Proving that an old dog can indeed learn new tricks, today I had my first experience with Skype. Sure, I’ve heard of it and been aware of it for well over a year, but until today I’d never really had the interest — or need — to use it.
Normally, I’d copy/paste a quick blurb about the product here. However, finding the quick blurb about what Skype actually is on the Skype website appears to be a challenge for those with much more time than I. Suffice it to say, it is a nifty VOIP / Instant Messaging application that can also make and take calls to land lines for a bit of money. Calling Skype to Skype is free.
Today I needed to talk with a project manager in India. In his email to me, he mentioned he had a Skype account. This seemed like a good excuse to finally give it a try, so I downloaded the client and ran the installer (both quick and painless).
We had a headset/mic. combo laying about the office, so I appropriated that and 2 minutes later I was calling India.
I’m blown away. Over the past decade, and way too many runs at outsourcing, I’ve spent literally days worth of time on calls overseas. I think today’s call was, by far, the highest quality call I’ve had. It literally sounded like he was in the same town. Very impressive.
I really like the integrated IM part. Talking with someone and need to share a link with them? Way quicker to copy/paste it than to spell it out verbally.
About Those Headsets…
I’d use this a lot more, but I have one personal snag: I hate wearing headsets. The one I have at work is far superior to the one I used to use back in my Everquest and Ventrilo days, but still drove me nuts after a short while. Mainly, I don’t like having my head corded to my laptop. That just bugs the poo out of me. Secondly, I’m just not a big headphones fan (although maybe if I was cordless I might change my mind).
I’m pondering picking up a relatively cheap USB handset like the Philips unit that Skype offers. I’m open to suggestions, though — leave a comment with what you use. I could also add a Bluetooth adapter to my laptop and get a Bluetooth headset. That’d work with my cellphone too. But now we’re getting a bit spendy… and I’m rather cheap with my gadgets.
If I can get past the headset issue though, I’m going to be addicted.
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July 26th, 2007 
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I am not a headset fan either… but as all the immigrants from the Old World I’ve discovered Skype a long time ago: we all have relatives and family left behind oversees – so Skype really was a godsend compared to the 50-80 cents/min for overseas calls.
I need a new mic, the old one just died on me
Yes, Skype is fantastic. As someone who lives abroad, having free phone calls home is great, especially when you throw in the webcam ability. Personally, I don’t use a headset or a handset – I have a microphone built into my laptop and use the PC speakers for sound.
@moshu – I bet you used to use Microsoft NetMeeting before Skype came along.
Remember that one? There’s something I don’t hear about anymore.
@Stephen – Your comment inspired me to try a skype test call without the headset.
Turns out my laptop has a built-in mic. somewhere. Dunno where.
Worked pretty well! Definitely the way I’ll be using it when there’s minimal background noise.
I have been using skype for about a year now it’s great for my over sea’s clients.
First time here….came from a search. Subscribed to feed
Can you write a tut, or tell me how to place “Recent Conversations” as in this blog, with names of latest commentators on each post?
Sweet dude, you gotta get on skype!
I use the crappy mic in my toshiba notebook and apparently it works fine because everyone I’ve conversed with says it’s clear as a bell.
I’m thinking there’s got to be some sort of bluetooth headset option out there though.
Skype is excellent.
Using a bluetooth headset for a mobile phone works, but that’s telephone quality and therefore much worse than proper Skype quality. My preferred approach is wireless headphones (possibly bluetooth using A2DP) and a wired/laptop mic). Its also worth knowing that Skype can do echo cancellation; I have occasionally had perfectly good conversations through speakers with a desktop microphone.
I would like to point out that Skype will never be ubiquitous, since its completely proprietary. I believe SIP will eventually become de facto, currently most smaller Internet telephone providers use it, Skype’s biggest rival Gizmo project uses it (along with Jabber) and universities seem to like it a lot. Think of it as Jabber/XMPP for VoIP.
@TechZilo – it’s a very easy plugin.
Brian’s Latest Comments. If you’re one of them new-fangled widget users, I suspect you can track down a widgety flavor as well.
@Snowboardjohn – since I wrote this, I’ve experimented a bit with my laptop’s built-in mic. It seems to work pretty well as long as there’s no background noise (like my somewhat loud home office fan). I’m happy about that.
@Ben – some great thoughts there. I have to confess I know next to nothing about SIP, but I reckon I should check into a bit based on what you wrote (and what I picked up at your blog
)
Hey Chris, if you’re looking for a good bluetooth headset that works with Skype, I’m a fan of the Plantronics .Audio 910. It actually integrates pretty well with the Skype software and can be paired with your phone at the same time.
@Andrew – thanks for the tip, much appreciated. That thing looks sweet. But Geeze! The price… :-\
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