computers, PC or Mac.
Once Skype is installed on your computer, you can start
voip calling and talking to friends and family all over
the world for free. And in case you are wondering what
they sound like, VoIP calls using Skype have excellent
sound quality and are highly secure with end-to-end encryption.
There are no configurations necessary. No need to disable
firewalls or configure routers and other networking devices.
It is a simple plug and play routine.
Skype not only works on Windows, but works on other operating
system platforms such as Mac OS X, Linux and PDAs using
Pocket PC, “with a native look and feel for each
platform.” Also tallking, sending instant messages
or even file transfers work, between different platforms
on skype. But why don't we all have Skype?
If we lived in a perfect world, everyone would. And we
would not have to pay for calls anymore, local or distant.
But we live in an imperfect world where things happen
for reasons beyond our control.
But not to worry though. Skype is made by real people
for real people in the real world. Because Skype knows
that not everyone has skype or uses VoIP, provisions have
been made for skypers to be able to call their non skype
cousins using Skypeout.
SkypeOut is an innovative way for the skpe voip users
to talk to family, friends and business associates anywhere
in the world, who have not yet joined the skype bandwagon,
at a substancially reduced rate.
Implementing SkypeOut is as easy as hopping over to the
skype website, loading up on skype credit with your credit
card and simple. There are no contracts to sign, no complicated
bills to figure out. Call rates are the same for SkypeOut
calls to your neighbor across the street and calls to
family and friends across the globe in Kualalumpor.
Not being able to call your non Skype friends is not all
that is wrong with Skype. Your non skype friends could
not call you either. That was true until the arrival of
Skypein.
SkypeIn is billed to be a bridge between users of Skype
and their non-Skype, non voip POTS (Plain Old Telephone
Systems) friends and family or business associates.
Here is how it works. SkypeIn allows you to receive calls
from your non skype friends and family, just as you would,
if you were on a regular POTS. With SkypeIn, you can get
your own, regular phone number.
So, when your non Skype contacts call you, by dialing
a regular number, you can still receive the call in Skype.
This is true regardless of where you are.
For instance, if you have a Dallas-based SkypeIn number,
but you’re living somewhere in Moscow, your Dallas
contacts can just dial your SkypeIn number, and your Skype
in Moscow will ring as though you were in Dallas. And
the good thing is that your friends are only paying whatever
their phone company charges them for making a phone call
to Dallas.
There is no restriction as to where your calls can come
from. However, if your SkypeIn number is a United States
number, and someone calls your SkypeIn from Australia
for instance, they will have to pay for the international
nature of the call.
Anothe neat thing about SkypeIn is that if you have friends
in many places, you can get up to 10 SkypeIn numbers in
different places and no one would really know where you
are unless you tell them.
With SkypeIn you can make it possible for family, friends
and business contacts who are not necessarily connected
to the Internet or using VoIP to keep in touch with your,
without breaking their bank book, but they have to be
connected to their broadband wired connections. Well not
anymore, at least in some places.
When two or more join together in a partnership, things
can happen. One of such partner-ships is the marriage
between Boingo, a giant in the wireless fidelity (WiFi),
providing communication hotspots, with about 18,000 sites
worldwide; and Skype.
Having successfully launched SkypeIn and SkypeOut, Skype
is now poised to providing its subscribers the freedom
they so much desire by going into this alliance with Boingo,
to provide wireless services to its subscribers.
Skype Zones as this WiFi hotspots are now called, will
offer discounted Wi-Fi access to Skype’s millions
of customers worldwide. And to be able to take advantage
of Skype Zones, users will have to install the Skype Zones
client software. This can be downloaded from the Skype
Store.
Reacting to news of this new partner-ship, Mark Blowers,
senior analyst at Butler Group has this to say, “We
are going to see more of this. Skype is very innovative
and it is logical that they would extend services beyond
the desktop like this.
“I think we will see others do this soon too. It
is clearly a growing threat to mobile and fixed line carriers.”
About the Author
Austin Akalanze is an avid watcher of VoIP and also likes
to make money, while he sleeps. |
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MOBILE
TECHNOLOGY
