Skype and its Many Features
BySkype was discovered at our house by my teenage daughter last year. When she showed me how she could connect and actually talk with people from all around the world using a headset. . . well, I was compelled to find out what it could do for me.
You can read about the many features and download the program at www.skype.com. Set up an account and user name and you’re ready to go. Find friends and business associates by searching their e-mail in Skype and adding them to your list of contacts. Skype can be used to IM a contact for a quick question or comment. Slip on your headset and click the call button and continue on in real time.
With Skype you can tranfer files to an on-line contact – no size limit! Just right-click on a contact to select “file transfer” and select your file. The recipient accepts the file and it’s done!
Skype is a useful collaboration tool. Using the “group chat” feature, hold a meeting with up to 100 people. There is a whiteboard tool and a recording tool (15″ limit unless you subscribe to their no-limit recording service) .
For $30/year, have unlimited phone calls to any land line or cell phone in the US or Canada – a bargain! As a small biz owner, I use Skype to dial into all long-distance conference calls. You’ll have the ability to listen through your headset (most headsets have mute buttons which come in very handy), or listen via computer speakers. If others in your team have Skype, it’s easy to IM them during a conference without disturbing the call.
Skype’s been branching out to reach business owners. Check the website for their offerings of voicemail, call forwarding, call transfer, SMS service and your own Skype business phone number. You can ditch your extra land line for a Skype phone that connects to your broadband connection and that can be used independent of your computer to make and receive calls.
Skype’s been around for awhile now and has millions of users. In the next couple weeks, we’ll take a look at Skype’s competition. . . ooVo and Ooma. What’s with these names anyway??
How to hack Ooma for worldwide free calls?
We still don’t know how Ooma manages its P2P network and whether it can survive a company breakdown. If it’s pure P2P, then the device can continue to run without the company. Because the peers are responsible for data transfer and there is no centra…