All hail Skype Blog Discussion

Former_MSE_Archna

This is the discussion to link on the back of Martin's 'All hail Skype' blog. Please read the blog first, as the discussion folows it.


Read Martin's "All hail Skype" Blog

Edinburghlass_2

As a good moneysaver I chose our hotel in US because it had free high speed internet access (along with free buffet breakfast) and used Skype to phone friends in UK who also had Skype, making it free

redux

Clearly Martin was committed to web access anyway, so as he says the extra cost of this was already effectively discounted in the cost of calls. For people wanting to use only a phone, and without a laptop, there are other possibilities that aren't quite as expensive as feared.

Skype tariffs are certainly attractive, but other VoIP providers can also be used, some with free calls. And some of these have callback services, usable without internet access, triggered by dialling a number, or sms or wap/gprs. Or a calling card from landline: some hotels will allow freephone calls without extra charge, but some bar these, which is why callback can come into it if you can find out the number of the room extension by chatting up the reception.

Mobile use isn't quite as bad as feared, as Martin's article will explain, so don't feel doomed without internet access. All UK mobiles have expensive tariffs roaming in USA. None of the several global roaming SIM cards have free incoming calls there either. While in many other countries a local or global SIM has free incoming calls.

Specific to US: with a local SIM card, incoming calls are charged as well as outgoing ones, at tariffs around 10 to 20c. But a US mobile number is cheap to call from here, same as a landline from about 1 penny a minute (see MsE Callchecker), or by using an 0844 divert number (available from O2 inclusive minutes).

So overall I'd be tempted by using Skype or others, but only where the internet access is free (or almost), as Edinburghlass suggests. Otherwise landline calls are possible from a penny or two a minute, and mobile to landline from about 10p.

bunking_off

Services such as Skype are great when in Europe (although, to be honest I just use my company's VPN and pay 0p/min for calls...).

Haven't been to the states in a while, but from memory there are lots of prepaid calls which give a gazillion outgoing minutes for $10. If you don't have free web access and don't need to receive calls, these are normally a better deal.

tabath

Lots of free wifi access at coffee shops in the US so no need to pay for net access really!

Mark1983

Hi guys,

Couldn't agree more about the use of an Internet calling service from abroad for saving money on calls.

Personally though, I much prefer to use one of the many VoIP providers out there who rely on the "SIP" method of communication. Whereas Skype uses its own way of encoding your voice and transmitting it, services that use the SIP method are interoperable.

What this means is that if I'm using my SIP service, I can call anyone else using any other SIP service, even with a different provider. With Skype I can only call other people using Skype!

Combining this with using a SIP provider who offers landline calling and you have a killer combination. For example, https://www.voipstunt.com, include free calling to many countries landlines. There are also others like this.

I fear that with the prevelance of Skype, many people will not realise that there are other, more open, cheaper options to internet calling. I don't want to end up in a world where I cannot call my friends over the Internet without having an account with Skype, an account with Tesco, an account with.... etc etc and then have to switch to the account that my friend is on to call!

Just my 2p ;-)

Cheers,

Mark.

Monkey_Tennis_3

A quick money-saving heads up...

As great as Skype is for domestic use, because it is based on the same technologies as peer-to-peer file sharing systems you may find, under certain circumstances*, your client acting as a node to pass data between two other clients - even though you are not involved in the conversation. It's one of the techniques used to improve the chances of connecting two users. However, it's not readily apparent to most that this is happening and in situations where usage limits are applied to your internet access, may be an unwelcome drain on your quota.

Obviously this can't happen if you close Skype completely when it's not in use.

For all the techy details see here: http://www.ja.net/development/voip/skype&janet.pdf

* depending on the speed of your connection and 'usefulness' of you position between the two other users.

Mark1983

Monkey_Tennis wrote:

your client acting as a node to pass data between two other clients - even though you are not involved in the conversation.

Oooh, didn't realise that. Interesting bit of information! Makes sense from a technical point of view but in these days of bandwidth quotas it's an interesting point to note. Good Spot!