Free Calls With Skype - Comments Page 1

Skype is terrific, however I found it difficult with "Dialup" since at times the package is very slow and causes blank waiting periods. Does this happen to all "dialup" subscribers?

EDITOR'S NOTE: I'm sure it depends on the quality/speed of your dialup connection. Thay can range from 1-5 Kbps.

A friend of mind has a therapy consulting business and has a Skype link on her web site. Click the button and it rings on her computer. No numbers to even enter. Same can be done in an email. Its also worth noting that Skype has been bought by eBay so is well funded.

I'd highly recommend a headset mic if you plan to use this. The mic then stays an equal distance from your mouth as you move around. No phone to hold.

Some of the Instant Messaging clients also have voice conversations, such as Google Talk. Both ends have to have it as with Skype and the call quality can be a bit more variable. But some also allow you to leave voice messages which arrive as mp3 files attached to emails.

And finally, I got this today - have not tried it yet. It uses your regular phone and the internet, no software required.
Jajah.com: "from this website you can call anyone on your telephone anywhere in the world completely free of charge if they are also registered. on the website you type in your phone number and the phone number you are calling. your phone will ring and you answer. then the phone you are calling will ring and voila. if the person you are calling is not registered you can still call them from you phone but it will cost .034 per minute. anywhere in the world."

Skype is fantastic! I paid the $15 annual fee and have unlimited calls to Canada and CONUS and, for $0.026 per minute, I can phone the United Kingdom. There are a lot of minutes in a $10 bill. Reception is generally very good. Highly recommended.

Using Skype with dial-up - even with a fast connection- is pushing a wheelbarrow up hill. ADSL broadband (if available) is essential if only to allow incoming telephone calls simultaneously. The clock-speed is not too critical but a continuously fast download is. Remember, each call, although cheap, is added to your download total by your provider John.

Skype is great but voice quality can be very poor, regardless of bandwidth available. I use Jajah for voice, and Skype, or Yahoo messenger for video.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Remember that the voice quality is very much dependant on the bandwidth on both ends of the conversation.

I really like Skype. But be prepared for frequent cut outs during conversations. It happens almost every time. I notice it happens more to me, the Skype user, than to the person I am talking to.

I have dialup and can't use Skype, Gizmo, or any of the others. What I use is Yahoo Messenger to place calls to land lines. Remember years ago when you could do it for free? It used to behave like your talking on a CB radio! Well they improved the software from back then and it now works better than any of the messengers I have tried recently for dialup and is pretty dang cheep, about 2 cents a minute. Just don't be surfing the web or making any downloads! If you know of a better one for dialup let me know cause I will be monitoring this post.

An English friend of mine who now lives in the US talked me into trying Skype. He's been using it for quite some time and makes numerous calls to his family and friends across the Atlantic. I was impressed with what I saw so, for Christmas, I purchased a Skype phone and inexpensive Logitech camera for my son and his family who live in Iowa. The two pieces cost less than $50. At the same time, I bought an identical set for me. Since then, we've been having weekly video chats without cost from PA to Iowa and can keep pace with his growing family.

I'm from the UK but work overseas, so bought one of these, a cordless USB phone for just under GBP 30...
http://www.tescointernetphone.com/

This gave me a free incoming UK number, no monthly charges. Only have to pay for outgoing calls to 'normal' phones (mostly 2p per minute) & has free voicemail when offline.

I've found Skype PC-to-PC calls audio to be quite satisfactory, but Outgoing PC-to-phone calls audio quality to be quite poor. (And these calls are charged per minute, not free.) Not network loss/latency/jitter problems, but extreme high-end rolloff ("muffled"), etc. It's bad enough that some people I've called can't recognize my voice.

Yes, I've walked through all the suggested PC configuration settings per the Skype FAQs. I'm using DSL, and again, the PC-to-PC calls are fine. Am I the only one experiencing this phenomenon on Skype Out calls?