VoIP Help Center

Plain simple language explaining voice over the Internet using Skype

...Skype, skype in, skype out, skype me, and eBay Skype...

The latest version of Skype's voice over Internet Protocol service, which includes call forwarding and downloadable ring tones, pictures and sounds is an E-Bay company product.

Skype lets callers forward incoming Skype calls to another Skype account for free. Users can also forward calls to up to three landline or mobile numbers for as little as 2 cents a minute, depending on the country, according to the company's chief marketing officer, Saul Klein.

You can use Skype on any Windows, Mac, Pocket PC or Linux computer with an Internet connection. Preferably broadband. Getting started is easy. If you’re a Windows user, the Skype Starter Kit has everything you need.

Here at Live Phone we don't review Skype because it is a Point to Point (P2P) proprietory system that includes other features. In the Skype FAQ they ask why is Skype better than Net2Phone, ICQ, AIM, MSN. Their simple answer is because it works. True SIP and VOIP phones work or they would not be around for long.

Skype is making a play for the mainstream IP telephony market with a series of new products being announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week.

The company, which provides free calling from computer to computer over the Internet, announced on Tuesday several new products developed through partnerships with consumer electronics manufacturers to make it easier for people to use its Internet phone service. It also announced a new service it is launching with Kodak that combines live voice conversations and photo sharing.

The new products Skype announced at CES are designed to make the company more competitive with traditional phone services and other voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, services such as Vonage. New cordless phones will enable users to wander away from their desktops, and new adapters should make it easier for consumers to switch between ordinary landline telephone calls and those that travel over the Internet.

Anti Virus protection such as Avast can check P2P connections and will process Skype connections to protect your computer. Extra processor overhead, in the opinion of Live Phone, can have detrimental effects on voice processing. We don't say much about Skype because we concentrate on true VOIP and SIP where voice quality is not effected by other applications which require part of your processor power.

Skype claims to have great sound quality as do most SIP phones with the possible exception of eyeP Media's free soft phone. Enough said. This link to Skype will open in a new window for your convenience if you want to visit them.

Skype announced it has signed a deal with its first mobile operator. The company has agreed to a partnership with German mobile operator E-Plus, which will offer its customers free use of Skype's voice over IP (VoIP) service as part of its flat-rate data subscription package for 3G (third-generation) data card users.

Under the terms of the deal Skype will continue as E-Plus' exclusive VoIP supplier. Skype has already garnered 2.8 million users in Germany and will now gain access to some of E-Plus' 9.8 million customers.

Free voice calls for all? In a few short years, consumers can expect to make telephone calls for free, with no per-minute charges, as part of a package of services through which carriers make money on advertising or transaction fees, eBay's chief executive said Wednesday.

Seeking to justify eBay's four billion dollar purchase of Web-based communications phenomenon Skype Technologies, Meg Whitman countered criticism by a financial analyst during the company's quarterly conference call by agreeing with some of his points.

"The percentage of users that you can actually charge for (phone services) will actually go down, so I actually agree with that and we understood that when we looked at Skype," Whitman said in responding to the analyst's question.

"In the end, the price that anyone can provide for voice transmission on the 'Net will trend toward zero," eBay's top executive said.