Skype

[ChrisSallis]

I have been looking at skype and was wondering is it worth having and if so whats the best thing to have with it. E.G just as it is or with skype in etc.

Or is their any other similar services to look at?

Thanks in advance.

Chris

[coxadmin]

This was recently discussed here http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=5424&highlight=skype.

I love it and the clarity I have experienced is superb. I have Skype In - you get free voicemail with it. As yet I haven't had the opportunity of trying it as no-one has rung my Skype In number.

[billcutter]

www.voipfone.co.uk is also worth a look at.

[broadband-engine]

Downloaded it last night to speak with my Uncle and it is fantastic quality... better voice quality than the regular landline :D well impressed.

[creative-keyrings]

ive been using skype for ages now and its brilliant, its like an extra phone line!

[Russ]

Skype is great if you know other people that have it or if you have friends or relatives that live abroad. Skype to Skype is free and if both on broadband so far has been faultless.

The only problem is we phone family and friends in france and spain that are on dial up connections and the delay and echo are horrible... On a plus point I have a friend that works from home in france calling customers in england and has a London 0207 number through Skype that means her clients have no clue she's in a farm house in Bordeau...

Skype to landline is also clear reception and cheaper than normal provider rates...

I think it's great.....

[Fusionhost Group]

Can people ring you using their mobiles/home number for the same cost as a normal phone?

[Russ]

Yes it's called call forwarding and i available to Skype-in users

http://www.skype.com/helloagain.html

[chris1317]

Another one to check out is voipbuster, it is free to landlines

http://www.voipbuster.com/en/index.html

Chris.

[Enigma121]

Another major advantage of Skype for businesses is FREE CONFERENCE CALLING.

Get other parties within your business Skype enabled, then setup up to 4 way calls. Free of charge... Excellent.

[Fusionhost Group]

Another one to check out is voipbuster, it is free to landlines

http://www.voipbuster.com/en/index.html

Chris.

Not in the uk...

[billcutter]

www.voipcheap.co.uk are still offering free calls to UK Landlines.

[billcutter]

Yes it's called call forwarding and i available to Skype-in users

http://www.skype.com/helloagain.html

Do you have pay for the leg of the call that is diverted,or is it free.

[creacom]

We have been using SKYPE for the last 10 months and I have to say that it works really well.

From time to time you get a bad connection but you simply hang up and connect again.

Well worth it !!

Jacqui

[Russ]

Yes it's called call forwarding and i available to Skype-in users

http://www.skype.com/helloagain.html

Do you have pay for the leg of the call that is diverted,or is it free.

Hi B C

If I understand correctly you pay for the number with no extra charge for receiving diverted calls but would advise that you check that out with them.. I don't have that service with them as I didn't see a need to have an 0207 number...

Russ

[chris1317]

Another one to check out is voipbuster, it is free to landlines

http://www.voipbuster.com/en/index.html

Chris.

Not in the uk...

That sucks, I never noticed that. It was free to UK a couple of months ago, they must have changed it.

Chris

[mindblend]

Skype is probably one of the best options on the market at the moment for small businesses and home users.

The only time I've ever really experienced quality issues was speaking to clients from Africa or the Middle East.

[chris1317]

Just noticed at the bottom of the voipbuster page they have a link to another page

http://www.voipcheap.co.uk/en/index.html

Free UK calls

No idea why they split it into 2 seperate programs

Chris.

[paulkaye]

It really depends on what you want but we have been using Vonage since April and it's unbelievable. It's VOIP but doesn't need a computer! You just plug their gadget into your broadband router (that is already connected to the internet) and plug a bog-standard phone or fax into that. Free calls to any UK landline and very cheap mobile calls. The best part is that I take the gadget everywhere I go (anywhere in the world) and simply plug it into other internet connections (visiting my parents, hotels...). After a minute or so, it connects to the Vonage system and then anyone phoning our number (you can choose a dial code for virtually any UK city) gets through to me. Voicemail can be accessed by phone, or through the vonage website or (and this is my favourite bit) EMAILED TO YOU AS AN MP3!!!
Their fax line facility doesn't seem up to scratch but that could be our bandwidth issue (phone calls need only the slowest broadband connection).

And no, I don't work for them, I'm just obsessed!

[free0870numbers.co.uk]

Hi

Just like to say on a flip side my skype experience has not been very good.

I am on a shared line at the office and that maybe the problem but I get complaints that the sound quality is terrible on the other end.

Having to use a conventional landline which is sometimes 3 times the price of skype.

[creative-keyrings]

Ive had no troubles with skype, its super and when im not about it will record peoples msgs so i can get back to them :)

[asapearce]

The conference calling with Skype is great but once you pass 3 participants on a conference call the quality generally degrades. However great for one to one calling with video and very small conference calls


Andy

[Michelle Carvill]

I use skype all the time for conf calls and catching up with clients and family. I don't use it for telephone calls - just video calls online. It's absolutely FREE and if they now asked me to start paying a monthly subscription - I would. It sometimes drops out, particularly when on a long call - but it's not a big deal - you just dial up again. The call quality is great - and I am still a big fan.

