Skype

[37 South 6]

Has anyone of you subscribed to this ?

[cwh_27 0]

I found it downloaded on the computer a couple months back, thought it was spyware causing us sh*t, so deleted it, hah. But since then ive seen alot of 'hype' about skype. It actually had a promo thing at Big Boys Toys this year selling head sets etc. Id say its probably worth signing up for, but im not one to jump right in, and find it all craps out. But youve also gotta make sure the people you want to talk 2 has it also.

[martyyn 2]

But youve also gotta make sure the people you want to talk 2 has it also.

Not true....

You can subscribe to SkypeOut and dial anyone in the world. Works pretty well too.

How the telcos can justiy charging me 87 cents a minute to Holland when I can Skype for 3 cents a minute beggars belief.

Its great when your playing online with a few mates aswell

Im just looking to get a handset that you plug into your pc and normal phone line and it receives all calls 'normally' be they Skype or landline.

[37 South 6]

I bought a handset from DSE for $59 .Plugs into a USB port and you use it just like a normal phone.All calls to anyone connected to Skype are free.(anywhere )You can make calls to anyone (landline or mobile) anywhere and the cost is anything from 1.7cent per minute upwards.

(forgot to mention,you have to download free software,you also get an installatin disc with your Laser VOip phone .

Edited November 24, 2005 by 37 South

[shadowninja 0]

We have it for conference calling, though only really works for 3.

Connecting over the web is free vs actually calling other phones.

[m325i 709]

voice quality is far far far superior to a phone. its like they are sitting next to you.

Its bloatware though that leaves ports open, and is definately shadey.

[Deftones 0]

Telecom do some nasties on their network to increase latency and therefore delay/quality issues. Have tested 3 different connections... including dialup with Paradise which was better than the Jetstream connections tested.

[Carl 3]

Telecom are scum

[ipwnyou 0]

The technology behind this is extreemly dodgy. Some of the directors here, expecially our financial director, wanted to impliment it for communication between our offices and to clients. I did some investigation, and in the EULA of the software it states that they reserve the right to basically put programs on your computer without telling you, and they also reserve the right to sell the connections to your computer to third party companies. (It might have changed since a few months ago, but just google it)

I dont know if you guys know about the horrible P2P program Kazaa, but Skype is made by the same company. Uses the same technology (Peer to Peer) - which is extreemly insecure because it splits your conversation up across multiple other skype users which is why its such good quality and works on almost any connection.

The idea behind it is ingenious and is very good - but just so insecure. It also doesnt help that it likes to have every port open (although you can run it on specific ports with a few issues).

After spending some investigating this, I saw it as a potential security risk for a business - but for home users, it's fine if you're not really that worried about the whole spyware scene.

I called our Telescum account manager and told her that we wanted cheap rates like Skype or we would move to it fully (we are also a massive call centre, with a phone bill so big each month that it comes to us in massive paper boxes) so they gave us really cheap rates over most of the world. You just need to threaten them and they'll give you good deals.

There are plenty of other less dodgy options out there for point to point VoIP which are of good quality and useful for conferences - i.e. Ventrillo - the only problem is that you need the software on both ends, which isnt always the end of the world.

If you are calling USA you could use Stanaphone - www.stanaphone.com - they give you a free USA phone number that when called, rings your computer for nothing and is excellent quality, and you can make really cheap calls to the US of A from it too.

Anyway, thats my 5 cents.

Edited November 25, 2005 by ipwnyou

[a13antichrist 0]

While it's true that it turns your PC into a global relay, it does so on ports that aren't really exploitable but yea in principle it's not fantastic. A lot of my friends in Europe use this and have been pushing me to use it but I'm waiting for a cellphone with VoIP & WiFi built in so I can use it for that.

Other problem as mentioned is the Telecom network - they actually deliberately smack a 45ms interleave into the line precisely to cripple VoIP & other realtime comms in order to protect their toll revenue. Anyone on UBS will know just how bad this is as it's worse there but Jetstream gets it too.

Edited November 28, 2005 by a13antichrist

[320SHKBTE 0]

Telecom are scum

grrr i agree!!

[ipwnyou 0]

While it's true that it turns your PC into a global relay, it does so on ports that aren't really exploitable but yea in principle it's not fantastic. A lot of my friends in Europe use this and have been pushing me to use it but I'm waiting for a cellphone with VoIP & WiFi built in so I can use it for that.

Other problem as mentioned is the Telecom network - they actually deliberately smack a 45ms interleave into the line precisely to cripple VoIP & other realtime comms in order to protect their toll revenue. Anyone on UBS will know just how bad this is as it's worse there but Jetstream gets it too.

Fortunately everything I use is though my extreemly expensive wireless internet connection. Advantage of being a web host, I suppose.

[westy 614]

Im completly lost