Five Reasons To Buy VoIP
Believe it or not, there are still a few people out there who
just don't get it when it comes to VoIP. With services like
Skype, or Google Talk, it is easy to confuse what a true VoIP
plan really is.
Skype, Google Talk, and the like would be...
How VOIP can mask the size of your Business And Save you a Bundle
Have you heard the buzz about VOIP (Voice Over Internt Protocol)? Basically, it's like communicating over the phone without a phone. Instead you plug your microphone into your computer log on to a website and "boom" you're talking baby. ...
The Future Of VOIP
VOIP's First Hurdle
With all the advantages of VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol), there is still 1 drawback -- it cannot give you total wireless phone communication like a cell phone. Cell phones and VOIP seem to be 2 different animals. True,...
VoIP - Saving on the Bundle
The use of VoIP services is really in it's infancy at the present time, and like an infant will grow as time moves forward.
While the business community has been on the forefront of the use of VoIP and broadband phone services, it's use is...
VOIP Service: Sign Up And Save
If you want to save money on your telephone service using the internet, you will need to sign up with a VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) service provider. They will sell you the necessary equipment and assign you a number, which is used like a...
With internet usage reaching almost every country, and economic
class, and with its permeation throughout the western world,
applications designed to harness its potential in ever more
practical ways are constantly arising. One such application is
Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP), which continues to
challenge its own limitations. There are a few leading players
who are jostling for supremacy, including Yahoo! Messenger, MSN
Messenger, Skype, and Vonage.
Recently, there have been many converts to Skype, including
this reviewer. There are several factors that have influenced my
own personal move, but my primary motivations were innovation,
quality, and marketability. VoIP has always been an application
that is easily marketable, and Skype has added innovative
features that are quality-rich:
* SkypeOut, where you can use your computer to call ordinary
phone numbers all over the world. The global SkypeOut rate is
currently 1.7 Euro Cent (about 2 US cents or 1.1 pence) per
minute to more than 20 countries.
* SkypeIn, which is a virtual phone number your friends can
call. This is in beta testing at the time of writing this
review, but the 12-month subscription is available for € 30 and
3 months for € 10.
* Skype Voicemail, which lets you redirect calls to your
voicemail, is available at € 5 for 3 months or € 15 for the
year.
However, the most widespread application of Skype is PC-to-PC
calls. Any user can make free calls over the Internet to anyone
else who also has Skype. It is a simple wizard-based process to
download and use the application, and works via your broadband
connection with operating systems based on Microsoft Windows,
Mac, Linux, and Pocket PCs. All you need is a PC microphone and
speakers or a basic USB headset, and what you get is a
real-time, telephone-quality voice conversation with any PC
end-user in the world. I found the downloading to be extremely
simple and straightforward and imagine that anyone, no matter
your computer fluency will find it easy as well.
In addition to its ease of setup, the features of Skype are
really impressive. There is a facility to search the Skype
database, so that you are able to build a list of contacts. We
have used
Skype for Windows 1.4 for a PC-to-PC conversation
between Los Angeles and Mumbai (India), and there was no
recorded break in the half-hour call. The clarity was definitely
on par with a normal telephone, perhaps even better, with no
noticeable time lag. On subsequent calls between these
destinations and other US cities including Chicago, the quality
continues to amaze us, and the fact that Skype works in most
environments, irrespective of firewalls or NAT, widens its
reach.
So, what's the downside? A comparative analysis will help
clarify the situation. For a start, Skype does not offer as many
calling features as other service providers like Vonage. Then,
there have been question marks about the technical/customer
support offered by Skype. Another point where Skype loses out is
the quality of the SkypeOut package, where the calls made to
landlines are of inconsistent quality. One hopes that Skype can
add video chat to its repertoire in the near future, which will
place Skype on an equal standing with other free VoIP providers
like Yahoo! Messenger and MSN Messenger, which already have
video capabilities. Skype is undoubtedly ahead of both MSN and
Yahoo in terms of voice quality and the real-time conversation
experience. On the other side of the spectrum, Vonage offers
feature-rich services and better customer service, although all
this comes at a price.
My Overall Assessment: Vonage is a better option than Skype for
traditional telephone users because Skype is totally
computer-dependent and caters to consumers who are "living out
of their computers."
The future has a lot to offer, and undoubtedly Skype will move
forward in its evolutionary process, and hopefully improve
SkypeOut and emerge successfully out of beta testing for
SkypeIn. However, for the moment, Skype is arguably the best
option for free PC-to-PC calls. Skype says that the "current
focus is to make the best voice-application on the
planet"--judging from user feedback around the world, Skype has
already gone a long distance towards that objective.
About the author:
Hamesh Brown enjoys writing about VoIP. For more information,
see this Skype review.