[garyk]

I used to use skype alot and had a skypein number, they dont have the range of STDs that other VOIP providers have and calling mobiles is more expensive than calling from a land-line but on the whole it works well.

[Pembrokeshire Directory]

Skype is really great, you can also download a little callme icon from skype homepage to place on your website as well

[asapearce]

The download for your website seems great, have you tried it on your own website?

[Onehourpa]

I have been using Skype for about a year now and I think it's great, I started using it when I was just horrified at my BT bills for the business. I was originally just using the free version and doing skype to skype calls. I would occasionally buy credit when I wanted to make overseas calls as they were so much cheaper than BT landline for international calls.

As we make quite a few US and European calls I signed up for the World subscription (About £8 per month) a few months ago and I have to say it's saved us a packet in phone calls. All calls to landlines are included in about 30+ countries around the world. You also get 3 skype in numbers included and voicemail.

Sometimes I do have problems with call quality, but I would say 80% of the time it's fine. Given that it's a free or very inexpensive service depending on how you choose to use it, it's probably never going to be perfect - but I'm a big fan.

[1-4-me]

Hi B C

If I understand correctly you pay for the number with no extra charge for receiving diverted calls but would advise that you check that out with them.. I don't have that service with them as I didn't see a need to have an 0207 number...

Russ
Hi i use skype to divert calls to my mobile and there is a small charge which comes of your skype credit.
I can recommend this, we have been using it for 18 months with no problems.

[serendipitybusiness]

Unfortunately we can't use skype as the sound is terrible it constantly cuts out when receiving calls. One of my programmers is based in Italy and he has the same problem when calling some lines in the UK. So I would test it out before buying the compatible equipment, dedicated numbers etc just in case.

I also had the same problem but not quite as bad with our old broadband provider which had a voip line included in the package so it is probably our actual phone line that is to blame.

[cjd]

This free line test tells you whether you current connection is good enough for VoIP.

http://www.testyourvoip.com (http://www.testyourvoip.com)

But Skype will always be a poor substitute for a real telephone call because of the technology and networks it has to use. If you want to use VoIP for business purposes you really need a business class VoIP service.

[serendipitybusiness]

Thank you I just tried this and it said it was the same as calling next door 4.4. However in practice when I did try it was really crackly and kept cutting out so not as suggested on this site. Could this be due to something else? I wasn't downloading or using many applications when I tried the line for VoIP on both occasions. What can the business class VoIP service do compared to personal regarding quality?

[Smallb]

Thank you I just tried this and it said it was the same as calling next door 4.4. However in practice when I did try it was really crackly and kept cutting out so not as suggested on this site. Could this be due to something else? I wasn't downloading or using many applications when I tried the line for VoIP on both occasions. What can the business class VoIP service do compared to personal regarding quality?

It may have been down to the person you were calling? As you both need a good connection to make a call.

Simon

[serendipitybusiness]

I was called myself my mother and my fiancée all in Manchester all on different lines one of them business with the same result.

[cjd]

I get asked this question a lot so I wrote an answer :-)

What is the difference between Voipfone and Skype?
There are many very important differences between Voipfone and Skype – things like call quality, reliability, customer service, price, services & features and technology - but the simple and critical difference between Voipfone and Skype is that Skype is NOT a telephone service and Voipfone is. (Voipfone is a business class telephone service too.)

Skype is a software application that runs on your PC, not a telephone service. Skype go out of their way to explain that they are not a telephone company and they do not, for instance, provide a 999 service - in defiance of UK telephone regulation.

What is VoIP?
VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is a technology that allows you to make telephone calls over the internet (and other data networks). It’s the next generation of telecoms technology and over the next few years all of BT’s core networks will be converted to it by their 21st Century Network project. All new PBX (switchboard) equipment is already VoIP enabled.
VoIP is a general description of a technology, the specific technology used by VoIP has now been standardised internationally – this is called SIP (Session Initiation Protocol).

So what is Skype?
Skype is a form of VoIP.
But Skype use its own technology which is secret and will not interwork with any other system or service. The world of telecommunications relies totally on accepted international standards so that any telephone anywhere in the world can call any other – this is not the case with Skype.

Skype is also a peer to peer system - that is, it uses your own PC and all the other PCs with Skype software on it, to carry their calls. Sometimes it even uses your own bandwidth ie your broadband connection to carry traffic for other people over your connection. See ‘Skype Super Node’ to find out more http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernode_(networking) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernode_(networking))
This makes it extremely cheap for them as they do not need to provide their own network infrastructure but it also means that it can not control the quality of your calls.

Skype is a wonderful application which brought VoIP to everyone’s attention and the industry would not be what it is today without it, but it was never designed or even envisaged as a business application or even a telephone service - and it isn’t.